The riddle of steel

people gonna try to get that titanium going real soon

Yes there is, and no there's not.

It all comes down to several things, in a nuttshell:


For a functional steel sword you need at least a carbon content of around 0.45% and no more then 0.95%. There are exceptions but forget those for now.

The carbon content determines how hard the steel can get. 0.45% is usually used for cheap swords good for light cutting and not much more.
But the hardening and tempering makes a good sword or not. A well hardened and tempered 0.45% will make a better sword then an poorly treated 0.95%.

Then there is the factor or usage. If you want to cut hard bamboo you need a hard edge at least otherwise the edge won't hold. But if something is really hard it is more likely to break if your edge allignment is off and abuse like tough cutting is basically a no no.

If you want a sword that is tough and durable you're better of with a lower carbon content like 0.55% to 0.70%. A spring steel is well in place here because of their flexible nature.

But make no mistake, there is no such thing as a nbreakable sword, swords can break and they've done so since the beginning.

Surprisingly yes.

The Bainite/Martensite blades of Howard Clark fame is still difficult to replicate though more and more claim to be able to make it (Bainite is an incredibly tough crystalline steel structure, whereas Martensite is the hardest. Combined, they can give you a super tough sword with very high edge-holding abilities). Modern skilled smiths with modern steels and tools including power hammers and presses routinely have welding failures. There is a swordmaker right now currently doing beta titanium blades with impressive results (He discusses it freely too! Take a look at Mad Science Forge or go on Facebook - he's active in a few sword-related groups). Different kinds of crucible steel is created daily by both major steel corporations and local smelts. Tamahagane (Japanese jewel steel) is still being processed in the traditional manner and still yields beautiful results. Pattern-weld manipulation is getting to be so good right now - almost as good as the Frankish swordsmiths back in 600 AD (lol) and Chinese swordsmiths in 200 AD (double lol). The original Wootz water-pattern steel is still quite elusive though some claim to have found its secret (many authorities feel it's nearly impossible to replicate since it required a particular Indian ore from a particular Indian mine that ran out of raw material a few centuries ago). Canister damascus blades are getting prettier by the day - pretty soon someone will write a name on a blade using that stuff.

So many things to look forward to in the blade steel world to be honest. 

Today, we have better steel, but some ancient master smiths made wonders with what they had available. It was possible for them to purify steel through folding and hammering iron and than piling or laminating purest pieces for very high quality iron. Than carburizing it for more carbon to turn iron into steel. Than quenching it in some liquid. With observing colour of hot steel and measuring time of quenching or tempering with chants or prays they were able to do the heat treating well after enough experience gathered. Then you get to the question of wanting combined toughness and hardness and combining higher hardness pieces with softer but tougher pieces in all kinds of pattern welding, laminating etc. It was hard to achieve a good blade then, but it was possible. Archeologists of earlier 20th century who weren't so afraid to test the swords they found sometimes found blades able to bend almost tip to hilt without breaking and than returning back straight. This was observed in blades as old as La Tene celtic and realtively new like 18th century Scottish baskethilts. And remember that for a warrior it's far more important to have a blade that won't snap in half than having an edge that won't cheap or a blade that won't bend a bit after a hard hit.

A steel is called stainless (or more true: stain resistant) with ca.11 % or more cromium as alloy.
So 1/9 - 1/6 of the steel is crome.
It makes steel harder and more brittle after quenching, ok for shorter knives, not so good for longer swords.
Carbon content has nothing to do with stainless or not.
Steel for buildings has 0,2 - 0,7 % carbon afaik.

Were real medieval swords crude compared to all the modern swords I see advertised today? Can swordsmiths make swords to look more like genuine medieval swords by not making them so artistic and perfect or is that discouraged so people don't make counterfeits?

Just keep in mind--a lesson that applies to a near-infinity of things other than steel, or swords--the operative question is "how good does it even HAVE to be?" And the answer is always, "Eh. Good enough."

And there's plenty of situations where there's value in aesthetics, art/craft, skill, or the benefit to human knowledge--but THOSE *are* the benefits. While functionally there's remarkably little (if sometimes any) difference.

Literally, one might say in the case of weapons, "overkill."

I will talk from the normal user point of view. I buy / use whatever is "good enough" - holds a good edge for the purpose, is not requiring a lot of tools to put the edge back on it. But I am not the type of guy who's abusing the blades, battoning concrete blocks in his spare time to see if the 1095 is dirt compared with CPM3V. 1095 is alive and kicking in my books. YMMV

So you guys are saying, super steel is "better" just not a massive amount better? Not so much better that you would really notice the difference?