Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

When Lin Yuan returned to the dorm with the materials, Matt was sprawled on the sofa playing video games. Gunfire flashed on the TV screen; he was wearing headphones, a power-up bar dangling from his mouth, and mumbling calls to his teammates. Seeing Lin Yuan enter, he gave him a thumbs-up with one hand before resuming his game.

Lin Yuan put the insulated box in the kitchen, returned to his room, turned on his laptop, and first downloaded the data package sent by Professor Robert. After unzipping it, there were several clearly categorized folders—geometric parameters, heat treatment data, forging process breakdown diagrams, and case analysis of longsword quenching deformation.

Each document was a printed scan, with Robert's handwritten annotations in the margins, the handwriting neat and fine, written with a fountain pen.

Some paragraphs were underlined with wavy lines, and some key data were marked with asterisks. Lin Yuan read through the entire document, extracted the parts marked with asterisks, created a new document, and rearranged them according to the process sequence: material selection, forging the blade, normalizing and annealing, quenching and tempering, grinding and pickling, and attaching the hilt and counterweights.

After finishing organizing, he opened his browser and searched online for information about hand-and-half swords.

He meticulously reviewed the historical background and practical applications of the medieval European hand-and-a-half sword, the craftsmanship of modern knifemakers replicating hand-and-a-half swords, and discussions on longsword center of gravity and counterweight in several knife enthusiast forums, extracting valuable information into a document.

The fundamental difference in design logic between the hand-and-a-half sword and the Longquan sword became clearer after consulting these materials: Chinese swords are heavy for thrusting, with a light and agile blade, a rearward center of gravity, and primarily rely on wrist power; European hand-and-a-half swords are heavy for slashing, with a thick blade, a forward center of gravity, and require the use of body rotation inertia to unleash their slashing power.

The requirements for the transition of blade thickness and the distribution of weight are completely different between the two.

He closed the browser, expanded the system panel, and reopened the blueprints for the Paladin's Cross Sword. The sword shape on the blueprints was exactly that of a hand-and-a-half-sword, with the geometric data of the blade, material proportions, and forging process parameters listed item by item.

He cross-referenced the data on the drawings with the technical points he had just compiled—the curvature of the narrowing arc of the sword blade was shown in the drawings with a thickness transition table accurate to the millimeter; the quenching temperature range was shown in the drawings with values ​​slightly narrower than those for the 1084 high-carbon steel he usually used, but still within an operable range; the timing of silver incorporation and forging techniques were shown in a separate process breakdown diagram on the drawings.

Referring to the stress analysis of longsword quenching deformation in the professor's materials, he adjusted two parameters on the quenching and cooling stage of the drawings and wrote down the final forging plan in the document. From material selection to hilt assembly, the corresponding process parameters, required tools, and time estimates for each step were all listed in a table.

After finishing all this, he turned off the computer, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long sigh. His thoughts were clear.

At 7:30 the next morning, Lin Yuan pushed open the door to Professor Robert's workshop. The film crew's cameras were already set up in the corner, Mark was sitting in a folding chair against the wall with a cup of coffee, and the cameraman was adjusting the white balance.

Seeing Lin Yuan enter, Mark put down his coffee cup, gestured to the camera, and the red recording light turned on.

林远没有理会镜头。他走到材料架前，手指从一排排成品钢板上划过。1084高碳钢、1095、5160弹簧钢、15N20——标籤上标注着钢材型号和规格。

He pulled out a piece of 1084 high-carbon steel plate and weighed it in his hand. The plate was just the right size to make a sword blank. There was no need for re-forging or welding, or bending and forging; the sword could be directly shaped in the furnace and then subjected to heat treatment.

His goal today wasn't to create the final product, but rather to go through the entire process of making a hand-and-a-half-sword, verifying the technical points he'd discussed on paper last night on the anvil. Since it was his first time making a hand-and-a-half-sword, he'd practice with finished steel to familiarize himself with the sword's geometry and the heat treatment process.

He clamped the steel plate into the forging furnace, adjusted the damper, and lit the fire. The blower hummed, and flames emerged from the gaps in the coke. He stood in front of the forging furnace, his eyes fixed on the changing color of the steel plate inside the furnace.

From dark red to cherry red, and then to bright orange-yellow, the oxide scale on the surface of the steel billet began to peel off, and the fine flakes shimmered with a dark red light in the flames. When the entire steel plate was heated to a bright orange, he used pliers to remove it and strode towards the power hammer.

The hammerhead of the power hammer fell, and the steel billet stretched on the anvil. Lin Yuan controlled the rhythm of the hammering and the feed rate, gradually thinning the steel billet from the root towards the tip.

The thickness transition curve of a half-sword is much more complex than that of a dagger—it is thickest at the base and tapers evenly towards the tip, with the transition curve determining the moment of inertia during a chop. He had repeatedly compared the geometric data in the blueprints and the professor's materials last night, and now he had already marked the position in his mind for the feed of each hammer blow.

