02-08-2009, 01:44 AM
Oh, rats! Sorry it came out short. Well, one of my workshop mottoes is "Measure thrice, cut twice!" It definitely pays to spend more time planning and just sitting and looking at the piece, mulling options, before ripping into a new project.
It was perfectly common for weapons and armor to be made from "mild" steel or even regular iron. "Crappy" in comparison to high-grade steel, but it still gets the job better than a pointed wooden stick. A good high-tin bronze with hammer-hardening can actually be harder than iron or mild steel, but iron is a lot more available (i.e., cheaper), and more forgiving to work with. So you can crank out any number of iron items pretty rapidly, while bronze requires complex molds and a lot of luck when casting the item. Hence (at least in part!) the Iron Age. Just as long as you remember that there was a lot more bronze in use in the Iron Age than there was in the Bronze Age! Yes, wacky.
I won't touch the subject of "damascus steel", there's just too much confusion on definitions, etc. Can't keep it straight in my head! BUT many Roman swords were "piled", with a core of iron that often gives a wavy line impression and steel cutting edges welded on. So maybe not "pattern welded" (though again I'm not sure of the definitions), but definitely showing the effects of forging iron and steel together.
If it sounds like I am questioning the answers rather than answering the questions, that's one of my favorite pasttimes! The more you learn, the less you know. Isn't this great?
Vale,
Matthew
It was perfectly common for weapons and armor to be made from "mild" steel or even regular iron. "Crappy" in comparison to high-grade steel, but it still gets the job better than a pointed wooden stick. A good high-tin bronze with hammer-hardening can actually be harder than iron or mild steel, but iron is a lot more available (i.e., cheaper), and more forgiving to work with. So you can crank out any number of iron items pretty rapidly, while bronze requires complex molds and a lot of luck when casting the item. Hence (at least in part!) the Iron Age. Just as long as you remember that there was a lot more bronze in use in the Iron Age than there was in the Bronze Age! Yes, wacky.
I won't touch the subject of "damascus steel", there's just too much confusion on definitions, etc. Can't keep it straight in my head! BUT many Roman swords were "piled", with a core of iron that often gives a wavy line impression and steel cutting edges welded on. So maybe not "pattern welded" (though again I'm not sure of the definitions), but definitely showing the effects of forging iron and steel together.
If it sounds like I am questioning the answers rather than answering the questions, that's one of my favorite pasttimes! The more you learn, the less you know. Isn't this great?
Vale,
Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
