atatwolf
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The Japanese Samurai
- Thread starter Aepsilons
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Will to accept death at any point, defending honor. these are good traits,(in my culture too), but if my superior was a oppressive, violent b.astard I would probably kill him myself
Its extremely rare to see actual Japanese(there are also anime fans with Japanese nicknames) people in English speaking sites btw, I only saw 2 including you and other one is also here
Do you do kendo or something yourself ?
One of my favourite Padishah of the Ottoman Empire was His Imperial Majesty, Suleiman I (The Magnificent). Under his reign, he consolidated the Ottoman forces and conquered huge swathes of land in not only the middle east, but south western europe. He reminds me of one great Shogun Lord, Hideyoshi Toyotomi.
I'm glad to meet you here @Targon ! I'm sure we will develop a good discussion base here , i hope , lol.
PS. Yes, i (used to) practice Kendo, and Karate. I recently also just attained 3rd Dan in Tae Kwan Do.
PSS. How about you? Do you do any martial arts?
Targon
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His father was probably a better soldier, too bad he lived short, his reign only lasted 8 years and in 8 years he pretty much eliminated all the threats in Middle east, defeating both Safavids and Mamelukes and getting control of Holy lands and Caliph title, if he had some 5-10 more years I can't imagine what would he do.
Yes I'm glad to meet you too
No, I'm too lazy to do things such as sports or martial arts
I'm planning to start doing traditional archery in the future though, that tradition is being revived, recently they reopened the historical Archers Guild in Istanbul.I've always been an avid reader of Ottoman military tactic. Namely, i'm intrigued how they rose to power, nay, domination of the middle east. Truly a fusion culture / society of its original central asian roots, with middle eastern religion and mannerisms, with a bit of european to boot. haha.
very unique and amazing !
Tshering22
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I never knew Mongols had a navy to invade Japan.
They (Mongols), naturally didn't have the resources to build a navy. However, they conquered China , destroyed the weakened Jin Dynasty and controlled Northern China. They then 'sinified', adopting the local culture of their subject state and declared themselves having the 'Mandate of Heaven'. They set up the Yuan Dynasty. They used the resources of China to build their navy, as well as used the man power (of the Chinese) to fill up their army's ranks.
The Yuan Dynasty lasted around 100 years.
His father was probably a better soldier, too bad he lived short, his reign only lasted 8 years and in 8 years he pretty much eliminated all the threats in Middle east, defeating both Safavids and Mamelukes and getting control of Holy lands and Caliph title, if he had some 5-10 more years I can't imagine what would he do.
Yes I'm glad to meet you too
No, I'm too lazy to do things such as sports or martial arts
Ah very good hobby to get into (Archery)....!
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AUSTERLITZ
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Modern day version,imagine the real ones dueling.
History of the Katana
The Japanese Katana is known as one of the deadliest edged weapons originating from Oriental cultures, perhaps through western movies and culture, but rightfully also through the hundreds of thousands who have died by its edge.
The origins of the Katana are somewhat unclear; however, it is commonly attributed to a mixture of both Chinese and Japanese craftsmanship. Some people will tell you one thing, other will insist on the opposite. There is a lot of evidence the Katana was introduced to Japan from China, although in a early form.
The term Samurai, commonly used to describe the members of the Japanese warrior class during the 15th-19th centuries, is often associated with the Katana sword, as in feudal Japan anyone else was prohibited from using them. This deadly sword is a natural evolution of craftsmanship: starting as a hefty “greatsword”, and changing with time into a more agile, lighter blade which was required in faster battles. The Katana is often distinguished from many other swords by the fact that it sits blade edge (Ha in Japanese) up in its sheath, allowing the warrior to draw the Katana and slice his opponent with a single motion. In fact the art of drawing and cutting the Katana is known as laido
History of the Katana
The familiar version of the Katana sword first began to appear in the Muromachi period of Japanese history, 1392-1573 AD. The Japanese history of edged weapon craftsmanship stretches back over 2,000 years. This relatively small island nation is a historically renowned home to some of the finest weapon-smiths since its rise to political and military power.
