kscans

Chapter 122 - The Yuri Village Renovation Plan 5. The Saw

"So saws in this country... are the push-to-cut type..."

The saws had push saws and pull saws, and in his past life, Western countries had used push saws similar to the ones in this country. While you could use your body weight to push and cut, the blade needed enough strength to withstand that weight, so it tended to be thicker. Or it had reinforcement on the back of the saw. In contrast, pull saws like those used in Japan were rarely used with body weight, so the blade was thin and didn't require much force to pull and cut. Because the usage was different from what he vaguely remembered from his meager work experience in his past life, Yuri had a terribly difficult time cutting the beams. Incidentally, the plane was also a push-to-use type, but since Yuri could smooth surfaces with `Wood Transformation`, he was spared the trouble of using an unfamiliar push plane. In that case, couldn't he just make the chair with `Wood Transformation`?

"...Whoa... the wood grain is gone..."

When he tried making a chair entirely with `Wood Transformation`, he ended up with a wooden chair with no seams or even wood grain, a creation that screamed suspiciousness. It was immediately designated as a secret item. When he tried using it, it was incredibly comfortable, so he was currently contemplating whether to use it when he was alone. That said, he had set out to make a wooden chair with guests in mind, so ending up with a chair he couldn't show people was completely counterproductive. That meant he needed to make a chair using ordinary tools. If he practiced diligently, he might even acquire woodworking-related skills.

"But... this saw is hard to use..."

If he was going to continue doing woodworking, or practicing, with a saw in the future, he at least wanted a tool that was easy to use. That desire itself was not wrong.

"Tools aren’t seen by others much... maybe I should just make one?"

Just changing a push saw into a pull saw wouldn't be difficult for the current Yuri. All he had to do was reattach the handle in the opposite direction. If he used Earth Magic to reshape the saw part, it would be clumsy, but it should be usable. However, the thickness of the blade would remain the same, so it would still be difficult to use.

"Hmm... considering I need to level up my Blacksmithing skill, maybe trying to make one from scratch is an option."

Even Yuri's trusty `Rural Life Guide` didn't include instructions on how to make a saw. But when he looked through the explanation for `Appraisal`, he found a simple description of how to make a Japanese-style saw. Since it was constantly being updated, the amount of information it covered was insane. It was already on par with an encyclopedia.

"Let’s see... simply put, you punch out the shape from a thin steel plate, straighten it, cut the teeth... then quenching, tempering, and more straightening..."

It wasn't simple at all.

"There’s a lot to do before you even get to setting and sharpening the teeth..."

Yuri felt his spirit about to break, but when he thought about his future work, securing easy-to-use tools seemed indispensable. And if they didn't exist in this country, he had no choice but to make them himself. Wind Cutter type Wind Magic wasn't suitable for fine cutting work.

"...I guess I have to do it..."

Yuri muttered weakly, but he hit a high wall as soon as he began. He didn't have the tools to make a saw.

Aside from things he might use for blacksmithing, he hadn't bought any tools for metalworking. The particular problems were the chisel and the file. To form the teeth of a saw of the same type and size, he needed to make evenly spaced cuts in a steel plate. That work was supposed to be done with a chisel, but unfortunately, he didn't have the crucial chisel on hand. Well... he might be able to make the chisel itself using Earth Magic, but the problem was the next tool, the file. He had to put an edge on each of the formed saw teeth, and for a Japanese-style saw, that was done with a file.

But... he had no such tool on hand. Even if he tried to make one with Earth Magic, a special tool like a file was beyond his current skill level to create.

In that case, he had no choice but to use Earth Magic or something similar to shape it instead of doing it by hand... but deformation by Earth Magic wasn't suited for fine work. It wasn't suited for it, but...

"...I guess I have to make a saw-tooth-shaped chisel with Earth Magic, use it to make marks, shape it with Earth Magic according to those marks... and then... put an edge on each saw tooth with Earth Magic..."

There was no other way.

It was a mind-numbing task, but Yuri saw it through and managed to obtain a usable, though I wouldn't say easy-to-use, pull saw.