The Tables have Turned. [Solo/Research]

[Weegee]

I GET ALONG WITH THE VOICES INSIDE OF MY HEAD

"Good morning Old Wyatt." Weegee rubbed his eyes as he yawned out his greeting to the elderly man. He had asked the old carpenter to assist him enhance his skill with Woodcrafting, which made the old man ecstatic. The door opened wide as an old man hobbled out on a cane. "Well here is old Weegee, you're about a half hour early aren't ya? Good to see at least one young person with the will to work at early dawn." Without any further interruptions, Wyatt hobbled his way through the house and into his workshop. Weegee noted the many tools and materials that the man had kept in stock, and even took note that a large pile was set aside from the rest. It was this pile that Wyatt came to sit next to in a rocking chair that was obviously weathered with age.

"I got this all set aside for you to use, its old wood and glue of course, but its for practice, not show. Now, first things first, you'll be making a simple table, alright? I want it large enough for four people to sit at it in comfort, so height and side length will be important. Got it m'boy?" The old man nodded as he spoke, almost as if he was about to fall asleep as he talked. Weegee nodded his head in understanding before he took a few of the boards and some glue. 'Now, the first part will be making legs sturdy enough to support the weight of the top. Two planks glued together might be sturdy enough for that.' He mused to himself before he started applying the wood glue to one side of the first board. Making four straight lines of glue along the board, he quickly set the second board on top of it and applied pressure to make a seal. There were a pair of crude clamps on the wall behind him, which he used to assist in the process.

'Using pressure will help form a tighter seal, as it prevents the accumulation of air bubbles in the glue. Its basic knowledge from the carpentry books I've read, but I don't know how well it will work with the tools I have at my disposal. The tools they used in the books were much more advanced.' He picked up another pair of boards and spread a single line of glue along one edge of the first board, before pressing the second board against it to start forming the tabletop. He could at least try and multitask with the pieces he had to make. "Sir Wyatt, about how long should the glue be allowed to dry for the best results?" He looked over his shoulder to find that the old man was now gently snoring in his chair. "Well, I somehow didn't expect that." Looking back to his work with a sigh, he simply shook his head. "Practice will only make perfect I guess."

While he waited for the leg to finish while he glued more pieces to the tabletop. Once he had five boards put together he let the glue set while he picked up the table leg he had made. He tried to gently pull it apart to test the glue, and as the leg didn't completely peel apart it seemed like it had successfully set. "Well, seems the glue dries in about thirty minutes with pressure, however, it will probably take longer without. So I'll give the table top two hours, plenty of time for me to make three more legs." Grabbing six more planks he set them out side by side to make sure they were all the same length as the first pair. Sadly, however, three of the planks were different lengths, two were too long and the last was too short. Trading the short plank out for one as long as the other two, he set them on the table and got the saw. He was about to make the first cut when he suddenly remembered something. 'Measure twice, cut once.' He shook his head slowly as he brought one of the right sized planks over and set it beside the others. He aligned the saw so that the place he would cut was aligned with the correctly sized board. Sawing carefully, he spent about twenty minutes making sure that he didn't damage the boards. He would assemble the legs just like he had the first, by applying four lines of glue to each and clamping them so that the pressure assisted in the gluing process.

After two and a half hours had passed, he felt that the glue should be fully hardened, and pulled gently at each board to try and make sure. 'It seems to be holding, however, now comes the more, difficult part. How am I going to hold the legs on while it glues? Do I just stand them up and set the tabletop on it, or is there some special way to do so?' Weegee began looking around the carpenter's shop as he searched for some kind of tool to assist him in his ventures, but alas, he came out empty-handed and sat down between the various pieces. 'I could also glue each leg on one by one simply by holding them onto the table myself, however, then I would need to lift the table and flip it without breaking it.' As he mulled over various thoughts, one struck him that he hadn't considered before. Without a second thought, he hopped to his feet and got a board just as long as those that made up the table, along with two others.

He placed the boards on the floor and quickly measured the two remaining boards against the short end of the tabletop. He found that the board was twice as long as the width of the table, so he quickly made a mark on the board with his whittling knife before he took it to the sawing area to cut it in half. Though, midway through his cutting, he was started by a large snore coming from the old man beside him, which made his cut veer harshly to one side, effectively ruining one of the two boards. It wasn't a total loss, since it would help with his original plan anyways, as he quickly, and carefully, went to cut the other board to the same length. Once he had the two boards cut, he took them to the two boards he had left on the floor, and put them side by side. Laying the shorter boards perpendicular on top of them, he made another mark on both of them where the two long boards no longer touched the short ones. Once again he made another cut, sawing off where he marked so that he now had enough boards for what he had planned.

