Craftworks

Recently rebuilt, this craftworks has an almost new appearance to it.  New work benches are arranged against the walls, a few new pieces of work lay out on them.  The center of the room is dominated by two forges, almost any size piece of metal could be worked from the heat of these over-sized forges. A small forge resides in a corner, apparently for more delicate operations.  It is apparent from the new mortar that all the forges have been rebuilt from the floor up.  Near each forge are bins for coal and odd pieces of metal.  Above the center forges large vent hoods draw great volumes of air out of the craftworks.  Over and around the Office door are hooks for displaying samples of Smithcraft work, along with objects that may be for sale.  Sorted piles of reclaimed scrap metal lay against the back wall. 

To the west, you see one person.

You see Forge, Glass Furnace, Flamethrower Class, Gemcrafter Scroll, and Stained Glass Project here.

Obvious exits:

Smith Office     Reception Hallway

Darman strides up from the Reception Hall.

Darman walks in with a hide in his hands

Darman pokes Paric! Paric looks at Darman with a stern expression of displeasure!

Cera gracefully moves up from the Reception Hall.

Cera smiles softly as she walks in and waves.

Darman nods to Cera

Paric smiles and looks about the room.  "Only you today Darman?  Do you know if anyone else will be attending this evening?" he asks.  He looks up and waves back to Cera as she enters the room.  "Are you here to watch me teach this unruly apprentice how to work wood tonight?" he says with grin.

Cera moves over to a bench and sits down, making herself comfortable as she listens to what is going on. Brushing a hand up through her hair, she chuckles softly and has a smile edging on the corner of her lips, "What me teach a woodworking class I don't think so....I will bend to uh your expertise in this matter and see how good you actually teach..." Winking, "Who knows...maybe I could give you a few pointers after it is over."

Darman says, "I am unaware of anyone else coming.  I just got into town to pick up supplies so I was unaware of the lesson.  I wouldn't mind learning though.  And I am not unruly.  "

Cera chuckles again, a glance in Darman's direction, "Ahh..so you aren't unruly at all? Hmm..." scratching her head, "Well this is good I suppose..." a sly smile crossing her face, "I think that I was a bit unruly as an apprentice...now..heh heh..I am supposed to act diginified."

Cera picks her foot up and places it on a table, glancing at Paric, "Well love...how dignified am I?.." pausing she lowers her voice an octave, "I should let you teach your class and I will just sit and observe like a good student...."

Paric chuckles and grins at his young spouse, "Well...I'm sure that you could."  He turns back to Darman and winks, "Not unruly...heh...we'll see then!"  Paric casually walks around to the front of the workbench and smiles, "So ... since we've established the issue of unruliness of apprentices, why don't we talk a little about woodcrafting!" he says as his arm sweeps about the room to indicate all the various objects that are made of wood.

Darman hmmphs and sits down

Paric chuckles and shakes his head, "Well Darman, what exactly is woodcrafting?" he asks rhetorically not expecting an answer.

Cera takes a small knife out of a pouch at her waist, begining to whittle a small piece of wood that was next to her. It begins to resemble some part of the human body.

Darman says, "Using wood to create objects of various sizes, utilizations, and complexities"

Darman says, "Or a combination"

Cera nods softly intent on her work as she listens, her eyes have a distant gleam to them.

Paric nods, "Very good.  Or to rephrase your answer, it is the art or craft of creating or building something from wood.  What are some examples of things that made of wood?" Paric asks glancing over at Cera and giving her a wink, then looking back at Darman for his answer.

Cera hums softly, barely heard above the sound of her breathing, as the soft shavings curl around the edge of the knife and fall gracefully to the table beneath her body. A small pile surrounds the length  of her leg directly under where she is whittling.

Darman muttes something softly smiles a little and replies:  "Statuettes, furniture, handles for some pans, knives, hatchets, boats

Cera looks over at Paric, her hand slipping for a moment almost cutting her hand, muttering softly she turns her attention back to what she was doing.

