Page 42 - Nov 2020 JOA

by Kary Pardy

Shaped in Steel: Dissecting the Technology

Behind your Edged Weapons

here are lots of reasons to be drawn to edged weapons, and their While previous swords had been
beauty and history are chief amongst them. Each piece carries straight and were perfect for the
Twith it a complicated past that is directly connected fighting style of the time (lots of
to our most violent and sometimes, thrusting and stabbing), this era
most noble, heroic stories. saw the more frequent use of
Whether you’ve got a horses in combat. Warriors needed
parade sword or your a better weapon, and the new, curved
ancestor’s Bowie swords (called tachi) met the demand for a
knife, these are blades The Roman gladius was a short (two feet), weapon that could slash and be held in one
that shaped history, and this sharply-pointed, double-edged sword and its design hand. To achieve this new blade, swordsmiths
article will take a closer look at the technology had evolved over the centuries to be the ideal weapon increased the length but added ashi, strips of soft
shaping those antique blades. for the legions of the Roman Empire. It was forged steel, along the hardened edge to protect the
When discussing what makes a sword or a from high-grade steel and was primarily suited for blade when clashing in combat. Blade technology
the Roman fighting style, where shield usage was
knife “good,” specialists are evaluating four key heavy and swords were called upon to thrust and stab leaped forward again during the Kamakura
criteria: strength, flexibility, hardness, and through the shield wall. In their book From Sumer Period (1185-1333). After a series of devastating
balance. Over the years access to metals has to Rome: the Military Capabilities of Ancient attacks by the Mongols, Kamarura warriors saw
changed, but these goals have remained as Armies, historians Richard Gabriel and Karen Metz the necessity of better weapons technology.
necessary determinants of a blade’s quality. A wrote that in the hands of a highly trained Some advancements included adding a low-
blade must be hard enough to support its legionnaire, the gladius “was the most deadly of all carbon steel core into the blade and lengthening
length, flexible and strong enough to take a weapons produced by ancient armies, and it killed of the hardened edge, making the blade broader
beating in combat without breaking, and more soldiers than any other weapon in history until with a larger point. The katana were developed
balanced enough to be used without over- the invention of the gun.” photo: Wikipedia during this period and honed in the next,
compensation. Shirking on any one of these taking over for the tachi and becoming more
traits could be a matter of life or death, and while bladesmiths might than a weapon – they were art.
be called upon to shift styles in the face of military changes, these To craft a katana, one must select the right materials, and combine
principals always remained of the utmost importance. iron and carbon by heating sand for 72 hours in a traditional tartara
furnace to achieve a temperature of 2,200-2,700 degrees Fahrenheit.
What made the world’s famous blades so cutting edge? The resulting nuggets are called tamahagane, and a swordsmith must
To appreciate weapons form them into a workable block and hammer it thin before scoring it
development, it’s important with an axe, folding the piece over on itself, and placing it back in the
to understand that new furnace. The folding process, which is called shita-kitae, can
technologies arose out of be done lengthwise or diagonally
demand and available (occasionally sword-
resources. Early weapons of copper and smiths do both
bronze were typically cast, not forged, but Scandinavian Ulfberht swords (800-1,000 AD), to achieve the
bronze smiths used varying amounts of tin in named for the signature on their blades, descended desired pattern) and happens anywhere from
the different parts of the blade depending on from the Roman gladius and similarly, were light eight to sixteen times. The folding takes the
what was needed. Early Chinese swordsmiths enough to be used with one hand but finely crafted varied carbon content in the original tamahagane
used a strong, fracture-resistant low-tin alloy in enough for superior sharpness and strength. They block and mixes it, just as one would combine
the center of their swords, and cast the edges in were forged from high-carbon crucible steel and are ingredients in a bowl, removing impurities as
remembered for their superior hardness, flexibility,
high-tin bronze, which was harder and could and strength. The technology to develop such you might remove the lumps in your mixture.
hold a sharper edge. With the influx of steel advanced blades didn’t show up again in the The swordsmith will then use a hammer to
technology, edged weapons changed. The West until the Industrial Revolution, making the draw out the piece of metal, and depending on
Roman Gladius and the Viking Ulfberht are origin of these fine pieces a topic of debate amongst the carbon content of the metal, will decide
legendary steel weapons that stand out as historians. photo: Battling Blades. what part of the final sword the piece will
technological milestones in bladesmithing, but become. Different swordsmiths craft their blades
none can hold a candle to Japanese swordsmiths for their painstaking with different pieces, each selected for the ideal properties needed
devotion to hardness, flexibility, strength, and balance. for each area of the blade. The edge requires a very hard steel, while the
sides and back may be made of a more malleable, spring steel to give
Samurai Katana added flexibility and strength. Steel properties are also honed during
The Samurai katana is perhaps the most famous sword style of all the tsuchioki process. When the smith was satisfied with the shape of
time. On a very broad scope, Japanese brilliance with edged weapons the sword, he would coat it in several layers of a wet clay mixture, the
really started to shine through during the Heian Period (794-1191). exact formula of which is a secret recipe for each swordsmith. The

40 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles