Samurai Swords weren't simply 'cast' in a mould and then sharpened. A Japanese samurai sword was made by an intricate process of heating the steel, hammering it flat, then folding it, then hammering it flat again, and folding. This process of repeated hammering and folding would be done up to many many times.
The Steel is Heated Prior to the Forging Process in a Charcoal Fire.
After hammering the steel out, it is cut in half and folded.
The folded steel is then hammer welded together, as the forging process continues.
The smith then continues to shape the blade, first with a power hammer and then with a hand held hammer.
After forging, the blade is shaped by hand, and then coated with clay, prior to the hardening process
After the claying of the blade, it is heated to critical (about 1450 degrees) and then quenched in water. This process creates the martensite edge and pearlite body of the sword.
The blade is then final shaped and polished. This sharpens the blade and reveals the hamon that is created by the hardening process.
During the hammering and folding, firstly,any air pockets which might develop during the heating of the steel would be eliminated. Having an air pocket in a seemingly solid blade would be a weak point.Secondly, in the repeated folding and hammering, what might be described as 'layers' were produced. Take a book and roll it up it parallel with the spine, these internal layers would look something like this, almost like the rings of a cross section of a tree trunk. This added much strength to the blade.
Also the natural strengthening carbon elements within the steel, as well as the steels impurities would be spread throughout the whole of the sword, therefore strengthening it in its entirety. When the blade came to be cooled it wasn't simply quenched in water, another process had to be done first.When steel is been cooled, if it cools from a high temperature right down to cold in a short amount of time, the metal becomes very hard and brittle. Conversely, if steel is cooled slowly from alower temperature right down to cold, the steel takes on more supple, even softer properties. Because a samurai sword was used primarily as a slicing weapon the blades were subjected to a lot of shock upon impact on the enemy, therefore the blade couldn't be made of the more brittle steel throughout else it would shatter like glass. But the sword had to retain its sharp edge, so it couldn't be made of softly forged steel throughout else it would simply blunt. So a balance was struck using a very clever procedure.
Expecting more. Any feedbacks will be highly appreciated.
The Steel is Heated Prior to the Forging Process in a Charcoal Fire.
After hammering the steel out, it is cut in half and folded.
The folded steel is then hammer welded together, as the forging process continues.
The smith then continues to shape the blade, first with a power hammer and then with a hand held hammer.
After forging, the blade is shaped by hand, and then coated with clay, prior to the hardening process
After the claying of the blade, it is heated to critical (about 1450 degrees) and then quenched in water. This process creates the martensite edge and pearlite body of the sword.
The blade is then final shaped and polished. This sharpens the blade and reveals the hamon that is created by the hardening process.
During the hammering and folding, firstly,any air pockets which might develop during the heating of the steel would be eliminated. Having an air pocket in a seemingly solid blade would be a weak point.Secondly, in the repeated folding and hammering, what might be described as 'layers' were produced. Take a book and roll it up it parallel with the spine, these internal layers would look something like this, almost like the rings of a cross section of a tree trunk. This added much strength to the blade.
Also the natural strengthening carbon elements within the steel, as well as the steels impurities would be spread throughout the whole of the sword, therefore strengthening it in its entirety. When the blade came to be cooled it wasn't simply quenched in water, another process had to be done first.When steel is been cooled, if it cools from a high temperature right down to cold in a short amount of time, the metal becomes very hard and brittle. Conversely, if steel is cooled slowly from alower temperature right down to cold, the steel takes on more supple, even softer properties. Because a samurai sword was used primarily as a slicing weapon the blades were subjected to a lot of shock upon impact on the enemy, therefore the blade couldn't be made of the more brittle steel throughout else it would shatter like glass. But the sword had to retain its sharp edge, so it couldn't be made of softly forged steel throughout else it would simply blunt. So a balance was struck using a very clever procedure.
Expecting more. Any feedbacks will be highly appreciated.
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