Page 60 - History of War - Issue 25-16

FORGING THE ULTIMATE BLADE

HE

added to reduce imperfections. The steel edge normalise. Next it was heated and quenched
was then welded to the core, which made the in water or brine – at this point the metal was
sword lexible and luid in the hand. The steel brittle, so it would be reheated to a lower
edge made the blade wickedly sharp, but it was temperature and allowed to cool slowly. Once
the interplay between iron and steel that was key sharpened and afixed to a ine hilt, the result
to the success of these magical blades. was a statement of intent and an announcement
The blade was fullered and ground to shape, of its owner as a superior warrior – one likely to
then heated and quenched several times to kill you.

2. FORGING
The only way to successfully fuse iron and steel was to forge them. The superheating of the metals created
thousands of tiny welds that united them. An added bonus of forging was that any impurities in the metal would
be spread evenly around the blade, reducing the chances of failure through stress. This can cause the blade to
bend or even snap – not good in the midst of battle. Bars of good grade iron were twisted in a regular pattern.
This working further dispersed any impurities. The bars were welded together to make a solid core and the steel
edge was then welded on. A channel was opened around the edge of the core and the steel was welded into
this. Closing the channel locked the steel into place, making a strong bond.

3. GRINDING
A variety of methods could be used to grind a blade, from water-powered
wheels to sand on a piece of leather, although hand iles, as well as stone
h l d h d Th bl d d th h i t f

“THETECHNOLOGYREQUIREDTOMAKETHE
BAMBURGHSWORD,ANDSIMILARPATTERN-

WELDEDWEAPONS,WASSTAGGERING”

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