Craftsmanship of sword making and its advantages and disadvantages

The Craftsmanship of Sword Making

I. The main components of a sword include:

Sword body - the length of the sword that forms it. The body of the sword generally consists of six areas:

Blade - the open-edged part of the sword. Swords can be single- or double-edged. For example, a Japanese katana is single-edged, while a Scottish double-edged greatsword is open on both sides of the blade.

Tip - The end of the sword that is furthest from the hilt. Most swords have the front part of the sword tapered to a point toward the tip, but some extend in a straight line from the blade to the top of the sword. Some swords, such as American Civil War bayonets, are beaten into a curve along the blade.

The back of the sword - the part of the sword opposite the blade. Of course, double-edged swords do not have a back.

Sword face - the sides of the blade.

Groove - Often called the blood groove or edge groove, the groove is a narrow groove that runs through pretty much the entire blade. Many believe that blood can flow through the blood groove, reducing the constricting effect so that the sword can be easily drawn. Contrary to popular belief, the notch is not actually a channel for blood to flow through. The purpose of the grooves was to reduce the weight of the sword without reducing its strength. A swordsmith who puts grooves in his sword reduces the amount of material used. The sword is light and does not do much damage to the structural integrity of the sword. This is similar to the use of I-beams in the construction of skyscrapers.

Catch - At the base of some swords, the catch is the unbladed portion of the blade in front of the guard. The catch is usually used on heavy swords so that the other hand can hold this part if necessary.

Tongue - the part of the blade that is encased by the hilt. The full tang is the same width as the remainder of the blade and extends down through the hilt and pommel. A partial tongue does not extend all the way through the hilt and is usually no more than half the width of the blade. The length and width of the ligatures of various swords vary greatly, especially where they contract into the hilt. The thickness and width of the tongue inside the hilt determines how the sword is gripped.

Guard - the metal part that prevents your opponent's sword from sliding down your blade and cutting your hand. Hand guards on Japanese swords also prevent your hand from sliding down the blade, and many European swords have hand guards to counter shields when engaging in close combat. Similarly, the cross guard on European swords can also help control the tip and blade. The form of the handguard can be in the form of a cross, or it can be made in the form of a fully encased basket that encloses the entire hand.

Hilt - The handle of the sword, the hilt is usually made of leather, cord or wood. The hilt is secured to the tongue of the sword so that the sword can be held comfortably.

Hilt - the end of the sword, the hilt is fastened to the hilt. Usually, the hilt is a bit larger than the pommel to prevent the sword from slipping out of the hand and to provide some counterweight to the blade. The hilt holds the hilt securely to the tongue, and sometimes the hilt can be cast from the same length of steel as part of the blade.

Swords were used for a wide variety of purposes, both as tools only and for ceremonial purposes only. Many swords have lavishly decorated hand guards, pommels and hilts, the essence of what makes a sword unique.

Two, sword forging process

At 649 ° C - 816 ° C, steel will become fiery red, 982 ° C will turn orange-red. Most steel alloys should be processed in this temperature range. If the steel cools, it will take on a bluish color, at which point the whack will break. By contrast, steel should not be heated above 982 degrees Celsius if the alloy description does not specifically say so.

The first step after steel is heated is called drawing. Drawing a steel bar increases its length and reduces its thickness. It also means flattening the steel and machining it into a basic sword shape. By whacking the steel along one edge, the swordsmith can gradually bend the length of the steel to create a curved sword.

Next, the bladesmith begins to create the taper of the sword. Tapering is used to create the tip and tongue of the blade, and it is accomplished by whacking the steel at an angle. This is done by pounding the steel at an angle, starting at the point where it begins to taper and continuing to the end of the blade. The taper process often results in an increase in the thickness of the blade, which requires the blade to be drawn. Once the tongue is complete, the swordsmith will typically use a tap and plate kit to machine threads on the end of the tongue for mounting the hilt.

The knifemaker then proceeds to machine a portion of the blade. The knifemaker heats a portion of the blade (typically 15.24 to 20.32 centimeters of the blade) until this portion turns red, and then works it into shape with hammers and other tools. During the pounding process, the blade is repeatedly flicked to ensure that the sides of the blade are worked evenly.

At some point in the forging process, the swordsmith usually normalizes the steel. Simply put, the steel is put back into the calciner to be reheated and warmed up. The bladesmith then leaves it to cool gradually without any treatment. The purpose of normalizing is to granulate the steel (crystallize the structure). In fact, the swordsmith heats a portion of the blade at a time, and the forging changes not only the shape of the steel, but also the grain of the steel. When the steel is heated to a certain temperature, austenitization occurs (iron and carbon atoms begin to mix). The steel is removed from the calcining furnace and then cooled naturally. This reduces the stresses caused by irregularities in the composition of the blade and ensures that the grain is consistent throughout.

Finally, the blade is annealed during the grinding and polishing stages. Annealing looks similar to normalizing, but the results are a million miles apart. The steel is heated to the right temperature and begins to austenitize. Then, the steel slowly cools down. Often, the steel is wrapped in an insulating material to ensure that the steel doesn't cool quickly.

The annealing process can take anywhere from a few hours to a day. The purpose of annealing is to soften the steel to make it easier to grind and cut. Once the annealing is complete, the bladesmith begins to polish the blade.

(One of master swordsman Don Fogg's apprentices filing the blade)

Three: Machining the Blade

After the blade has been annealed, the swordsmith can carve the design and machine the blade and tip. The use of a belt sander is the most common method of machining the blade, but some knifemakers prefer to use a file.

Because the steel softens, the blade will be damaged if you want to cut anything with the blade at this point. The steel must be heated and hardened. The swordsmith then heats the blade to an austenitizing temperature. Throughout this process, the blade should be heated evenly. While many knifemakers use a calciner for this process, some knifemakers use the salt bath method.

In this method, the salt is heated to the proper temperature and then the blade is suspended in the salt bath for a certain amount of time. The salt bath uses salt that melts at a lower temperature than the temperature at which the steel melts, but beyond that temperature the salt will remain liquid, providing an excellent "hot bath" for the blade. Like a pot of boiling water, the salt heats the steel evenly and thoroughly.

After the blade is removed from the calciner or salt bath, it must be immediately placed in a quench tank. The oil in the quench tank cools the steel quickly and evenly. If, for some reason, the steel does not cool evenly, the blade will bend or even shatter. The saber should not be left in the oil for too long or too short a time. Either mistake can ruin the entire blade. Depending on the steel, and the oil or other hardening medium in the quenching tank, and the thickness of the blade, there are some general principles for the timing of blade quenching. Most swordsmiths say that it is primarily a combination of experience and intuition that determines when to quench. Quenching encloses carburization within ferrite and creates a very hard steel called martensite.

Now, after steel has been hardened, it can be tempered. Tempering, or heat treating, involves heating the blade again, this time without having to heat the blade to an austenitizing temperature. Depending on the steel, the tempering temperature is very low. The blade is held at this temperature for a certain amount of time and then quenched again. Most bladesmiths anneal the blade several times to get a precise hardness rating. Ideally, the steel is hard enough to maintain a sharp edge, but not so hard that it becomes brittle, which could cause chipping or shattering.

One very common heat treatment, especially favored by Japanese sword makers, is to encase the body portion of the sword, except for the blade, in a mixture of wet clay, which dries and hardens as the sword is heated. The clay retains heat and slows the cooling process. Some bladesmiths prefer to cover the entire blade with a thicker strip of clay ribbing, which further slows the cooling of these parts. Ideally, these sections should be slightly softer than the rest of the sword, which can add flexibility, while the blade should remain hard.

Four: Forging the rest of the sword

(Block of wood used to make the hilt)

The hilt can be made of several materials:

. Wood

. Metal

. Cord

. Bone

. Leather

. Plastic

The hilt generally slips over the tongue onto the shoulder of the sword, (the hilt is generally riveted or glued.) and is secured at the end by the hilt. The pommel is either held in place by threads on the end of the tang, or it slides over the tang. The end of the tongue was forged flat and fastened to the end of the hilt. Some swords have hilts that even have the handguard forged into the blade. Once the hand guard, hilt and pommel were manufactured, the grinding and polishing of the sword began. Finally, the blade is polished with an oilstone, and the finished product is a testament to the hard work of the swordsmith.

Pros and Cons

The tool is a very beautiful combination of contradictions, which constantly pushes the limits of human ingenuity, luck, materials and craftsmanship! But there is no mystery! The choice of steel for a good knife is not about hardness, but about the toughness of the steel after heat treatment and the hardness of the blade. If the blade is as hard as the back of the knife, the energy is absorbed by the blade when it cuts into something, so the blade is very prone to shattering or curling.

The carbon content of steel is not so simple that the higher the better. Steel used as a sword has two basic properties, hardness and toughness; hardness is how hard the blade can cut, and toughness is the ability of the material to take much energy impact without breaking.

Unfortunately, these two attributes are mutually exclusive to a certain extent, the higher the carbon content of steel, the higher the hardness, the sharper the knife is built, but also the more brittle, it is likely to touch something hard on the chipping; and low carbon content of the cooked iron, toughness is very high, to build out of the knife is not easy to collapse, and can even be bent to a degree that will not be broken, but there is little hardness, can not cut the The hardest thing to cut is the hardest thing to cut.

So a really good knife is one that must manage to blend the best of high-carbon steel and cooked iron. In ancient times, the best way is to use folding forging, the steel and cooked iron layer by layer in a fine beat together, and with the carburization method, so that the knife out of both high-carbon steel sharpness, and cooked iron toughness. This process hit out of the sword in ancient times are the best of the best, although this process was invented in China, but later is the Iran (ancient Persia) side of the forging process is the best, so it is also known as Damascus steel; and because of folding forged out of the steel, the surface of the surface will be layer by layer of the pattern, very beautiful, and therefore also become patterned steel. (Now these processes are all extinct, some of the so-called masters out of things, mostly industrial patterned steel, as well as welding torch and pickling out of the claptrap)