The use of a Katana is commonly used in Jujitsu training, to complement the unarmed nature of the martial art – in fact there are many Jujitsu sensei who will tell you Jujitsu was used as a ‘backup’ for armed soldiers when their blade was lost or broken in combat. At its inception, Jujitsu was a strictly “no weapons” method of combat, concentrating on domination of the opponent. However, modern day practitioners often attempt to gain proficiency with both fighting styles.
While the Katana is no longer used for military purposes (it was however well into the first world war!), it carries heavy ceremonial and historical importance in Japanese culture, much like the Japanese Jujitsu fighting style.
Reference:Japanese Jujitsu
The Japanese Katana is known as one of the deadliest edged weapons originating from Oriental cultures, perhaps through western movies and culture, but rightfully also through the hundreds of thousands who have died by its edge.
The origins of the Katana are somewhat unclear; however, it is commonly attributed to a mixture of both Chinese and Japanese craftsmanship. Some people will tell you one thing, other will insist on the opposite. There is a lot of evidence the Katana was introduced to Japan from China, although in a early form.
The term Samurai, commonly used to describe the members of the Japanese warrior class during the 15th-19th centuries, is often associated with the Katana sword, as in feudal Japan anyone else was prohibited from using them. This deadly sword is a natural evolution of craftsmanship: starting as a hefty “greatsword”, and changing with time into a more agile, lighter blade which was required in faster battles. The Katana is often distinguished from many other swords by the fact that it sits blade edge (Ha in Japanese) up in its sheath, allowing the warrior to draw the Katana and slice his opponent with a single motion. In fact the art of drawing and cutting the Katana is known as laido
History of the Katana
The familiar version of the Katana sword first began to appear in the Muromachi period of Japanese history, 1392-1573 AD. The Japanese history of edged weapon craftsmanship stretches back over 2,000 years. This relatively small island nation is a historically renowned home to some of the finest weapon-smiths since its rise to political and military power.
The use of a Katana is commonly used in Jujitsu training, to complement the unarmed nature of the martial art – in fact there are many Jujitsu sensei who will tell you Jujitsu was used as a ‘backup’ for armed soldiers when their blade was lost or broken in combat. At its inception, Jujitsu was a strictly “no weapons” method of combat, concentrating on domination of the opponent. However, modern day practitioners often attempt to gain proficiency with both fighting styles.
While the Katana is no longer used for military purposes (it was however well into the first world war!), it carries heavy ceremonial and historical importance in Japanese culture, much like the Japanese Jujitsu fighting style.
Reference:Japanese Jujitsu
The SC
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Katana, does this sounds a bell?
Well, there is a place in Syria called Katana, and the most famous of all swords (along with the Japanese Katana), the Syrian one "The Damascus sword" was called Katara (blood groove).
Any further articles for comparison will be welcomed.
Damascus Sword
Damascus Sword - An Ancient Product of Nanotechnology
C. Srinivasan
Emeritus Professor
Department of Materials Science, School of Chemistry,
Swords were used as weapons in battlefields till 19th century and the use of better version of daggers was invariably regarded as an advantage for a victory. In this respect Damascus swords were considered to be the best and the strongest swords ever made in history. These swords, which possess distinguishing water marking in the blade, probably involved complex metallurgy and sword smithing. It is believed that these swords are manufactured from wootz steel which confers the great hardness, incredible super elasticity (unequaled by any other steel) and the ability to cut other swords in half without dulling the blade.1 It is claimed that a Damascus steel blade could cut a piece of silk in half as it fell to the ground. Damascus swords became very valued possession because of their mechanical strength, flexibility and sharpness. Though initial development of these sword is accredited to India (about 300 AD), Syria took the lead and introduced to the Western world between 1000 AD and 1300 AD. During Crusade times, the Christian warriors of Europe encountered Muslim armies and the Europeans discovered that the Muslims had steel swords superior to their own steel swords. Historical accounts claim that the swords were encountered by Europeans in Damascus.
Several reasons are attributed for the name Damascus. It refers to swords forged in Damascus, Syria. Another reason is that the swordsmith, Damasqui made this type of blades. In Arabic damas refers to the surface pattern of moiré ripples, which resemble turbulent water and is also found in some Damascus swords (Figure 1). The beautiful Damascus sword has a wavy pattern on its surface and it looks like wood grain. Some of the old swords are kept in museums like Berne Historical Museum, Switzerland.2
In the production of steel, if iron is loaded up to 2 % carbon, hard and brittle steel will be produced while soft and malleable steel is obtained by the addition of about 0.5% carbon. The Damascus steel is both hard and malleable.1 These features are important - hard to hold an edge once sharpened, but malleable so that it would not break when hitting other metal in combat. This was not possible with normal processes. It is hard to believe that the blades of these swords can be bent to about 90o.
