Phase 01 — First days: water, fire, shelter / About year 1
01.13
Split-stick tongs
move hot stones and coals
AWhat it needs
Needs 3 other products in all, 2 of them directly.
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- 01.13 Split-stick tongsMaking Year 1 needs 3 products
- 01.03 Sharp stone flakeMaking Year 1 needs 1 product
- 01.02 HammerstoneMaking Year 1 raw materials only
- 01.05 Twisted plant-fibre cordMaking Year 1 needs 2 products
Open a box to see what it needs. A dashed box is a product already drawn in full: click it to jump there. In the org chart, drag to move around.
BWhy
Hot stones, coals and cooking food have to be moved without burning the hands. Tongs are the first tool made for working with fire, and every later furnace has a descendant of them.
CYou need
DSteps
- Start a split in one end of the stick by pressing the flake into the end grain and rocking it.
- Pull the two halves apart with the hands until the split has run half the length of the stick. Go slowly so it stays in the middle.
- Bind the stick tightly with cord just below the end of the split, ten turns, so the split cannot run any further.
- Push the twig crosswise into the split close to the binding. It holds the jaws apart like a spring.
- Scrape the inside of each jaw tip flat, and cut two or three shallow grooves across it for grip.
- To use: squeeze the jaws shut on the stone, lift, carry, and let go.
- Make three pairs. Keep them by the fire, and make new ones when the jaws char through.
EIt worked if
- A stone the size of a fist can be lifted out of the fire and carried five paces without slipping.
FWhat goes wrong
- The split runs out to one side. Bend the thicker half more than the thinner half as you pull, and the split moves back to the middle.
- The stick splits its whole length. The binding was too loose or too late. Bind before pulling the last part.
- Stones slip. Cut deeper grooves, or pick stones with a flat side.
- The jaws burn. The wood was dry. Use green wood and dip the jaws in water between lifts.
GIn the story
Sofia burns her fingers twice on the second evening and decides that is enough. Her first pair is ugly and works. By the next day there are tongs at every fire and she has started telling people where they may and may not put them down.
HFigures