Setting the four specially cut boards on the floor, he set them into a rectangular formation matching the outline of the table top. Applying glue to the edges where the boards would connect, he would start working on the next part. Taking an extra board and the two half pieces he had remaining, Weegee cut them into sets of four pieces, each measured against the boards he had gluing on the floor. 'This should make a nice station for holding the legs up while the table glues together fully.' Making sure that the wooden pieces would fit around the legs as well without allowing too much room to move. Once he had the markings set on his contraption, he began to glue the pieces to their marked spots. 'With four pieces to each corner to hold the legs, it should at least make a slightly more stable area for them to rest while I place the tabletop on them to glue. This would be much quicker, and sturdier, with nails. Perhaps some other class can make them or use them?'

During the time he waited for the glue to set, he took a small piece of a log and began to carve into it with his whittling knife. He would pass the time by making a small carving, he thought about what he could make while he carved it down to an appropriate size. 'Maybe a bird or a Brier Weasel? Those are rather cute. I could also make a little knight, but, I think I'll go with making a little pig.' Sitting down on the floor, he began to carefully carve a small replica of a piglet. He started by making an egg shape out of the wood, so that he would have plenty of material to work with. The first step was to whittle the ears and snout, so that he could have a good base for the head. Slowly, he took off shaving by shaving to make the front portion of carving into a small oval shape which would be used for the nose.

Word Count: 1500| Green= Weegee, Pink= Caitlyn, Blue= Kevin, Red= James, Black= Elder, Orange= NPC's

by requiem of <remoor>

[Weegee]

I GET ALONG WITH THE VOICES INSIDE OF MY HEAD

Once the first portion of the pig had been completed, Weegee made the slight upwards curve that would be its head, ending a short distance away so he could carve the two ears. The old man beside him kept snoring softly as Weegee continued his whittling. The ears were slightly more difficult, as he began to gently hollow them out with the tip of the knife, giving them a little more depth. Sadly though, his hand jerked slightly the wrong way as it snagged against a stray hole in the wood, and cut a gash in the pig's ear. Scrunching his face slightly in disappointment, he instead decided to incorporate it into the design by carving a small cut into the ear, as if the little piggy was a survivor.

It took him the entire two hours to finish carving the little pig, as he etched the final details onto its curly little tail. He set the completed model on the floor next to him as he hopped up and moved to place each of the legs into his new stand. carefully placing the ends of each board into the slots made by the wooden structure, he made sure they were all balanced before moving on to the next one. He waited for two minutes to see if his handiwork would hold up, and surprisingly it did. Blinking in surprise, he simply went over and hoisted the table up onto the legs, to see if they would hold the weight and stay balanced. After another two minutes had passed, the table was still standing, which prompted Weegee to take the tabletop from the legs and apply glue to the top of each. Replacing the tabletop upon the legs, all he had to do now was wait once more.

With a sigh, he picked up a few more boards and moved them to the empty side of the workshop. What could he build now, the old man just wanted him to start with a table, but now that it was finishing and Old Wyatt was still asleep, he had nothing better to do than fiddle around with another project. He tapped his chin as he tried to remember what the old man had said before, swearing that he had mentioned another project to start on after the table. Unable to remember, he simply decided to try and create something to compliment the table he had made. A simple chair would suffice, something rather ordinary of build and fashion. Looking at the chair the old man was sitting in, he studied it closely to see how it was made. 'If it's anything like the ones back home, then I would need to make holes in the seat for the legs, and use glue to hold it all together of course. The legs would also need to be cut so that the top would fit in the hole as well. But, what thickness of leg is needed to support a body's weight is the key question.'

He mused over his problem, as he brought more boards over to his new work area. He couldn't use two boards together this time, without making them incredibly bulky for a small area. He would have to hope the boards were strong enough to hold his weight once cut. With his face twisted slightly to one side, he began marking the spot he would cut the first board, measuring it slightly against the height of Old Wyatt's chair for a start. After carefully making the first cut across the board's width, he would make a cut along the middle of its length, going very slowly as to not make a mistake. This would be used to make a pair of legs, while the shorter parts of the board would be used for supports to keep the chair balanced. He would cut those two pieces down their length as well, but his hand would veer slightly to the left, causing the boards to become uneven in the cut. Sighing, he set the boards aside, hoping that such a slight error wouldn't ruin the entire build. He repeated the process for the remaining two legs and supports before working on the main portion of the chair. The seat was the most crucial part, as if it didn't hold together there would be no way for the rest of the chair to remain intact.