Paric nods, "Yes...very good.  And what about the framing of a door or building....  Have you ever thought about that?" he says with a grin.

Paric chuckles, "There are numerous examples one can make from the stairs that we climb and the door to our rooms, or the furniture and utinsels, like the knife handle or bowls that you mentioned.  All about us, we see examples of wood being used.  A very rare thing indeed.  And yet, very few people realize all that we do in the woodcraft or what is actually involved in taking a tree and creating a chest, bookshelf or even a spoon.  Hopefully tonight you will walk away with a greater understanding of what working wood involves!"

Darman nods

Paric turns around a pulls a couple of pieces of wood off the work bench and holds them up in front of him.  "When you are looking at working with wood, you need to be aware of several things.  One of those is what type of wood do you use." he says smiling before continuing.  "Wood is basically divided into two types, hardwood and softwood."

Tantric blows in with a gust of hot, dry desert wind up from the Reception Hall.

Dillian walks up from the Reception Hall.

Tantric runs in and skids to a halt trying not to get noticed as she is.. as always.. late.

Cera nods to Tantric as she continues to whittle, glancing at the entrance of Dillian, "Well hello there...a bit late but come in and take a seat..Paric is just explaining something."

Dillian stumbles in, limbs unsure of where they are supposed to be results in a good bit of tromping and stomping. One hand is meekly waves, as he quickly claims a seat, amile flickering about.

Darman looks at the two and waves to Tantric

Tantric looks a bit shame faced, and giving a small wave to Darman, recalcentrically takes the nearest seat.

"Softwoods," says Paric gesturing to several scraps of wood on the workbench, "are from conifers like cedar, fir, scrub pine and Sequoi wood.  While hardwoods are cut from desiduous trees like the birch, sky-broom, fellis, and oak."  He grins  and nods to each of the new arrivals, "Hmmmm...Okay, can any of you tell me which is harder?  Softwood or hardwood?" 

Tantric umms, " Softwood?"

Paric looks over at the two new arrivals, "Glad you two could make it...and Tantric, not always.  Most of the times, you could say that hardwoods like oak or sky-broom are going to be harder.  However, there can be exceptions to that rule.  The fir is actually a very hard wood compared to most softwoods."

Darman nods

Dillian squints at the ground for the moment. "I think the people who named it, would probally have named the hard woods, hardwood, and the soft woods, softwood? At least that's what I would do." A stray thread on his tunic saches his attention, and he begins to pick at it.

Tantric smirkles, glad she got in mostly right.. which, compared with the other questions she's had to answer at other lessons, was very good... " Really? Then why do they call it soft?"

Paric smiles and nods, "Yes, I'd probably would have done the same.  But who really knows what reasons are ancestors named wood the way we now know it."  Chuckling, he continues. " However, as a general rule, softwoods are usually easier to work and are more readily available than hardwoods.  However, hardwoods are usually more durable with a greater variety of grains, textures and colors.  This is something you should consider when planning your first piece."

Tantric ahhs and notes this in her fieldbook.

Cera places her knife carefully back at her waist and slips the piece of wood that she was working on in the waistband of her pants.

Paric smiles at Tantric, "And to repeat what I told Darman before you two arrived, softwoods are from conifers, and hardwoods are from deciduous trees.  That is the quick way to classify them."

Tantric nods and marks that as well.

Dillian files all of this into his brain, where it will get wonderfully muddled and mixed. But at least it's there.

Cera slips quietly from the room as to not disturb the class, blowkig a kiss to Paric.

Cera gracefully moves down the wide stone staircase into the Reception Hallway.

Paric smiles and leans back against the workbench, his arms akimbo, "Now...where were we... Ah yes, you know have a basic understanding of what types of wood there are, but that is really only a small fraction of what you'll need to work wood."

Tantric nods and as this seems interesting she feels like she could like wood.. yup indeed.