Damascus sword
It is learnt that the swords were prepared by forging small cakes of steel called wootz steel manufactured in southern India and exported to other countries.1 Wootz is the anglicized version of ukku in many south Indian languages of a term denoting steel. A systematic survey of literature indicates that the steel from the southern part of the Indian subcontinent was exported to Europe, China, the Arab world and the Middle East.It is astonishing to note numerous early literary references to steel produced in India are from Mediterranean sources including one from the time of Alexander (3rd c. BC) who was said to have been presented with Indian steel.3 There was a great reputation of Indian iron and steel in Greek and Rome in that period and perhaps that promoted the export of high quality iron and steel from ancient India.4 Archaeological evidence from the region of Tamil Nadu suggests that the Indian crucible steel process is likely to have started before the Christian era from that region.5,6The manufacture of steel in south India by a crucible process at several locales including Mysore, Malabar and Golconda was observed by various European travellors.7,8 By the late 1600's shipments running into tens of thousands of wootz ingots were traded from the Coromandel coast to Persia.
Wootz steel was one of the advanced materials of early period exhibiting properties such as superplasticity and high impact hardness. The recipe for the manufacture wootz steel was an enigma. In the Indian method of preparation of wootz steel cake, it is believed that some particular ingredients were essential like wood from Cassia auriculata and leaves of Calotropis gigantean and ores from particular mines. Wootz steel was produced as roughly 2.3 kg ingots, commonly referred to as cakes, which are solidified in a closed crucible. It was a relatively high-purity iron steel with 1.5% carbon. The cakes were shipped to Damascus. The smiths repeatedly heated and hammered the cake till it was stretched and flattened into a blade. During this process the wavy pattern was formed on the surface of the blade. Verhoeven found that the swords contained band of iron carbide particles, Fe3C, known as cementite.1 It is a mystery how the inherent brittleness of cementite was overcome by the Indians in their preparation of wootz steel. The production of this type of steel almost vanished possibly because of the depletion of the particular ores. Unfortunately, the technique of producing wootz Damascus steel blades is a lost art. The date of the last blades produced with the highest-quality damascene patterns is uncertain, but is probably around 1750. Debate has persisted in the metallurgy community over the past 200 years as to how these blades were made and why the surface pattern appeared. Success eluded the hands of European swordsmiths to produce steel similar to wootz. Recently, Vorhoeven, an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University, USA, produced a steel which when forged into a blade had all the characteristics of Damascus blade.1,9 Their recipe includes iron, carbon and other elements in trace amounts such as vanadium and molybdenum (which are referred to as impurity elements) in addition to rare-earth elements.
It is strange that in spite of the presence of about 1.5% carbon in wootz steel, the blades produced from it is not only strong but also malleable. This appears to be a mystery. Does the carbon play a new role? To understand this let us examine the recent studies on various forms of carbon. Buckminsterfullerene (C60), the third form of carbon, was first reported from Rice University, Houston in 1985 by Smalley and co-workers.10 After the announcement of the large-scale preparation of C60 by electric arc discharge method, several amazing discoveries followed soon. It is not an exaggeration to state that the invention of fullerene is solely responsible for the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A careful examination of the carbon cathode used in the arc discharge process for preparing small carbon clusters by Sumio Iijima12 in 1991 resulted in the historical discovery of CNTs, the name of ultra-thin carbon fibres with nanometre size diameter and micrometre size length. Iijima originally obtained only multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and that is indeed a milestone in the study of different forms of carbon. Subsequently, Iijima and Ichihashi12 and Bethune et al.14 reported the production of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). CNTs have been recognized as the quintessential nanomaterials and have acquired the status of one of the most active fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The MWCNT is composed of 2-30 concentric graphitic layers, the diameters of which range from 10 to 50 nm and length more than 10 μm. On the other hand, SWCNT is much thinner, with diameter ranging from 1.0 to 1.4 nm (Figure 2). CNTs exhibit unique electronic, mechanical and thermal properties. CNTs are very strong and the Young's modulus of them is almost 6 to 10 times that of steel. Tensile strength of CNTs is about 20 times higher than that of steel. Thus CNTs are strong, even though they are light weight. When CNTs are bent, they are very resilient They buckle like straws but do not break and can be straightened without any damage.
