Chapter 91: Modelling Clay
Dominic didn’t buy anything at the magitech stores, as the prices were exorbitantly high for everything that he actually wanted. But he ended up stopping in at a materials supply warehouse and picking up a hundred kilos of clay.
He had a new spell to test, and if he did it right, he should be able to press the frame for Mana Revolvers out of clay in under a minute once he had the forms made. It was only two halves, and a stick with rifling carved on it so that the barrel didn’t have to be milled after creation.
Rifles were the requirement for the military, but Dominic had observed that gunslingers were far more capable in short - ranged combat than the average enlisted soldier. He didn’t know how many of them there were wandering around without their trade cores showing. But as the Leatherworker had proven, that didn’t mean they were not around.
They were by far his favourite blueprint, and the lack of a need for ammunition made them incredibly practical.
So, when he got back to his room at the end of a day out, Dominic set about making a mould for the pistol frame and chamber, using epoxy halves. It didn’t need to hold up to heat, he just needed to press the clay into shape and possibly let it dry a little, if he had gotten it too wet to hold shape.
When he made the first clay attempt, he used a slab of the bulk clay exactly has he had received it, and realized that it wouldn’t press properly without a bit more moisture.
That was easy enough, and on the second attempt it pressed perfectly, right down to the small details.
Dominic put the halves back together again, ensuring that the shape was perfect, and cast [Clay to Steel].
The parts came out shiny steel, that was for sure. But to his smithy trained eyes, he could see that the quality was well below that normally used for hardened tool steel or gun steel.