The blade gradually took shape. He used a ruler to measure the thickness transition—eight millimeters at the base, five millimeters in the middle, and three millimeters at the tip. The curvature was uniform, with no areas that were too thick or too thin.

After the basic shape of the sword blank is formed, he marks the positioning lines for the guard on the blank and cuts off the excess material. Then he reheats the sword blank to the normalizing temperature, takes it out, and places it on refractory bricks to cool naturally.

After normalizing comes annealing—the sword blank is reheated to the critical temperature, buried in dry lime, and allowed to cool slowly in the lime. Annealing takes time, and he used this time to clean the oxide scale off the anvil and re-brushed the power hammer's anvil with a steel brush.

Two hours later, the annealing was complete. He removed the sword blank from the lime and checked the amount of deformation—the blade was straight, with no obvious warping. After correcting two very minor deviations with a file, he clamped the sword blank in front of the belt sander and began rough grinding.

Starting with 400 mesh, then 600 mesh, then 1000 mesh...

The forging marks on the blade gradually disappeared under the sandpaper, and the edge line became clearer. The blood groove extended straight along the central axis of the blade, with clean and crisp edges.

After rough grinding, he reheated the sword blank to the quenching temperature, and then completed the quenching in the order of pre-cooling, local quenching of the blade, and overall oil immersion. This time, he used oil quenching. Oil quenching is more reliable with 1084 high carbon steel. During the practice stage, he needs to see stable results rather than testing his water quenching limits.

After quenching comes tempering. The sword blank is placed in the tempering furnace, the temperature is set to 200 degrees Celsius, and it is held at that temperature for two hours. After tempering, he checks the straightness of the sword blade again to confirm that there is no warping after quenching. Then, the sword blank is put back on the belt abrasive machine for fine grinding, from 1200 grit to 2000 grit.

At 2 PM, the sword blank was completed.

He lowered the protective cover of the belt sander, stepped back, and examined his first practice piece, a half-sword.

This sword was made entirely from finished steel, without any cloud-patterned steel, without any forging, and without any fancy details. From material selection to forging to heat treatment to grinding, every step was to verify the process plan that was prepared last night.

The blade tapers evenly from the base to the tip, with a smooth transition in thickness. The blood groove is straight, and the edge line is clean. The entire blade blank gleams with a uniform gray metallic luster under the light.

He picked up the uncut sword, twirled it in his hand, and tested its center of gravity. The center of gravity was about seven to eight inches in front of the guard—the center of gravity of a half-sword should be within this range. He then flicked the blade with his finger; the clear, resonant echo indicated that there were no microcracks inside.

He initially intended to set it aside, but after a moment's hesitation, he picked up the angle grinder and temporarily attached a simple wooden handle to the end of the sword blank. He then rummaged through the scrap heap, dug a hole in an iron block with a bench drill, and fitted it onto the end of the handle to serve as a temporary counterweight.

He didn't make a guard or wrap it with leather; he just wanted to test his skills with it.

In the corner of the workshop was a pile of scrap wood he had collected from his previous practice sessions. He picked up a four-by-four-inch pine log, clamped it upright in the vise, and then gripped the makeshift hilt with both hands, raised the blade overhead, and swung it down.

The pine wood was split in two, and the cut surface showed smooth marks from the blade's entry, as well as irregular rough edges from the torn wood fibers—not the cleanest and most precise cut, but the depth the blade penetrated the wood and the speed at which it broke indicated that the transition of the center of gravity and thickness was correct.

He kicked the broken piece of wood aside, picked up two planks, stacked them together, and tried to chop continuously. The sword blade did not bend, the temporary counterweight did not loosen, and the grip and rhythm of the strike were more comfortable than expected.

He picked up the sword blank again and carefully inspected the edge under the light—there were no white lines, no chips, and the hardness was up to standard after oil quenching. The performance of this practice sword blank was sufficient to handle the competition test.

He removed the temporary wooden handle, wiped the fingerprints and oil off the sword blank with a rag, and then placed it on the workbench against the corner of the wall. This was not the entry he was going to submit for the competition.

However, if the paladin's cross sword he plans to make cracks during quenching or suffers an irreparable mistake in the next few days, this practice sword blank can be fitted with a proper hilt and guard and used in place of the original.

Matt appeared out of nowhere from the corner next to the film crew. He was holding a cup of coffee—probably borrowed from Mark—and stood next to the worktable, glancing down at the practice sword blank.

"You finished it in one day?" Matt asked, holding his coffee cup and looking down at the practice sword blank in the corner.

"Just practicing," Lin Yuan said, picking up a broom from the corner and sweeping the wood shavings on the ground into a small pile. "To familiarize myself with the structure of the half-sword."

"Just practice," Matt repeated the word, his tone implying that there was nothing Lin Yuan couldn't do. He picked up his coffee, took a sip, and then gestured with his chin towards the unfinished sword in the corner. "What if you were to do it seriously?"

Lin Yuan put the broom back in the corner and picked up a rag to wipe the grease off his fingers. The workbench was spotless, all the tools were back in their places, and the practice sword blank lay quietly against the wall.

"Starting tomorrow," he said.