Structrues of (a) SWCNT and (b) MWCNT
The high mechanical properties and flexibility features of Damascus blades resemble those of CNTs and these characteristics probably motivated German scientists Reibold et al. to probe whether a genuine Damscus sabre contains CNTs by using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM).15 A specimen was taken from one of the swords kept in Berne Museum, Switzerland and dissolved in hydrochloric acid and the remnants examined by HRTEM revealed the presence of MWCNTs with the characteristic distance of 0.34 nm and also bent CNTs (Figure 3a & 3b). Figure 3c shows remnants of cementite nanowires encapsulated by CNTs which prevents the wires from dissolving in acid.
Scientists are not surprised to find the presence of CNTs in these swords as it is now well known that CNTs can be produced from carbon at high temperature - the laser ablation and arc-discharge methods involve high temperature. Probably the repeated heating and hammering (forging) results in band formation from segregation at a microscopic level of some impurity elements (metals). These elements may also be responsible for the growth of CNTs which in turn initiate formation of cementite nanowires and coarse cementite particles. A question to be answered is whether the high mechanical strength and flexibility of Damascus blade arise due to the presence of CNTs. It is needless to state that further detailed studies may provide answer to the question. However, we can be proud of the fact that even several centuries ago Indians are aware of the importance of wootz steel and Damascus sword, which are now proved to contain carbon nanostructures.
Figure 3. HRTEM images of remnants from the dissolution of a sample of genuine Damasus sabre in hydrochloric acid. a, b MWCNTs with the characteristic distance of d = 0.34 nm. In b, the tubes are bent like a rope. c. Remnants of cementite nanowires encapsulated by CNTs, which prevent wires from dissolving in acid. Scale bars: 5 nm (a) & (c) and (b) 10 nm reproduced from ref. 15 ( with permission from P. Paufler).
Damascus Sword
Well, there is a place in Syria called Katana, and the most famous of all swords (along with the Japanese Katana), the Syrian one "The Damascus sword" was called Katara (blood groove).
Any further articles for comparison will be welcomed.
Damascus Sword
Damascus Sword - An Ancient Product of Nanotechnology
C. Srinivasan
Emeritus Professor
Department of Materials Science, School of Chemistry,
Swords were used as weapons in battlefields till 19th century and the use of better version of daggers was invariably regarded as an advantage for a victory. In this respect Damascus swords were considered to be the best and the strongest swords ever made in history. These swords, which possess distinguishing water marking in the blade, probably involved complex metallurgy and sword smithing. It is believed that these swords are manufactured from wootz steel which confers the great hardness, incredible super elasticity (unequaled by any other steel) and the ability to cut other swords in half without dulling the blade.1 It is claimed that a Damascus steel blade could cut a piece of silk in half as it fell to the ground. Damascus swords became very valued possession because of their mechanical strength, flexibility and sharpness. Though initial development of these sword is accredited to India (about 300 AD), Syria took the lead and introduced to the Western world between 1000 AD and 1300 AD. During Crusade times, the Christian warriors of Europe encountered Muslim armies and the Europeans discovered that the Muslims had steel swords superior to their own steel swords. Historical accounts claim that the swords were encountered by Europeans in Damascus.
Several reasons are attributed for the name Damascus. It refers to swords forged in Damascus, Syria. Another reason is that the swordsmith, Damasqui made this type of blades. In Arabic damas refers to the surface pattern of moiré ripples, which resemble turbulent water and is also found in some Damascus swords (Figure 1). The beautiful Damascus sword has a wavy pattern on its surface and it looks like wood grain. Some of the old swords are kept in museums like Berne Historical Museum, Switzerland.2
In the production of steel, if iron is loaded up to 2 % carbon, hard and brittle steel will be produced while soft and malleable steel is obtained by the addition of about 0.5% carbon. The Damascus steel is both hard and malleable.1 These features are important - hard to hold an edge once sharpened, but malleable so that it would not break when hitting other metal in combat. This was not possible with normal processes. It is hard to believe that the blades of these swords can be bent to about 90o.