Setting four boards down on the ground, he measured their lengths by sitting himself atop them, and making a mark about an inch back from where his back would be. Cutting the boards there, he set aside the longer pieces so that he could use them to make the chair's back. He looked up to watch his table for a moment, knowing that he hadn't heard any crashes or snapping wood, but he still wanted to make sure that it wasn't leaning or anything either. Much to his relief and astonishment, it was still standing straight up. Returning his mind to his current work, be began gluing the seat boards together, so that they could start setting while he went to find an auger. He knew of some of the older tools that were used on wood from before advanced technology had existed, thanks to his time spent reading during most days. An augur would allow him to bore a hole into the wood that was just big enough that he could start carving it to the size he needed. the one he found, was even more primitive than he imagined, as it was quite literally a piece of metal with what looked like a sharp edged spoon on a rod with a wooden T handle. With a shrug he picked up the equipment and went back to work, drilling a small hole into the two ends of the outer boards.

Once the holes were complete, he would begin by slowly whittling one end of the legs to match the hole she had made. This was a very slow and dull procedure, as he had to keep checking the fit after every cut he made. He needed the legs to fit snugly into their spots before he glued them in, to increase the stability further. He now wasn't sure if he should have made the holes to match the legs or if what he had done was easier, but he was determined to continue his current work. The first leg took him nearly forty-five minutes to complete at his slow pace, however, it wouldn't be any faster for the other legs, just in case the holes he had made there would be a different size. With a sigh, he spent the next three hours working on the last three legs, all to the gentle rhythm of the old man's breathing. Oddly enough, the sound wasn't distracting, but seemed to help him focus on his work even more than silence would have.

Once he had finished that, he glued the legs and support pieces together before gluing the legs to the seat. He would leave that to dry while he worked on the seat's back. It was a simple matter of gluing the boards together, but to add a little more flair than a square with a rectangular back, he decided to cut the top end in a slight curve, so that it looked slightly more fancy. He would start with a simple edge cut, before rubbing down the sharp corners with the coarse fabric that allowed him to smooth it into a slight curve. Once that had been finished, he glued the pieces together in their respective places and let them sit to dry. With his chair nearing completion, his attention returned to the table that was resting within his makeshift stand. He stood up and dusted the sawdust from his pants before he approached the crude construction.

The wood was aged and weathered, the wood's patterns clearly visible even in the late afternoon light. But, no matter how shoddy it may seem, it was his own craft, and he was rather proud of himself for it. He hoped that it had dried sufficiently in the time he had given it, and gently pressed his hands down on its center. The table seemed to hold itself together without falling apart horribly. With a sigh of relief, he began testing each side to make sure that it at least seemed to hold its own. With each test, his confidence grew, and he felt as if he may have actually made a worthwhile piece of furniture. Smiling nearly from ear to ear he looked at the old man, who was peering at him through a half-closed eye. "Old Wyatt, you've only pretended to sleep, haven't you?" The old man chuckled as he sat up and stretched his back. "Only for the last hour young Weegee. Now, tell me, how does it feel to make something with your own ideas and your own hands?" Weegee said one thing. "Amazing."

Word Count: #| Green= Weegee, Pink= Caitlyn, Blue= Kevin, Red= James, Black= Elder, Orange= NPC's

by requiem of <remoor>

[Weegee]

I GET ALONG WITH THE VOICES INSIDE OF MY HEAD

"Now, is there anything in particular you'd like to work on?" The old man hobbled over to pat Weegee on his shoulder. "It could be anything at all." Weegee looked over his shoulder at the man, a broad smile spread across his face. "I want to make some tools." The old man blinked for a moment before chuckling at him. "Well, as a Woodcrafter, anything is possible when you put your mind to it. What kind of weapon were you thinking of making?" Weegee pondered for a moment, before it suddenly came to him. "Monks don't really have any kind of weapons besides throwing ones, so, why not something that we can enchant so that our fisticuffs are even stronger? Wooden fists that we can have enchanted and powered up!" He laughed heartily as Old Wyatt sat back down with a nod. "Well my boy, feel free to get to work on your dream then."

Weegee grabbed a large pair of logs from the pile that Old Wyatt had available. Measuring them against his own arm, he plotted for just how he could do this. 'Each one would have to be fashioned to the buyer, as there wouldn't be an easy way to mass produce something like this. As for a handle, I think a wooden bar inside the fist area would be best. As for detail, that's where whittling will come in handy. Now, to start, I should get the arm slot finished first.' Taking a piece of cloth from a shelf, he wrapped it around the thickest portion of his arm as a measurement. Tying it tightly enough that it held, but didn't compress the size of his arm, he would pull it off and place it against the base of the log. Using a knife, he marked the width of his arm, adding a slight increase in size to allow for more comfort. He repeated the process with his other arm and log, before he took out the augur once more. He would drill a hole through it, large enough that he could fit about half of his forearm into it. He switched the head of the augur out for one slightly larger, one just about the size of what he needed. 'If its not enough, I can just carve out a bit more to form the fit I need.'

