How is a sword that cuts iron like mud forged?

There are two kinds of traditional swords in China: bronze swords and iron swords. With the development of smelting technology, the hardness of iron sword is gradually improved, which is called steel sword. The hardness of a sword is not as hard as possible, because "it is easy to break if it is too hard", so the most essential requirement of a good sword is high hardness, "cutting iron like mud" and high toughness, which is called "combining rigidity with softness". But it is very difficult to do this. Therefore, the making process of China traditional sword is very complicated and mysterious.

Making of sword body

Sand washing: The traditional iron sword is made of iron sand, and sand washing is a way to obtain iron sand.

Ironmaking: Iron ore is made into iron by smelting.

Stir-frying steel: stir-fry raw iron ore into steel for later use.

Smelting pig iron: smelting pig iron into pig iron and removing impurities.

Refining: further remove impurities to make crude iron more pure.

Folding forging: this process is more complicated. When the two are forged repeatedly and fully combined, longitudinal wavy dark lines will be produced on the metal surface.

Forming (initial): the sword blank is gradually formed by hot forging and cold forging according to the requirements of specifications and shapes.

Cold forging: when preparing for carving patterns, fully cold forging the lower half of one side of the sword blank to forge the sword ridge and make the sword smooth.

Shovel: The general will level a sword with a shovel.

Mosaic: Carve the pattern, sword name, shop number and words instructed by the customizer on the sword body with a steel needle, and inlaid with red copper, so that the Qingguang sword appears golden after chemical treatment, resulting in color contrast and a sense of brilliance and treasure. Carve Huanglong Jinfeng, lifelike, galloping and flying; The seven stars, like the Big Dipper, are dazzling and artistic.

Quenching: also known as water quenching, the sword body is heated and soaked in water to improve the hardness of the sword body. The heat and temperature of the sword body determine the rigidity and softness of the sword, so this process is really kung fu.

Polishing (grinding): Put the filed sword on a stone and polish it. First, rough grinding with coarse stone (or coarse sandpaper), then fine grinding with bright stone (or fine sandpaper), and finally fine grinding (or grinding stone) with raised front stone. Polishing is twice as difficult as hammering and filing.

Light-nourishing: polish the surface of the sword with a light-nourishing rod to make the sword brighter and achieve the effect of cold light.

After the above processes are completed, the body of the sword is completed, and the scabbard and hilt need to be decorated, so that a good sword can be made.

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