Damascus sword
It is learnt that the swords were prepared by forging small cakes of steel called wootz steel manufactured in southern India and exported to other countries.1 Wootz is the anglicized version of ukku in many south Indian languages of a term denoting steel. A systematic survey of literature indicates that the steel from the southern part of the Indian subcontinent was exported to Europe, China, the Arab world and the Middle East.It is astonishing to note numerous early literary references to steel produced in India are from Mediterranean sources including one from the time of Alexander (3rd c. BC) who was said to have been presented with Indian steel.3 There was a great reputation of Indian iron and steel in Greek and Rome in that period and perhaps that promoted the export of high quality iron and steel from ancient India.4 Archaeological evidence from the region of Tamil Nadu suggests that the Indian crucible steel process is likely to have started before the Christian era from that region.5,6The manufacture of steel in south India by a crucible process at several locales including Mysore, Malabar and Golconda was observed by various European travellors.7,8 By the late 1600's shipments running into tens of thousands of wootz ingots were traded from the Coromandel coast to Persia.
Wootz steel was one of the advanced materials of early period exhibiting properties such as superplasticity and high impact hardness. The recipe for the manufacture wootz steel was an enigma. In the Indian method of preparation of wootz steel cake, it is believed that some particular ingredients were essential like wood from Cassia auriculata and leaves of Calotropis gigantean and ores from particular mines. Wootz steel was produced as roughly 2.3 kg ingots, commonly referred to as cakes, which are solidified in a closed crucible. It was a relatively high-purity iron steel with 1.5% carbon. The cakes were shipped to Damascus. The smiths repeatedly heated and hammered the cake till it was stretched and flattened into a blade. During this process the wavy pattern was formed on the surface of the blade. Verhoeven found that the swords contained band of iron carbide particles, Fe3C, known as cementite.1 It is a mystery how the inherent brittleness of cementite was overcome by the Indians in their preparation of wootz steel. The production of this type of steel almost vanished possibly because of the depletion of the particular ores. Unfortunately, the technique of producing wootz Damascus steel blades is a lost art. The date of the last blades produced with the highest-quality damascene patterns is uncertain, but is probably around 1750. Debate has persisted in the metallurgy community over the past 200 years as to how these blades were made and why the surface pattern appeared. Success eluded the hands of European swordsmiths to produce steel similar to wootz. Recently, Vorhoeven, an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University, USA, produced a steel which when forged into a blade had all the characteristics of Damascus blade.1,9 Their recipe includes iron, carbon and other elements in trace amounts such as vanadium and molybdenum (which are referred to as impurity elements) in addition to rare-earth elements.
It is strange that in spite of the presence of about 1.5% carbon in wootz steel, the blades produced from it is not only strong but also malleable. This appears to be a mystery. Does the carbon play a new role? To understand this let us examine the recent studies on various forms of carbon. Buckminsterfullerene (C60), the third form of carbon, was first reported from Rice University, Houston in 1985 by Smalley and co-workers.10 After the announcement of the large-scale preparation of C60 by electric arc discharge method, several amazing discoveries followed soon. It is not an exaggeration to state that the invention of fullerene is solely responsible for the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A careful examination of the carbon cathode used in the arc discharge process for preparing small carbon clusters by Sumio Iijima12 in 1991 resulted in the historical discovery of CNTs, the name of ultra-thin carbon fibres with nanometre size diameter and micrometre size length. Iijima originally obtained only multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and that is indeed a milestone in the study of different forms of carbon. Subsequently, Iijima and Ichihashi12 and Bethune et al.14 reported the production of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). CNTs have been recognized as the quintessential nanomaterials and have acquired the status of one of the most active fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The MWCNT is composed of 2-30 concentric graphitic layers, the diameters of which range from 10 to 50 nm and length more than 10 μm. On the other hand, SWCNT is much thinner, with diameter ranging from 1.0 to 1.4 nm (Figure 2). CNTs exhibit unique electronic, mechanical and thermal properties. CNTs are very strong and the Young's modulus of them is almost 6 to 10 times that of steel. Tensile strength of CNTs is about 20 times higher than that of steel. Thus CNTs are strong, even though they are light weight. When CNTs are bent, they are very resilient They buckle like straws but do not break and can be straightened without any damage.
