I would like to understand the lore out there that a long, long, long time ago swords and other blades were created being endowed with almost mystical qualities of durability and sharpness, far superior than anything that has since been forged. You know the story. Steel created from a secret iron ore vein in Outer Mongolia, sharpened with long lost secret sharpening techniques only known to long ago deceased Zen sharpening masters after sprinkling magic Zen dust about the place.
Blades so tough they would half an armored knight and a silk scarf falling through the air would cleave upon contact with the edge.
Umm…, really?
To be clear, I know basically nothing about, and have done no research on ancient metallurgy, steel or swords. Being totally clueless, I wonder if all you folks are as suspicious of the hype as I am. Following is my reasoning and where I suspect the myth comes from.
I suspect that most blades made eons ago were utter crap, made from weak steel full of impurities that would perform poorly. By chance, occasionally some iron of greater purity was found that made a better blade. These blades became legendary because they were 20% better than the average local crap blades of the time.
Every so often some ore was discovered that contained other minerals such as chromium or vanadium, etc., that produced a “super” blade for the time. These blades became legendary.
Over time humans got better at production methods. Better smelting and equipment to produce purer, stronger steel. They discovered that steel could be folded and bashed repeatedly to remove impurities and how adding various minerals would improve quality.
Now metallurgy is very well understood and steel formulations are produced with laboratory precision as though from a cook book. Steel manufacturers know all about it. Different minerals and chemicals can be added to steel formulations to produce steels that perform to predetermined specifications and requirements. Are folks really claiming that any of the ancient blades can outperform modern super steels? Really?
Has anyone tested the Rockwell hardness of these primordial blades? Did they actually have some super hard blades that they could actually sharpen that didn’t chip?
Then there is the whole sharpening mystique. While I admit the ancient Zen master sharpeners may have had secret Zen sharpening dust to sprinkle about whilst inwardly droning in meditation “Namu Amida Butsu” and viewing the world through the third eye, I doubt they knew more about sharpening than many BESS Exchange members.
Then there is the fact that these primordial sharpeners were working with stone knives and bear skins. They didn’t have precision sharpening equipment. No amazing assortment of belts with even coatings of about any type of abrasive from AO to diamonds in grits from 20 to 5,000 and finer.
So these claims of mystically sharp ancient blades… What does that even mean? How sharp were they? 400? 200? 100? 50? 25? 10? BESS Exchange members know what sharpness means and thanks to EOU can actually measure it.
For whatever reason, knives and sharpening is ensconced in mysticism as though there is some secret to steel and the only way to learn how to sharpen is to spend a lifetime of self-deprivation in a monastery.
Yet the myth of these old blades persists. What is the RHC of these blades? Do they chip? How do they perform in SET tests? (I bet they roll like any other blades or worse). What is the BESS sharpness number? Maybe I'm full of crap, it seems to me that this is quantifiable and we can dispel the myths.
What do you guys think?
Blades so tough they would half an armored knight and a silk scarf falling through the air would cleave upon contact with the edge.
Umm…, really?
To be clear, I know basically nothing about, and have done no research on ancient metallurgy, steel or swords. Being totally clueless, I wonder if all you folks are as suspicious of the hype as I am. Following is my reasoning and where I suspect the myth comes from.
I suspect that most blades made eons ago were utter crap, made from weak steel full of impurities that would perform poorly. By chance, occasionally some iron of greater purity was found that made a better blade. These blades became legendary because they were 20% better than the average local crap blades of the time.
Every so often some ore was discovered that contained other minerals such as chromium or vanadium, etc., that produced a “super” blade for the time. These blades became legendary.
Over time humans got better at production methods. Better smelting and equipment to produce purer, stronger steel. They discovered that steel could be folded and bashed repeatedly to remove impurities and how adding various minerals would improve quality.
Now metallurgy is very well understood and steel formulations are produced with laboratory precision as though from a cook book. Steel manufacturers know all about it. Different minerals and chemicals can be added to steel formulations to produce steels that perform to predetermined specifications and requirements. Are folks really claiming that any of the ancient blades can outperform modern super steels? Really?
Has anyone tested the Rockwell hardness of these primordial blades? Did they actually have some super hard blades that they could actually sharpen that didn’t chip?
Then there is the whole sharpening mystique. While I admit the ancient Zen master sharpeners may have had secret Zen sharpening dust to sprinkle about whilst inwardly droning in meditation “Namu Amida Butsu” and viewing the world through the third eye, I doubt they knew more about sharpening than many BESS Exchange members.
Then there is the fact that these primordial sharpeners were working with stone knives and bear skins. They didn’t have precision sharpening equipment. No amazing assortment of belts with even coatings of about any type of abrasive from AO to diamonds in grits from 20 to 5,000 and finer.
So these claims of mystically sharp ancient blades… What does that even mean? How sharp were they? 400? 200? 100? 50? 25? 10? BESS Exchange members know what sharpness means and thanks to EOU can actually measure it.
For whatever reason, knives and sharpening is ensconced in mysticism as though there is some secret to steel and the only way to learn how to sharpen is to spend a lifetime of self-deprivation in a monastery.
Yet the myth of these old blades persists. What is the RHC of these blades? Do they chip? How do they perform in SET tests? (I bet they roll like any other blades or worse). What is the BESS sharpness number? Maybe I'm full of crap, it seems to me that this is quantifiable and we can dispel the myths.
What do you guys think?