Pattern welding
Pattern welding is the practice in
History
Pattern welding developed out of the necessarily complex process of making blades that were both
Pattern welding in Europe
Pattern welding dates to the first millennium BC, with Celtic, and later Germanic swords exhibiting the technique,[5] with the Romans describing the blade patternation.[6][7] By the 2nd and 3rd century AD, the Celts commonly used pattern welding for decoration in addition to structural reasons. The technique involves folding and forging alternating layers of steel into rods, then twisting the steel to form complex patterns when forged into a blade.[3] By the 6th and 7th centuries, pattern welding had reached a level where thin layers of patterned steel were being overlaid onto a soft iron core, making the swords far better as the iron gave them a flexible and springy core that would take any shock from sword blows to stop the blade bending or snapping. By the end of the Viking Age, pattern welding fell out of use in Europe.[4][4][8]
In medieval swords, pattern welding was more prevalent than commonly thought. However, the presence of rust makes detection difficult without repolishing.[7]
During the Middle Ages, Wootz steel was produced in India and exported globally, including to Europe. The similarities in the markings led many to believe it was the same process being used, and pattern welding was revived by European smiths who were attempting to duplicate the Damascus steel. While the methods used by Damascus smiths to produce their blades was lost over the centuries, recent efforts by metallurgists and bladesmiths (such as Verhoeven and Pendray) to reproduce steel with identical characteristics have yielded a process that does not involve pattern welding.[3]
The ancient swordmakers exploited the
Modern decorative use
Pattern welding is still popular with contemporary bladesmiths both for visual effect and for recreating historic patterns and swords.[11] Modern steels and methods allow for patterns with much higher number of visible layers compared to historical artifacts. Large numbers of layers can either be produced by folding similar to historical processes or by forge welding a small number of layers together, then cutting the billet in pieces to stack and forge-weld it again. This can be repeated until the desired number of layers have been achieved. A blade ground from such a blank can show a pattern similar to wood grain with small random variations in pattern. Some manufactured objects can be re-purposed into pattern welded blanks. "Cable Damascus", forged from high carbon multi-strand cable, is a popular item for bladesmiths to produce, producing a finely grained, twisted pattern, while chainsaw chains produce a pattern of randomly positioned blobs of color.[12][13][14]
Some modern bladesmiths have taken pattern welding to new heights, with elaborate applications of traditional pattern welding techniques, as well as with new technology. A layered billet of steel rods with the blade blank cut perpendicular to the layers can also produce some spectacular patterns, including mosaics or even writing. Powder metallurgy allows alloys that would not normally be compatible to be combined into solid bars. Different treatments of the steel after it is ground and polished, such as bluing, etching, or various other chemical surface treatments that react differently to the different metals used can create bright, high-contrast finishes on the steel. Some master smiths go as far as to use techniques such as electrical discharge machining to cut interlocking patterns out of different steels, fit them together, then weld the resulting assembly into a solid block of steel.[14]
Blacksmiths will sometimes apply Wite-Out, Liquid Paper, or other types of correction fluid to metal that they want to not weld together, as the titanium dioxide in the correction fluid forms a barrier between the metal it is applied-to and any other pieces of metal. For example, when creating pattern-welded steel by filling a steel canister with pieces of metal and powdered steel and forging it together into a single mass ("canister damascus steel,") smiths frequently coat the inside of the canister with correction fluid and let it dry before adding their materials. Thus, when the canister is heated and compressed using a hammer or pneumatic press, the material on the inside of the correction fluid is forged together, but it does not forge to the canister, allowing the pattern created by forging the different materials together to be seen in the finished piece because it is not covered by the homologous steel of the canister. [citation needed]
Etymology
The term 'pattern welding' was coined by English archaeologist Herbert Maryon in a 1948 paper: "The welding of these swords represents an excessively difficult operation. I do not know of finer smith's work... I have named the technique ‘pattern welding’... Examples of pattern-welding range in date from the third century to the Viking Age."[15][16][17]
See also
- Bulat steel, a Russian crucible steel
- medieval period
- History channelcompetitive television show on forged knife and sword making
- Hamon (swordsmithing)
- Japanese sword constructionincludes a specific form of pattern welding.
- Mokume-gane, a similar technique, often for precious metals, used to produce decorative pieces
- Wootz steel, an Indian crucible steel
References
- ^ Birch 2013, pp. 127–134.