Structrues of (a) SWCNT and (b) MWCNT
The high mechanical properties and flexibility features of Damascus blades resemble those of CNTs and these characteristics probably motivated German scientists Reibold et al. to probe whether a genuine Damscus sabre contains CNTs by using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM).15 A specimen was taken from one of the swords kept in Berne Museum, Switzerland and dissolved in hydrochloric acid and the remnants examined by HRTEM revealed the presence of MWCNTs with the characteristic distance of 0.34 nm and also bent CNTs (Figure 3a & 3b). Figure 3c shows remnants of cementite nanowires encapsulated by CNTs which prevents the wires from dissolving in acid.
Scientists are not surprised to find the presence of CNTs in these swords as it is now well known that CNTs can be produced from carbon at high temperature - the laser ablation and arc-discharge methods involve high temperature. Probably the repeated heating and hammering (forging) results in band formation from segregation at a microscopic level of some impurity elements (metals). These elements may also be responsible for the growth of CNTs which in turn initiate formation of cementite nanowires and coarse cementite particles. A question to be answered is whether the high mechanical strength and flexibility of Damascus blade arise due to the presence of CNTs. It is needless to state that further detailed studies may provide answer to the question. However, we can be proud of the fact that even several centuries ago Indians are aware of the importance of wootz steel and Damascus sword, which are now proved to contain carbon nanostructures.
Figure 3. HRTEM images of remnants from the dissolution of a sample of genuine Damasus sabre in hydrochloric acid. a, b MWCNTs with the characteristic distance of d = 0.34 nm. In b, the tubes are bent like a rope. c. Remnants of cementite nanowires encapsulated by CNTs, which prevent wires from dissolving in acid. Scale bars: 5 nm (a) & (c) and (b) 10 nm reproduced from ref. 15 ( with permission from P. Paufler).
Damascus Sword
Last edited:
wolfschanzze
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Erm, Wootz Steel was first invented by Indians in ancient time 2000 years ago, they mixed iron with coalKatana, does this sounds a bell?
Well, there is a place in Syria called Katana, and the most famous of all swords (along with the Japanese Katana), the Syrian one "The Damascus sword" was called Katara.
Any further articles for comparison will be welcomed.
Damascus Sword
Damascus Sword - An Ancient Product of Nanotechnology
C. Srinivasan
Emeritus Professor
Department of Materials Science, School of Chemistry,
Swords were used as weapons in battlefields till 19th century and the use of better version of daggers was invariably regarded as an advantage for a victory. In this respect Damascus swords were considered to be the best and the strongest swords ever made in history. These swords, which possess distinguishing water marking in the blade, probably involved complex metallurgy and sword smithing. It is believed that these swords are manufactured from wootz steel which confers the great hardness, incredible super elasticity (unequaled by any other steel) and the ability to cut other swords in half without dulling the blade.1 It is claimed that a Damascus steel blade could cut a piece of silk in half as it fell to the ground. Damascus swords became very valued possession because of their mechanical strength, flexibility and sharpness. Though initial development of these sword is accredited to India (about 300 AD), Syria took the lead and introduced to the Western world between 1000 AD and 1300 AD. During Crusade times, the Christian warriors of Europe encountered Muslim armies and the Europeans discovered that the Muslims had steel swords superior to their own steel swords. Historical accounts claim that the swords were encountered by Europeans in Damascus.
Several reasons are attributed for the name Damascus. It refers to swords forged in Damascus, Syria. Another reason is that the swordsmith, Damasqui made this type of blades. In Arabic damas refers to the surface pattern of moiré ripples, which resemble turbulent water and is also found in some Damascus swords (Figure 1). The beautiful Damascus sword has a wavy pattern on its surface and it looks like wood grain. Some of the old swords are kept in museums like Berne Historical Museum, Switzerland.2
In the production of steel, if iron is loaded up to 2 % carbon, hard and brittle steel will be produced while soft and malleable steel is obtained by the addition of about 0.5% carbon. The Damascus steel is both hard and malleable.1 These features are important - hard to hold an edge once sharpened, but malleable so that it would not break when hitting other metal in combat. This was not possible with normal processes. It is hard to believe that the blades of these swords can be bent to about 90o.
