What was swords made out of

The basic intent and physics of swordsmanship is fairly constant. This kind of weapon has been in use from the Bronze Age when the construction of long metal blades was possible for the first time. Early swords were made of solid bronze or copper; these were hard, but quite brittle.

Not until iron could be forged did the sword truly become an important weapon. Soon, smiths learned that with a proper amount of coal specifically the carbon in coal in the iron, another metal alloy really could be produced: steel.

Several different ways of swordmaking existed in ancient times. One of the most reputed is pattern welding. Over time new methods were developed all over the world. In Pre-Columbian South America and Mesoamerica several cultures made use of types of swords without developing metallurgy; for example swords with obsidian "teeth" mounted along the "edges" of a wooden "blade". Having seen use for about five millennia, swords began to lose their military uses in the late 18th century because of increasing availability and reliability of gunpowder weapons.

Swords were still used although increasingly limited to officers and ceremonial uniforms. Cavalry sabre charges still occurred as late as World War II during which Japanese and Pacific Islanders also occasionally used swords. You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work including additions remains under this license. Keys, Angelo quickly out-maneuvered Dr. Keys' slashing techniques with his own fencing moves.

His victory made Angelo popular with the upper class as a teacher of dueling. He opened a school and fencing as sport was established. Modern fencing is done with blunted foils, epees, and sabers. A typical uniform is equipped with a padded jacket, gauntlets, and wire-mesh helmets. It is an official Olympic sport and it's popularity has been sustained by the romantic swashbuckling of early Hollywood films and recent epics like Star Wars and Braveheart.

The swords commonly in use in Europe in the Middle Ages were made of steel. Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon, and iron heated properly over a charcoal fire becomes steel. But the theory behind the process was not understood until the nineteenth century, and not many communities knew how to make good steel. Iron smelters roasted ore in charcoal fires, and produced wrought iron, cast iron and carbon steel, depending on the heat and makeup of the ore.

Cast iron contains more than 2. It is too hard to work, and until the fourteenth century in Europe, it was considered a waste product. Wrought iron contains less than 0. It is a soft, workable metal most used for tools. But wrought iron swords bent in use, and so were inferior to steel ones.

Steel suitable for swords contains from 0. Until the fourteenth century, when the mechanical bellows was invented and iron production became more organized in Europe, production of steel was haphazard, and primitive furnaces produced steel more by luck than design.

The invention of the bellows and the blast furnace in the fourteenth century allowed smelters to heat ore to higher temperatures, producing wrought iron that could be converted to steel.

A common kind of steel available in Medieval Europe was called blister steel. It was made from thin rods of wrought iron. The iron rods were packed in charcoal dust and set inside a tight iron box or small furnace. The iron was heated in the furnace and blown with the bellows. When the iron reached white hot, it began to absorb carbon from the charcoal, and turn to steel.

Rods of small diameter Sword hilt assembly. The finest steel was imported from India, called Wootz steel. Indian metallurgy was renowned from the time of the Roman Empire, and blades made in the Persian Empire and across the east were usually made from imported Wootz.

European Crusaders encountered Wootz steel in the superior weapons of their eastern enemies. Crusading knights began bringing Wootz steel back to Europe in the eleventh century, but the secret of making it remained in India until the nineteenth century.

Blades made from Wootz showed a grainy pattern in the metal, formed by the fibrous layout of crystals in the steel. The appearance has been compared to watered silk, or damask fabric.

The swordsmith usually emphasized the pattern by etching the blade with acid. The most skilled smiths could make the crystalline pattern appear in regular formations along the blade.

This ancient art is now lost. Eastern blades with patterned metal are called Damascus swords, named after the city that was a major east-west trading point. To confuse matters, some European swords are also called "Damascus.

But in true Damascus blades, the patterning is inherent in the steel itself, and not imposed on it. Indian metallurgists had several ways of preparing Wootz steel. In one method, wrought iron plates were immersed in a crucible filled with molten cast iron.

Cast iron has a high carbon content, and when heated, the carbon leached from the cast iron to the wrought plates. The resulting metal was a mixture of soft iron and hard carbon steel, dispersed in granules throughout the ingot.

Another method was to crush iron ore and The blade core is formed from two or more thin iron rods that have been heated, forged, and twisted with a pair of tongs.

Next, the twisted rods are drawn out and a seam along the edge of the blade is opened with a heated tool. A thin piece of steel that has been roughened or "scarfed" along one edge, is then set into the groove.

The smith then heats the metal so that both the iron and steel are molten and join. The blade is tempered—transformed from soft, workable metal into a hard blade—by holding the blade over a fire and then quenching the blade in a vat of oil or brine. The blade is polished and decorated. This refined ore was then dried and placed in a small clay crucible. The smelter added charcoal and other plant matter, sealed the crucible, and fired it in a charcoal fire for one to two days.

Sword Steel The most common type of metal used for sword making is steel. Stainless Steel Stainless steel blades while being the most common are pretty much for decoration only. Tool Steel Tool steel is another commonly used steel that swords may be made from.

High Carbon Steel High carbon steel blades are harder and retain their sharp edge well. Spring Steel Spring steel is mixed with a bit of chromium and silicon to make it not quite stainless, but extremely tough and durable. Damascus Damascus blades are made from any type of steel that is folded to make it harder and give the blade a nice pattern.

Have Questions? Don't hesitate to ask. We are here to help. Do you need: Pricing Answers Both. What can i help you with today? How would you like me to contact you? Phone Email Both.