"To properly craft wood, you'll really need to have a good understanding about the tools that we use to shape wood," Paric says with a grin.  "There are several types of tools you may use in crafting wood including saws, " he says gesturing to a couple of tools on the workbench, "...shaping tools, like planes, files and chisels, drills, hammmers and mallets, clamps, and other devices which are used to measure and mark the wood."

Dillian leans in, his chair given to creaking, as he peers at the tools.

Paric chuckles, "I will cover tools on another day.  I just want to get you thinking about them and there possible uses.  Now, another thing you want to think about when working wood, is how will you fasten all these separate pieces together.  It is one thing if you are carving a spoon or bowl.  But what about a bookcase or table or chair."  he says glancing at Dillian, a grin spreading across his face.   "Do any of you have any idea what types of fasteners you would use to build a small book case?"

Evan glides silently out of the office.

Evan glides silently down the wide stone staircase into the Reception Hallway.

Paric chuckles, "Any ideas?" he asks the apprentices.

Tantric ponders a moment, " Umm, A clamp of some sort? A vice maybe?"

Darman says, "A nail?"

Dillian returns his gaze to the instructor, nose wrinkling briefly. "All sorts of little meatal bits." Dill gives his curl-topped head a decicive nod, then pauses adding: "And Wooden bits too, I suppose?"

Paric chuckles, "Well...that would be fine...if you liked having a clamp on every piece of wood.  However, I think it would make it a little difficult to use the shelfs.  But, don't despair Tantric, you do need to use clamps when using one type of fastener until it drys, and that is glue."  He grins at the apprentice and nods at Darman, "Yes...nails."  He quickly then turns to Dillian, "Yes...another good example, though the wooden bits are referred to as 'dowels' and the metal ones would be nails or screws."

Tantric makes a face and then grins, " Yeah.. I knew that.." she says with that fake confidence of an Apprentice.

Dillian opens his mouth in an exagerated 'ah' of understanding.

Paric smiles broadly, "Now...just sticking with dowels, nails, and screws. as well as hide glue, is a rather limited choice.  So as not to disapoint you, there is also something called 'joinery' that can be used to hold two pieces of wood together.  It usually isn't used by itself though, but along with glue, dowels, nails and screws, ie your fasteners."

Tantric ahhs and peers around at her fellow appies with a grin, " That makes sense."

Dillian mouths the word 'joinery', and presses his lips in a thin line. "It sounds complicated."

Darman nods

Paric walks around to the other side of the workbench and pulls out several pieces of 'joined' wood from underneath.  He grins, "Now these are examples of various ways wood can be 'joined'.  And it really isn't all that complicated, though it does take practice to do properly."  He begins to point to each example in turn as he names each, "There are basically six types of joints: butt joints, rabbet joints, dado and groove joints, mortise-and-tenon joints, and dovetail joints.  Hmmm...that is six isn't it." he says recounting the examples on the bench.  "... five... six.  Yes...six types."

Paric chuckles and shakes his head, "Oh...and this one, " he say picking up one of the examples, "This is a lap joint.  I don't believe that I forgot one."

Tantric scribles quickly in her book, " six joints... yada yada yada *scribble scribble*... lap joints.."

Dillian nods slowly, and repeats the names under his breath. "Dado." He likes that one. "dadodado."

Paric chuckles, "While you can use these different methods of joinery in pretty much all types of woodcrafting, they each really have a specific use in mind.  For example, you see the dovetail used a great deal of the time in frame construction for draweres.  While you might see the mortise-and-tenon joint used to hold the frame of your cots together.  Take a look tonight and check it out."

Paric grins, "So...is everyone still awake?"

Tantric nods and holds up a hand, ' Still writing Master Paric... what was that second to last one?

Dillian blinks a few times and grins. "Well you /did/ start talking about cots..."

Paric chuckles and shakes his head, "Ahh...I believe it was the mortise-and-tenon joint."

Tantric nods and makes one last scribble, " Ahh that was it.. thanks.."

