Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Drifter Bob" data-source="post: 1685560" data-attributes="member: 17723">I posted two links earlier in this thread which pretty much give you the definitive breakdown on all kinds of steel used in swords, but the readers digest version is that most stainless steels cannot be made both flexible and hard the way carbon steel can be.  They are either too brittle or too soft.  This is due to the way the chromium affects the molecular structure of the iron.  (for more details,  have a look at those links)  Most commercially available stainless steel swords won't hold a good edge, break easily, and are usually heavier for some reason.I understand that they have recently developed some new alloys of stainless steel which are better performing, but extremely difficult to work with.Here are some answers to other questions raised in the latter part of this thread<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The finger print issue I know this from painful personal experience.  If you don't want your sword to be messed up, you should wipe it down carefully immediately after every time it is handled, and keep it oiled.  You also aren't supposed to keep swords in most scabbards (in the "olden days" some people used to  use wool lined scabbards so the lanolin from the wool would sort of continuously oil the sword...) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">super steels and modern super metals, it seems the 2,000 year old old technology of high carbon steel is still essentialy the most "miraculous" super metal around for many applications, notably sword making. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">collectors swords vs real conflict, generally they are one in the same.  The real usable ones are also often aesthetically much nicer.  Some people are ok with cheap weapons for use as "wall hangers" and that is perfectly ok.  Most even semi serious collectors stick with the most realistic possible, even though 90% never do much of anything with their swords. </li> </ul>Incidentally, I personally have no interest in lording weapon knowlege over other people.  I post to these types of threads in spite of the often snarky responses in the hope that more people would end up better educated about weapons, especally gamers who can proffit from the knowlege.DB</blockquote>

Verification