Damascus sword
It is learnt that the swords were prepared by forging small cakes of steel called wootz steel manufactured in southern India and exported to other countries.1 Wootz is the anglicized version of ukku in many south Indian languages of a term denoting steel. A systematic survey of literature indicates that the steel from the southern part of the Indian subcontinent was exported to Europe, China, the Arab world and the Middle East.It is astonishing to note numerous early literary references to steel produced in India are from Mediterranean sources including one from the time of Alexander (3rd c. BC) who was said to have been presented with Indian steel.3 There was a great reputation of Indian iron and steel in Greek and Rome in that period and perhaps that promoted the export of high quality iron and steel from ancient India.4 Archaeological evidence from the region of Tamil Nadu suggests that the Indian crucible steel process is likely to have started before the Christian era from that region.5,6The manufacture of steel in south India by a crucible process at several locales including Mysore, Malabar and Golconda was observed by various European travellors.7,8 By the late 1600's shipments running into tens of thousands of wootz ingots were traded from the Coromandel coast to Persia.
Wootz steel was one of the advanced materials of early period exhibiting properties such as superplasticity and high impact hardness. The recipe for the manufacture wootz steel was an enigma. In the Indian method of preparation of wootz steel cake, it is believed that some particular ingredients were essential like wood from Cassia auriculata and leaves of Calotropis gigantean and ores from particular mines. Wootz steel was produced as roughly 2.3 kg ingots, commonly referred to as cakes, which are solidified in a closed crucible. It was a relatively high-purity iron steel with 1.5% carbon. The cakes were shipped to Damascus. The smiths repeatedly heated and hammered the cake till it was stretched and flattened into a blade. During this process the wavy pattern was formed on the surface of the blade. Verhoeven found that the swords contained band of iron carbide particles, Fe3C, known as cementite.1 It is a mystery how the inherent brittleness of cementite was overcome by the Indians in their preparation of wootz steel. The production of this type of steel almost vanished possibly because of the depletion of the particular ores. Unfortunately, the technique of producing wootz Damascus steel blades is a lost art. The date of the last blades produced with the highest-quality damascene patterns is uncertain, but is probably around 1750. Debate has persisted in the metallurgy community over the past 200 years as to how these blades were made and why the surface pattern appeared. Success eluded the hands of European swordsmiths to produce steel similar to wootz. Recently, Vorhoeven, an Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Iowa State University, USA, produced a steel which when forged into a blade had all the characteristics of Damascus blade.1,9 Their recipe includes iron, carbon and other elements in trace amounts such as vanadium and molybdenum (which are referred to as impurity elements) in addition to rare-earth elements.
It is strange that in spite of the presence of about 1.5% carbon in wootz steel, the blades produced from it is not only strong but also malleable. This appears to be a mystery. Does the carbon play a new role? To understand this let us examine the recent studies on various forms of carbon. Buckminsterfullerene (C60), the third form of carbon, was first reported from Rice University, Houston in 1985 by Smalley and co-workers.10 After the announcement of the large-scale preparation of C60 by electric arc discharge method, several amazing discoveries followed soon. It is not an exaggeration to state that the invention of fullerene is solely responsible for the discovery of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). A careful examination of the carbon cathode used in the arc discharge process for preparing small carbon clusters by Sumio Iijima12 in 1991 resulted in the historical discovery of CNTs, the name of ultra-thin carbon fibres with nanometre size diameter and micrometre size length. Iijima originally obtained only multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and that is indeed a milestone in the study of different forms of carbon. Subsequently, Iijima and Ichihashi12 and Bethune et al.14 reported the production of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). CNTs have been recognized as the quintessential nanomaterials and have acquired the status of one of the most active fields of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The MWCNT is composed of 2-30 concentric graphitic layers, the diameters of which range from 10 to 50 nm and length more than 10 μm. On the other hand, SWCNT is much thinner, with diameter ranging from 1.0 to 1.4 nm (Figure 2). CNTs exhibit unique electronic, mechanical and thermal properties. CNTs are very strong and the Young's modulus of them is almost 6 to 10 times that of steel. Tensile strength of CNTs is about 20 times higher than that of steel. Thus CNTs are strong, even though they are light weight. When CNTs are bent, they are very resilient They buckle like straws but do not break and can be straightened without any damage.
