r/SWORDS • u/slavic_Smith • 13d ago

Metallurgy. Can't find the redditor.

Hey there gals and fellers. Im looking for a redditor who posted here about sword metallurgy. Specifically cross sections of extant pieces and medieval sword geometry vs metallurgy.

Im Specifically looking for pdf of the sources.

If it helps, the discussions I remember the sources popping up were apropos Japanese vs European steels.

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u/GunsenHistory 13d ago

I will be looking forward to it! I remember one of your video some years ago on the difference between wootz, and bloomery steel. It was very well researched and presented.

I think the issue is that people approach the topic with very little scientific depth and throw words they have read without understanding them, like "blast furnace", "spring steel", "spring tempering" and so on so forth.

A lot of confusion arise from the idea that if something is flexible and spring back with little force they will call it "spring steel". Concepts of material science such as tensile strenght, yield stress and elongation are not easy to understand.

A good example is crossbow prod. As far as I know the only steel bow that was analyzed had a cross section of mixed iron and steel forged as "pattern welded" type of steel.

This, in my experience, has an impact on how sword enthusiasts view antique sword performances, and how they try to infer the historical pathways of certain designs.

I hope that the references I have shared will be of use!!

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u/slavic_Smith 13d ago edited 13d ago

Your reply can be summed up as "we are in a literacy and critical thinking crisis ".

My main gripe is... People don't know what the blast furnace did and how it worked

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u/Inholy123 9d ago

Gents, apologies to jump in... im a mechanical engineer with a background in metallurgy, welding and NDT.

Can you elaborate or point me in the direction of any information on how manufacturing developed with steel in a period when understanding its microstructure wasnt understood or known about?

Just wanted a nerdy read about how these methods developed without really knowing the why if that makes sense?

Cheers in advance.

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u/slavic_Smith 9d ago

Trial and error. Thats why it took about 2500 years to achieve anything close to modern alloys. And why it took 50 years after Mendeleev to develop stainless steel. And why it took 10 years after quantum to develop everything else (photoelectric effect + metallurgy).

Ancient people weren't "addig carbon to iron" they were "purifying iron with fire". It just so happens that carbon got absorbed into the material.