[Sultros Blades] Polishing the Sword

by **Eanos** on November 13th, 2013, 11:08 pm

9 Fall, 513AV

Eanos was pleased to have reached the final stage in the creation of the sword, minor assembly of the parts aside. He had taken most of the previous day in rest and meditation in preparation for this stage and in particular because of the drain that using the gnosis always caused.

This stage was the one of all the stages which made him miss Sultros and the specialists there. Properly polishing a sword was a masterwork in its own right and took many years of practice. There he knew that the professional polishers used more than seventeen different stages in the perfection of the sword with different techniques and polishes for different parts of the sword.

He would do the best that he could and like as not no one here, Ros aside, would know the difference. Considering the finish on much of what he had seen even his poor work would be better than much of what was produced locally.

Of course there was no real need for a high standard of polish on a sword intended for combat, but polishing served two purposes for not only was it decorative but it also allowed the smith to see what he had created and how he might alter his techniques in future swords to produce either distinctive hamons or merely better ones.

”Lord Izurdin, I offer you my work on this sword. Guide my hand on this task and let your power flow through me. Let not this sword break no matter how it is tested in combat. I have forged it, treated it and shaped it as best as I can to be strong, flexible with a hard cutting edge that is locked to the core and on which damage should not spread. I ask your help in closing the door on chance, on enhancing the work that I have done. Let this sword perform superbly in battle and let the owners praise and life show testimony to you Lord.”

He was silent for a while as he pondered all of the stages that the sword had come through, revising each in his mind and enhancing those where he had called on the gnosis so that it was deeply intertwined with every stage of the process. From forging to heat treating, he hoped that the gnosis had taken root deep within the blade. Eanos was not one to spend time in church, but then he saw no need when his anvil was his altar and when the hot steel called out His name.

Silence reined in the Forge, even the forge was stilled and Eanos could hear the echo of his breathing. This was when he felt in touch with his god and now he would do his best to perfect the polishing so that it honoured him as best as he could manage. Closing his eyes once more he put aside the memories of the swords construction and instead revised the next steps to ensure that he made no mistakes and missed no steps.

by **Eanos** on December 3rd, 2013, 12:39 pm

This was to be yet another repeat of the same process which he had already performed several times already, but this would be the last time, at least for now.

Working with the roughest stone he now set to remove all marks of smithing from the blade. With the blade clamped down into a wooden clamp which had been carefully cleaned to remove all metal flakes which might be pressed into and marr the steel he worked across the blade with these stones, moving only to the next when all of the marks had been eliminated.

Now all the lines needed to be made crisper. Each stone leaving the sword with a progressively finer surface, and that being lubricated with water. After the first stones he changed direction to a diagonal stroke and then as he started with the finest of stones he changed direction once more so that he ran them along the length of the sword.

With each he was mindful not just of the work being done but also of the gnosis. With every stroke he willed the power to flow down from his arm and into the sword. With each tiny grain of metal removed so he wished for a tiny grain of gnosis to enter the sword and link with those already there so that the power of the god existed in the blade, linking it into an unbreakable matrix.

The finer stones now served dual purposes for as well as polishing they also had some functionality in changing the appearance of the steel. One which was made from iron oxide and soaked in oil darkened the spine and the back. Another enhanced the milky colour of the heat treated hamon. With these stones he enhanced the colour and the appearance of the blade. Now the corners and lines were crisp and sharp, but also slowly the edge of the blade was being created. Once it had been blunt, then in the previous stage it had been defined, but now it was sharpened.

With these finer stones the process changed in one more detail for now it was the stones which were clamped in place and it was the sword which moved. As he worked Eanos had the sword wrapped in a cloth where he held it, not because of the risk of getting cut but to protect the finish from any acidic marks from sweat and the like. The grip allowed him very precise control over exactly which part of the blade was in contact with the stone and with how much pressure. Still he worried about his skill at this and so he took more time than he might have done with each stage to ensure that each stone left the sword with an even surface in which no marks from the previous stone could be seen.

Soon these first stages of the polishing would be done and he could move on to the final stages. Where he was now was as far as he had seen any smith take their blade here in this city, so he hoped and prayed that the next steps would make a significant difference to the appearance of the sword.

by **Eanos** on December 3rd, 2013, 12:40 pm

Before he moved on to the final stage he put the sword aside and slept then came back to it and looked at it with fresh eyes. The sword gleamed softly in the dim light, his eyes attracted to the point which had been polished across the blade as opposed to along it as the rest had been and it was enough to create a contrast.