It would take him around an hour of slowly boring through the wood, checking the depth with his hand every few moments to make sure that he didn't go too deep, as he still needed plenty of wood in front of his fist in order to make it a viable equipment. 'It won't have an amazing durability, sure, but it's a start. Especially if I can get the help from a blacksmith and mechanic, we could always make it even better. Screws for movable joints, metal plates for more force and durability. I don't mind if it doesn't involve any wood, or the fact that I can't really help with it, but hey, it'd be kind of nice to run around with huge metal fists.' He chuckled at his idea as he checked the depth one last time. As he inserted his hand into the hold, he would take hold of his arm right at the edge of the wood, and then measure it against the outside of the log. This time, he had about three inches of wood between where the hole ended and the end of the wood.

'Alright, plenty of space, now to carve.' Taking hold of his whittling knife, he began the long process oh carving the details of the fist. He started with the fingers, honestly, if he was going to make something to use or wear, he was going to try and make it look as good as possible. It was a time consuming process just to finish the first one, as he detailed the hands to resemble an over-sized version of his own. He had just finished the first three fingers when Old Wyatt came over to inspect his work. "Hmm, seems interesting. You put a large amount of detail into the carving, I can see small cuts that resemble hairs and more to show off the lines on the knuckles." He nodded as he made his inspections. "Although, you take a lot of extra time by completing the detail before you finish the basics. In small projects like this it works, however you shouldn't try that with buildings, or you'd never get them finished. Not to mention that you might just cause the building to collapse before you can truly begin." Weegee nodded in understanding of what his mentor was hinting towards.

"Okay Old Wyatt, so when making a large structure, like a house or bridge, it's best to worry with the base before detailing everything. I can see why, as taking time to detail each little part before the structure is stable enough to support itself could result in catastrophic failure." He continued working on the final finger of the fist as he pondered the teachings he was given. "So, Old Wyatt, if I wanted to make a house, are there any tips that you could offer?" Once the smallest finger was finished, he would start working on thinning down and smoothing out the arm portion of the fist as Old Wyatt spoke. "Well, when building a house you need to be careful about your supports. Proper use of supports will allow you to build more elaborate and sturdy structure. For a house, you need to find which walls will be supporting the most weight. Normally a central area will be what you're looking for, however if you're building a one room place, you'll either have to use a central support column, or attach basic struts along the roof, by using a central board at the apex of the roof, with supporting struts along its side to each of the lower walls. That would give it the basic stability you'll need to make a lasting structure. Of course, unlike some projects, like the table, chair and this current project of yours, can take anywhere from weeks to months, or even years depending on how big and elaborate it will be."

"That makes plenty of sense, I'd read a bit on architecture before we were all stuck here. It's really a lot more fun than I expected though, so many thanks for all the help Old Wyatt." He had just finished the basic parts of the first hand, and began working on making a second copy. The elderly gentleman went back to his chair to watch as the young man continued his work, carefully measuring the depth of the hole as he bore into the wood with the augur. Once again the meticulous process was followed through, until he was at about the same depth, with around three inches of wood between his hand and the outside of the log's front. It was starting to get dark, a sign that he needed to go ahead and finish his work. However, he did not start rushing his work, and instead borrowed a candle from Old Wyatt so that he could see even without the sun. It was probably around ten in the evening before he finished his work, but there was still one last thing to do. Taking two smaller logs, he whittled them down into sticks about half an inch thick before he rubbed them down with a coarse cloth to smooth them over.

The final step was ready to be completed, simply boring a hole the size of the new handles through the fists where his hand would be, so that he could have an effective grip. Switching out the augur head for one just the right size for the job, he quickly made a measurement against the outsides so that he wasn't off from where he needed to be. Once the cuts had been made in both fists, he inserted the rods for measurements, cutting off the extra of both rods. The final step of all that was needed, was to simply glue in the rods so that they would stay within the gloves. A thin application of glue to the back end of the rod and the bottom hole allowed him to glue it in with no problems.

Dusting his hands from the sawdust they had gathered during his day, he smiled broadly at his work as he picked them up, ready to head on his way home as he let the glue dry. He cleaned up the work area before he left for the night. "Huh, I wonder if I'll be able to get these enchanted some time later. Or if they would even hold up during combat." He stopped to look at them before he gave a shrug. "No better way to find out than test them." At least it was such a peaceful night that he wouldn't have to worry about any trouble.

Word Count: 1500| Green= Weegee, Pink= Caitlyn, Blue= Kevin, Red= James, Black= Elder, Orange= NPC's

by requiem of <remoor>