- ^ Verhoeven 2002, p. 357.
- ^ a b c Verhoeven 2002, pp. 356–365.
- ^ a b c Peirce & Oakeshott 2004.
- JSTOR 1505063.
- ^ Randolph, Octavia. "Pattern Welded Swords". octavia.net. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
- ^ a b Williams 2012, p. 75.
- ^ Peirce, Oakeshott & Jones 2007, p. 145.
- ^ "Ancient blacksmiths were pioneers of modern welding". Welding Value. 2020-07-08. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- ISBN 978-0-86054-401-2.
- ^ "Pattern Welding Explained". Niels Provos. 2023-01-19. Retrieved 2023-05-19.
- ^ Goddard 2000, pp. 107–120.
- ^ Caffery, Ed. "Damascus Pictorial". Archived from the original on 2011-07-23.
- ^ Internet archive.
- ^ Maryon, Herbert (1948). "A Sword of the Nydam Type from Ely Fields Farm, near Ely". Proceedings of the Cambridge Antiquarian Society. XLI: 73–76. doi:10.5284/1034398
- ^ Bruce-Mitford, Rupert (1949). "The Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial: Recent Theories and Some Comments on General Interpretation" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology. Ipswich. XXV (1): p. 67 n. 269
- ^ Maryon, Herbert (February 1960). "Pattern-Welding and Damascening of Sword-Blades—Part 1: Pattern-Welding". Studies in Conservation. 5 (1): p. 26. JSTOR 1505063
Sources
- Birch, Thomas (2013). "Does pattern-welding make Anglo-Saxon swords stronger?". In Dungworth, David & Doonan, Roger C. P. (eds.). Accidental and Experimental Archaeometallurgy. HMS Occasional Publications. Vol. 7. London: ISBN 978-0-9560225-1-6.
- Durand-Charre, Madeleine (2014). Damascus and pattern-welded steels - Forging blades since the iron age: Forging blades since the iron age: Science des matériaux (Reprint ed.). Les Ulis, France: ISBN 978-2759816354.
- Engstrom, Robert; Lankton, Scott Michael & Lesher-Engstrom, Audrey (1989). A Modern Replication Based on the Pattern-Welded Sword of Sutton Hoo. Kalamazoo, Michigan: Medieval Institute Publications, ISBN 0-918720-29-X.
- Goddard, Wayne (2000). The Wonder of Knifemaking. Iola, Wisconsin: ISBN 978-0-87341-798-3.
- Hrisoulas, Jim (May 1, 1994). The Pattern-Welded Blade: Artistry In Iron (Illustrated ed.). ISBN 9781581605440.
- Lang, Janet. The Rise and Fall of Pattern Welding: An Investigation Into the Construction of Pre-medieval Sword Blades. University of Reading. School of Human and Environmental Sciences.
- doi:10.5284/1034398.
- JSTOR 1505063.
- JSTOR 1504953.
- Meilach, Dona Z. (1977). Decorative and Sculptural Ironwork: Tools, Techniques, Inspiration (1st ed.). New York City: ISBN 0-517-52731-6.
- Meilach, Dona Z. (1999). Decorative and Sculptural Ironwork: Tools, Techniques & Inspiration (2nd ed.). Atglen, Pennsylvania: ISBN 0764307908.
- Peirce, Ian; Oakeshott, Ewart; Jones, Lee A. (May 24, 2007). "Blade Construction and Pattern-Welding". Swords of the Viking Age: catalogue of examples (New ed.). Woodbridge, UK, Rochester, NY: ISBN 9781843830894.
- Peirce, Ian G. & ISBN 0-85115-914-1.
- Verhoeven, John D. (2002). "Genuine Damascus Steel: a type of banded microstructure in hypereutectoid steels" (PDF). Materials Technology. Steel Research, 73 (8). Iowa State University: 356–365. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 September 2006 – via Internet Archive.
- Williams, Alan (May 3, 2012). The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords Up to the 16th Century (Hardcover). History of Warfare (Book 77). Leiden: ISBN 978-9004227835.
External links
- Pattern Welding Explained
- Ancient carburisation of iron to steel: a comment
- Mediæval Sword Virtual Museum, which contains close-up images of Viking swords, showing the pattern welding structures.