For the final polishing steps the sword once more would be immobile and the polishing medium moved over it. The final polishes were prepared and used in paste form as they were very much finer and their particles would not gouge the already polished surface, but first he had some specific polishes to apply and for these he needed to use small pieces which were precise in their control. No large stones here where a trailing edge might rub or scratch, instead he would be using small pieces no larger than the end of his thumb and which would be flexible so that they rode over the surface, polishing not gouging.

Taking one of the finer stones he used a blade to make small slices from the end which he then ground down so that they were thinner. A layer of lacquer was applied to the back edge together with paper to keep it together and another layer of laquer. When it was dry he cut it into suitable size pieces and ground it down once more until each piece was very thin. These were steps that he would never have imagined on his own, but given the results that he had seen the experts create he was more than willing to take the time to make an attempt himself.

This polish was just for the hamon and point as it contained no darkening agents. Starting at the cutting edge he held the piece of polishing stone under his thumb and worked in finger length sections moving up to the boundary of the hamon and then back down again to the point. The water he used as a lubricant for this stage contained a smithing salt which helped to avoid the blade rusting as he worked on it. Each section had to be brought to a white, smooth and uniform surface before he moved on to the next section.

The process was repeated with a different polish on the back including the spine. This polish used two stones as a base, the first was softer and was applied first. The application was the process as he had used on the hamon. Once that was applied a final polish was applied and once more this was based on iron oxide to give the back a darker colour which would contrast with the white polish applied to the cutting edge. To avoid any risk of scratching the iron oxide was dissolved in water and filtered through paper before being dabbed on to the blade and then softly polished in with a cotton cloth.

With this applied and cleaned off he took the blade up and admired the changes which had been wrought. That they were subtle it was true but then what made the difference between an average sword and an outstanding one was an accumulation of small and subtle differences.

by **Eanos** on December 3rd, 2013, 12:40 pm

The inspection however served to remind him that he had not yet completed this part of the process. The now newly darkened and slightly non reflective layer applied to the back of the sword had also by necessity covered some of the whiter sections of the cutting edge as the boundary of the hamon between hardened steel and softer steel shell was by design irregular.

He prepared the final polish in the way that he had the first though this time he made the sections into ovals so that it would follow the edges of the hamon better. He polished carefully for he didn’t want to remove the darker polished sections except where they overlapped onto the hamon and this polish once more served to whiten the appearance of the hamon to increase the contrast between the two parts of the blade. Of course to see the difference required the right light, but once seen it could not be mistaken.

He was nearly done now and prepared himself for the next to last stage. Because the back of the blade and spine were now slightly dull it was necessary to bring them back up to a glossy finish. The technique he used would also serve to harden the surface of the slightly soft steel and give it added protection either in use or simply when putting it into the scabbard and drawing it back out.

First he needed to make sure that the surfaces were perfectly clean and he did this by washing it the areas to be polished with a mixture of powdered horn and water. With this dried off he dusted it with powder which would lubricate the burnishing tools. Once more working in sections of about a fingers length he first used a burnishing spatula which was made of a very hard steel and then followed that up with a burnishing needle to create the final surface.

The final process was to polish the point, and once more it required some special techniques to do well. The point as it were was to make the point very distinct from the blade and to emphasise the hamon in the point for of course the point was also made of hardened steel. It was a difficult part to polish well as it was made up of complex curves and so required special tools and special care, especially in making sure the transition between blade and point was very sharp and distinct. One of the tools was a wooden block which had vertical cuts made into it on the back side. This made it flexible so that when pushed across the point of the sword it would flex and follow the curves.

The abrasives for this step were the same as for the hamon, the only difference in the process was technique for here more than anywhere it was essential to work as close to perfection as it was possible to do. With paper to act as buffer between wooden polisher and the abrasives Eanos set carefully to work, this time moving blade over the polish, and when it was done, so was all the work on the blade.

by **Radiant** on December 3rd, 2013, 1:56 pm

Eanos :

Notes :

My radiance is not bright enough?

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, beam me a PM and we can work it out.

Skill	XP Earned
Weaponsmithing	+2 XP
Blacksmithing	+1 XP

Completed [Sultros Blades] Polishing the Sword