Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2012 14:09:32 GMT
What "grade" would it have been? Would it have been similar to todays 1045-1060 Carbon Steel or would it be a different steel entirely? And if so, which steel?
|
|
|
Post by Jussi Ekholm on Jul 18, 2012 14:58:11 GMT
I don't know much about weapons from this region, but I'll give a good quote. However, it's very easy to say it was entirely different steel. On the Malay archipelago as a whole kris was maybe the most profilic sword. Here is a quote from a book, the subject is manufacturing of a kris. "Their surface texture is rough and grainy, for they are made from a mixture of metals. It was said that a blade of reasonable quality required at least two kinds of metal, while a top quality blade demanded seven. The best iron was thought to be meteoric origin, but obviously the supply was limited. The manufacturing process was complex and laborious, as the blade was built up sandwich-fashion..." Then it describes the sandwiching process and the pattern & finishing but I think those few paragraphs above will answer to your questions.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2012 15:10:40 GMT
This sandwiching process.... was it the Philippine counterpart of the Japanese's folding process for katanas? So, Filipino sword during the 14th to 15th century was made of iron that was from meteors? Like space metal?
|
|
|
Post by Elheru Aran on Jul 18, 2012 18:00:17 GMT
More like pattern-welding. Folding is a part of pattern welding, but the Japanese start with one metal, not several, so you don't get such a distinct pattern.
It's estimated that iron is probably one of the most common solid elements in the universe. It comprises the core of most planets, and the asteroid belt of this solar system is quite probably the remains of a planet that failed to form between Mars and Jupiter. Hence, a lot of meteorites that originate from the asteroid belt are iron.
But the majority of Filipino swords wouldn't have been made with meteoric iron per se; they would've just traded for plain ol' iron from China or India, probably. Cheaper that way. Meteoric iron would've cost a ridiculous amount as it's pretty pure, plus there's the whole "it came from the stars" thing.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 18, 2012 18:22:39 GMT
Oh! Okay, so it's just plain Iron.... but mixed with 6 other metals? What are the other 6 metals? One we know now is Iron. What about the rest?
Wouldn't that make Filipino swords, that are made that way, weaker? The point of the Japanese katana folding of back then was to purify the tamahagane from impurities. In this case, instead of purifying it, the Filipinos just mix 7 metals together?
|
|
|
Post by Elheru Aran on Jul 18, 2012 20:30:17 GMT
It's not 7 different metals such as iron, bronze, copper, etc. That kind of combination simply wouldn't weld together at all because their compositions are just too different.
What it is, is iron and steel with different levels of carbon; this makes them vary slightly on a fundamental level (literally atomic), but when you treat them in a certain way they'll react differently. They don't vary so much that they can't be welded, but they do differ enough that if you weld them together and etch them with a mild acid, one will wear away slightly faster than the other and/or change colour (brighter or darker), so you see the pattern.
And not every blade would have been made with 7 different alloys; this was only for high top-of-the-line pieces for tribal chiefs, luxury gifts, and such. Your ordinary kris would have only had a couple, three or four at the most. Still enough to give it a distinctive pattern and texture when crafted by a Filipino smith.
|
|