Studying at Western University starts with a knife-forging competition

After completing the blade blank, Lin Yuan turned his attention to the fittings and scabbard.

He stood in front of the materials cabinet for a while and picked out a piece of black walnut wood from several pieces of wood to choose from.

This piece of material was purchased by him along with industrial silver material. It has a fine texture and a uniform dark brown color, bordering on black. Under light, the faint grain direction can be seen.

Black walnut wood is not the hardest among hardwoods, but it is stable and not easily deformed by moisture, making it suitable for making scabbards and handles.

He tapped the wooden board with his knuckles; the sound was dull and solid, indicating it was good material.

Lin Yuan noted down all the requirements that Doug mentioned during the video call.

Avoid a tactical style—the black G10 handle clashes with the knife's cloud pattern. Avoid gold and diamond inlays—the knife itself is good enough; it doesn't need to rely on excessive materials to prove its value.

Respect tradition, but don't be too plain; add some decorations appropriately.

Most importantly, the feel of the grip – after Doug held the stingray skin hilt of the sword he used in the finals on the testing table, he decided on this material.

I've been working on this design in my head: black walnut wood for the structure, stingray leather for the grip. It's roughly the same as the sword from the final round.

He drew a sketch in his notebook.

The handle is about 15 centimeters long and made of black walnut wood. The handle has a tapering curve from the guard towards the end to improve grip.

The handle is approximately 15 centimeters long, with a black walnut core. It tapers at about three degrees from the guard towards the end of the handle, and is fully covered in stingray skin. The ends are secured with metal trim. This design ensures that the palm is entirely in contact with the scales of the stingray skin, preventing the wood from becoming slippery due to sweat.

He made a similar design for the scabbard. The scabbard body was made of black walnut wood and covered with stingray skin, but only the part below the scabbard opening that was covered for the hand grip.

The leather covers the middle section of the sheath, with fittings used to separate the boundaries, revealing the original color of the black walnut wood in the lower half.

This way, when you hold the scabbard, your thumb and forefinger will be in contact with stingray skin, which won't slip, while the exposed black walnut wood gives the entire scabbard a visually gradient effect.

He didn't hesitate for long about the design of the equipment.

Doug said that the traditional style, according to Lin Yuan's aesthetic, is Chinese style.

Every year, the sword factory in Longquan produces a large number of sword fitting designs, from the simplest plain sword guards to intricately carved dragon and phoenix patterns on the hilt; he has seen every single one of them.

Doug's knife doesn't need to be plain—too simple won't hold back the cloud-like patterns.

It doesn't need to be complicated—Doug said not to pile on materials. A little decoration is fine, but not extravagant.

He remembered that there was an antique-style taotie-patterned ring-pommel sword fitting in the factory back home.

The knife guard is in the shape of a small knife guard, with a double-sided relief of taotie pattern. The pattern is not deep and the lines are simple. When viewed from the front, the pattern is prominent, but when viewed from the side, it is not too eye-catching.

The end of the hilt is a ring pommel, and the ring surface is also engraved with a shallow relief of cloud and thunder patterns.

He added a few strokes to the sketch in his notebook, marked the dimensions of each part of the equipment, and then picked up his phone to dial his home number.

The phone rang a few times, and his father answered it.

The voice was still that same gruff tone, and the first thing it said was, "You finally remembered to make a phone call."

Lin Yuan said he had been busy with the competition and hadn't had time to think about it.

His father asked a few questions, inquiring about what kind of competition it was. Although he pretended to be indifferent, Lin Yuan could still sense his concern.

Lin Yuan briefly explained the situation, and then turned the topic to his recent situation.

His father said the factory has had a lot of orders lately, his mother is in charge of the accounts, and his grandfather is in good health, wandering around in front of the forging furnace every day.

Lin Yuan said he was also preparing to open a forging workshop; the location had already been rented and the equipment was gradually arriving.

After listening to his story, his father asked, "You want to open a blacksmith shop? Do you have enough money?"

"That's enough. We won prize money from the competition, got a few orders, and Matt also invested."

"That's good. Just say if you need money." His father didn't press further. He wasn't worried about Lin Yuan's ability to manage money—Lin Yuan had been managing his own New Year's money since junior high school and had never squandered it.

"Dad, I need the modeling files for a complete set of fittings. It's the fittings for those antique-style taotie-patterned ring-pommel swords that the factory made before, including the guard, ring pommel, scabbard opening, and scabbard end, the whole set."

I'll send you the actual dimensions of the blank later; have Xiao Li adjust the parameters for me.

"Who are you making this for? I want this style."

"A client. An American. He's a judge in a knife-forging competition, and I promised to make him a short cross-section knife."

"The judges asked you to order the knife?" His father's voice carried a hint of undisguised surprise. "Then do a good job. You can't lose face."

"I know," Lin Yuan said. "Just send the file to my email."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yuan remeasured the precise dimensions of each part of the blank with calipers, compiled them into a table, and sent it to his father.

The width and thickness of the blade root, the length of the handle, and the tolerances for the guard opening—every item is clearly marked.

His parents didn't understand 3D modeling very well, but Xiao Li from the factory could understand the data.

The young man was someone he recruited before coming to the United States. He studied industrial design and found a girlfriend in Longquan before staying.

His job is to use 3D modeling software to design swords and fittings, from anime and game peripherals to retro styles. The files are directly sent to a 3D printer to print out the model, and then the model is cast.

Since Lin Yuan added a 3D printer to the factory, orders for anime merchandise have indeed increased significantly.

Some popular anime characters have ridiculously exaggerated sword designs, with almost three rows of barbs on the blade. Forging such swords is time-consuming, laborious, and unprofitable, and traditional mold making is expensive, making the cost too high.

Using 3D printing can effectively reduce costs, since customers don't care about the quality of the blade; they want the same design as in the cartoon.

These orders are large in volume and low in price; once the total volume increases, the profit is still considerable.

After communicating with Xiao Li, the other party quickly adjusted the parameters and sent them over via email.

His phone vibrated, and his email notified him of a new message. Xiao Li's efficiency remained as high as ever.

He opened the attachment and took a look.

The opening size of the guard in the modeling file has been adjusted according to the data he provided, and the diameter of the ring head and the fit tolerance of the end of the handle have also been marked.

He checked it in his notebook and confirmed that there were no discrepancies.

(This is something like this; it's not a Taotie pattern.)

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The next morning, Lin Yuan went to Professor Robert's workshop.

The professor was grading papers at his desk when he saw Lin Yuan come in. He took off his glasses and placed them on the papers.

"Not using my old Zeiss today?"

"I'm not here to look at metallography today." Lin Yuan pulled up a screenshot of the modeling file on his phone and placed it on his desk. "I want to borrow the department's metal 3D printer to make a set of brass fixtures. I've prepared the documents, and I'll bring the materials myself."

Robert glanced at the taotie pattern in the screenshot. "Is this your family's traditional design?"

"It was designed by a master craftsman in the factory. It was based on unearthed Han Dynasty ring-pommel swords, but with some simplification."

"It's much more complicated than the brass cutter guard you made in the competition." Robert stood up, took a bunch of keys from the drawer, and said, "Let's go, I just need to hand in a form over there. You can use the 3D printer without any problem, and the brass powder department has it readily available, so you don't need to bring your own."

That machine hasn't been used much lately; you can just turn it on when you get there.

"Machine usage fees—"

"Just go by market price. That machine hasn't been used much lately, you can just turn it on when you get there." Robert took a set of keys from the drawer, stood up, and said, "I'm going to hand in a form over there anyway, let's go together."