Structrues of (a) SWCNT and (b) MWCNT
The high mechanical properties and flexibility features of Damascus blades resemble those of CNTs and these characteristics probably motivated German scientists Reibold et al. to probe whether a genuine Damscus sabre contains CNTs by using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM).15 A specimen was taken from one of the swords kept in Berne Museum, Switzerland and dissolved in hydrochloric acid and the remnants examined by HRTEM revealed the presence of MWCNTs with the characteristic distance of 0.34 nm and also bent CNTs (Figure 3a & 3b). Figure 3c shows remnants of cementite nanowires encapsulated by CNTs which prevents the wires from dissolving in acid.
Scientists are not surprised to find the presence of CNTs in these swords as it is now well known that CNTs can be produced from carbon at high temperature - the laser ablation and arc-discharge methods involve high temperature. Probably the repeated heating and hammering (forging) results in band formation from segregation at a microscopic level of some impurity elements (metals). These elements may also be responsible for the growth of CNTs which in turn initiate formation of cementite nanowires and coarse cementite particles. A question to be answered is whether the high mechanical strength and flexibility of Damascus blade arise due to the presence of CNTs. It is needless to state that further detailed studies may provide answer to the question. However, we can be proud of the fact that even several centuries ago Indians are aware of the importance of wootz steel and Damascus sword, which are now proved to contain carbon nanostructures.
Figure 3. HRTEM images of remnants from the dissolution of a sample of genuine Damasus sabre in hydrochloric acid. a, b MWCNTs with the characteristic distance of d = 0.34 nm. In b, the tubes are bent like a rope. c. Remnants of cementite nanowires encapsulated by CNTs, which prevent wires from dissolving in acid. Scale bars: 5 nm (a) & (c) and (b) 10 nm reproduced from ref. 15 ( with permission from P. Paufler).
Damascus Sword
It's a pity such art and craftmanship are fading nowadays
Koovie
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Good read
Whats your opinion on the Katana?
I ve read many discussions on it with some saying that its the best sword ever made, while others think its totally overrated
The SC
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Erm, Wootz Steel was first invented by Indians in ancient time 2000 years ago, they mixed iron with coal
It's a pity such art and craftmanship are fading nowadays
Wootz steel was developed in UR first, there are still some remnants of some roman like looking swords manufactured in UR thousands of years before the Roman empire, some Damascus swords have that resemblance too.
It there was any evidence of it being developed in India, researchers would have found it in India's weapons, but they did not yet!
Wootz is a creature of a totally different nature. Superficially it looks similar to pattern-welded steel, since it shows a visible pattern on the surface. As I said before, the pattern in pattern-welded steel comes from the visible differences between the steels involved. In the case of wootz, the pattern is caused by the segregation of the material into steel and carbides. The carbides appear silvery, while the steel appears black. The earliest date that I have seen for wootz is 200 AD in northern India, but there is evidence pointing to even earlier usage. It is also clear that wootz and related materials were produced throughout much of central Asia, not just in India as some seem to think. There is currently no definitive evidence pointing to one region or another as the original source. Wootz was produced in India and other areas up until the 19th century, at which point the secrets of making it were lost
wootz, bulat, and damascus steel | eBay
Damascenes used to buy Indian iron mined extensively, but the Damascus Iron specs are not known:
"The original method of producing Damascus steel is not known. Because of differences in raw materials and manufacturing techniques, modern attempts to duplicate the metal have not been entirely successful..."
Damascus steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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wolfschanzze
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Wootz steel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
According to traditional history wootz steel originated in India in the 3rd century BCE.[3] There is archaeological evidence of the manufacturing process in South India from that time.[4][5] Wootz steel was widely exported and traded throughout ancientEurope and the Arab world, and became particularly famous in the Middle East.[6]
In ancient times, thirty pounds of steel was a precious gift, deemed by King Porus worthy of presentation to Alexander the Great. Another sign that Ancient India was celebrated for its steel is seen in a Persian phrase – to give an "Indian answer", meaning "a cut with an Indian sword."[6]
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