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<blockquote data-quote="PapersAndPaychecks" data-source="post: 5866059" data-attributes="member: 28854">With apologies to Thunderfoot, for contradicting him, period mail wasn't necessarily square-section at all.&nbsp; D-section mail was commonplace from the dark ages onwards (for example, in the Gjermundbu mailshirt).&nbsp; Where Thunderfoot is correct is that mail was very rarely round-section.There are various rather complex processes involved in making a top quality sword blade.&nbsp; One of the most famous was pattern-forging, which is what I'll describe for you here.First thing to understand is the difference between cast iron, steel, and wrought iron.&nbsp; Wrought iron is iron with a low carbon content (less than 0.05%, usually).&nbsp; Steel is iron with 0.05%-2% carbon content, and cast iron is iron with more than 2%.This matters because in mediaeval technology, the iron ore was smelted in charcoal.&nbsp; This impregnated the iron with lots of carbon to produce cast iron. Therefore, the smith's first job was to reduce the carbon content of his materials so as to make steel.&nbsp; He would achieve this by heating and beating.&nbsp; The heating makes the carbon rise to the surface of the iron bar.&nbsp; The beating cracks off the resulting surface layer of carbon.&nbsp; Our smith needs to keep doing this several times to his iron bars.&nbsp; Eventually, he will have a group of bars of high-carbon steel which have been well-worked.Our smith then separates the bars into two piles.&nbsp; One pile, he leaves in its current state, which is rather flexible and malleable.&nbsp; The other pile, he heats up to the eutectoid point (which is hot --- it varies according to the carbon content, but you can say around 720 degrees C or 1,330 degrees F).&nbsp; At the eutectoid point, the molecular structure of the steel changes a bit, so it becomes much harder and less flexible, but also more brittle.Next, our smith sort of twists or plaits the bars of steel together --- a hard, brittle bar, then a soft, ductile bar, then a hard, brittle one and so on --- to form the blade.&nbsp; (The Vikings liked it done in a particular chevron pattern, which made the blade pretty to look at.)&nbsp; The smith then forges the tang and the blade edges from hard, inflexible steel that will take a sharp edge.The quillons, handle and pommel will be made as separate pieces and attached to the tang later on.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="PapersAndPaychecks, post: 5866059, member: 28854"] With apologies to Thunderfoot, for contradicting him, period mail wasn't necessarily square-section at all. D-section mail was commonplace from the dark ages onwards (for example, in the Gjermundbu mailshirt). Where Thunderfoot is correct is that mail was very rarely round-section. There are various rather complex processes involved in making a top quality sword blade. One of the most famous was pattern-forging, which is what I'll describe for you here. First thing to understand is the difference between cast iron, steel, and wrought iron. Wrought iron is iron with a low carbon content (less than 0.05%, usually). Steel is iron with 0.05%-2% carbon content, and cast iron is iron with more than 2%. This matters because in mediaeval technology, the iron ore was smelted in charcoal. This impregnated the iron with lots of carbon to produce cast iron. Therefore, the smith's first job was to reduce the carbon content of his materials so as to make steel. He would achieve this by heating and beating. The heating makes the carbon rise to the surface of the iron bar. The beating cracks off the resulting surface layer of carbon. Our smith needs to keep doing this several times to his iron bars. Eventually, he will have a group of bars of high-carbon steel which have been well-worked. Our smith then separates the bars into two piles. One pile, he leaves in its current state, which is rather flexible and malleable. The other pile, he heats up to the eutectoid point (which is hot --- it varies according to the carbon content, but you can say around 720 degrees C or 1,330 degrees F). At the eutectoid point, the molecular structure of the steel changes a bit, so it becomes much harder and less flexible, but also more brittle. Next, our smith sort of twists or plaits the bars of steel together --- a hard, brittle bar, then a soft, ductile bar, then a hard, brittle one and so on --- to form the blade. (The Vikings liked it done in a particular chevron pattern, which made the blade pretty to look at.) The smith then forges the tang and the blade edges from hard, inflexible steel that will take a sharp edge. The quillons, handle and pommel will be made as separate pieces and attached to the tang later on. [/QUOTE]

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