Darman jumps a little

Paric nods and grins, "Yes Dillian, I did at that.  Well...if you are all caught up.  I should point out that all I am doing tonight is giving you a basic outline of what is involved in woodcraft, 'wetting your appetite' so to speak.  Now that we've used all of these different fasteners and joints to make our piece, there is one final step in working with wood and that is usually the finish."

Paric chuckles, "By finish, I mean the process of sanding and sealing the wood, applying any stains to add color, and then a finish like shelac or an oil finish which will provide some protection from dirt, abrasions, and moisture.  In addition, a finish will greatly enhance the appearance of your piece."

Paric chuckles and nods to Tantric.  "Yes...if that is what you wish.  Though instead of building something as elaborate as a bookcase, I think it would be a good idea to start small and do a simple carving.  For example, a bowl or spoon." he says with a grin.

Darman pages, "How much longer is it going to be?  :)"

And cover up those little dents it recives while being thrashed around in your pack, Dill muses. "Can afinish make the wood a diffrent color?" There, a semi-intelligent question.

Tantric woohoos, as she gets to play with knives.. muhahahahaha..opps don't let the Masters know you like em.. they take em away..;) " Coolies.."

Paric grins, "In fact, I think every one should do just that.  Your assignment will be to each make a spoon and bowl which you will carve using just a knife, chisel and mallet.  And you'll be expected to have it done by next week.  Okay..." he say making eye contact with each.

Tantric rubs her hands together *hehehe*, " Kay.. where do we get the wood? What happens if we screw up can we get more?

Paric chuckles, "Ah .. yes, that is a good point.  You can use any of the scrap wood in the pile.  That is what it is there for."  He smiles and rubs the back of his head, "Well..I think that we'll call it a night.  So unless anyone has some questions... you can leave for your next lesson or what ever duty you are assigned.

Darman says, "Thank you for your time, Master Paric"

Tantric grins and hops to her feet, " OKay. Thanks!!"

Paric chuckles, "You are most welcome Darman.  I guess you will be here for the night before heading back to Grinstead."

Paric glances up at Tantric, "Your welcome."

Dillian nods with enthusiasm. He gets to make sumthin! The chair issues a final squeek as he stands from it, and grins to the Smith Master. "Thank you for the lesson, Master Paric. I learned things." Oh-keeeey.

Paric smiles.

Paric nods to Dillian, "Your welcome, and I hope that you never stop learning...remember those watchword." he says with a wink.

Tantric giggles and starts to dig throught the pile, " Okay.. wood wood wood.. I need wood.. but what kind..."

Paric yawns and scratches the back of his head, then chuckles.  "Hmmm...for some reason, I think that it must be later than I thought.  Well...I will see you all at our next lesson.  Than you for coming.  And Tantric, have fun!" he says with a grin.

Darman nods

Dillian wanders to the pile as well, dropping to his knees for a rummage-fest.

Darman has disconnected.

Darman falls asleep.

Tantric giggles and holds up a twisted bit of fir, " Hey Dill.. check this piece out.."

shakes his head and chuckles.  Grabbing a couple of pieces of softwood and hands them to Tantric.  "Why not try these for now...I think you'll find it a little easier to work with..."

"Well...I'm off to look for Cera.  Have fun!  Night!"

Paric shakes his head and chuckles.  Grabbing a couple of pieces of softwood and hands them to Tantric.  "Why not try these for now...I think you'll find it a little easier to work with..."  He looks back down at the pile and find a couple more pieces and places them on the workbench for Dillian.  "Here are two for you.  But don't feel that you should be locked into using them  Try several different types of wood and see what you think." he says with a grin.  "Well...I'm off to look for Cera.  Have fun!  Night!"

Tantric grins, " Thanks Master Paric.." she says and winks, " I'll be back for that fir one day though.."

The housekeeper arrives to cart Darman off to bed.

Dillian tilts his head up, then wanders, again to the workbench. "Oh, yes. Good wood." One piece is picked up, and rapped soundly on the table. Dill flashes a grin, and then nods again.

Paric chuckles and nods, "I'm sure you will..." he says shaking his head. "Night..." he waves as he walks out of the room.