- Joined
- Feb 24, 2006
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Here’s something to think about;
Sometimes the best finds come from the most unlikely places.
I told this story years ago when I taught a Materials and Processes in Manufacturing class.
The first production of Iron from oxides occurred around 1500 B.C. between the Black and Caspian Sea. By 1350 B.C. The art of iron smelting had spread to Mesapotamia (modern Iraq), Palestine (Israel), and Egypt. Prior to that most of the steel came from meteors (a nickel Iron alloy that had desirable properties). Once Man discovered the art of smelting iron he discovered that the new metal was very hard and brittle. It did not make good swords, knives, and body armor. This new metal was Pig Iron. Through experimenting with heating and cooling the material they found that the metal changed properties and became more useful.
Many times in the medieval battles the looser of the individual battle was the warrior with the broken sword. As you can see the Blacksmiths dedicated allot of time trying to perfect the properties of the material.
So hear goes the legend for all of you people that like to read ahead.
Once there was a brutal king walking through his blacksmith shop admiring the production of his weapons. A servant accidentally bumped in to him and pushed him into a rack of very hot swords (just out of the furnace) the king in a fit of rage drew one of the hot swords and impelled the servant with the sword. As a trophy the king kept the sword. In the next few battles the king found that the sword didn’t break, it was the best sword that he had ever possessed. The problem was none of the other swords made in the same lot had the quality of his sword. The king and his advisors deduced that the sword possessed the spirit of the servant and that’s why it was so strong. After that many servants were sacrificed under the king’s command. Each sword that was made by a sacrifice possessed the quality of the king’s sword. It wasn’t until many swords later that they found that it wasn’t the spirit that made the sword stronger it was just the fluid from the servant’s body that quenched the sword and gave it a stronger, less brittle property.
You see we don’t have that kind or research and development in this country. This is why we need to go to third world counties for production.
And that the rest of the story!
Sometimes the best finds come from the most unlikely places.
I told this story years ago when I taught a Materials and Processes in Manufacturing class.
The first production of Iron from oxides occurred around 1500 B.C. between the Black and Caspian Sea. By 1350 B.C. The art of iron smelting had spread to Mesapotamia (modern Iraq), Palestine (Israel), and Egypt. Prior to that most of the steel came from meteors (a nickel Iron alloy that had desirable properties). Once Man discovered the art of smelting iron he discovered that the new metal was very hard and brittle. It did not make good swords, knives, and body armor. This new metal was Pig Iron. Through experimenting with heating and cooling the material they found that the metal changed properties and became more useful.
Many times in the medieval battles the looser of the individual battle was the warrior with the broken sword. As you can see the Blacksmiths dedicated allot of time trying to perfect the properties of the material.
So hear goes the legend for all of you people that like to read ahead.
Once there was a brutal king walking through his blacksmith shop admiring the production of his weapons. A servant accidentally bumped in to him and pushed him into a rack of very hot swords (just out of the furnace) the king in a fit of rage drew one of the hot swords and impelled the servant with the sword. As a trophy the king kept the sword. In the next few battles the king found that the sword didn’t break, it was the best sword that he had ever possessed. The problem was none of the other swords made in the same lot had the quality of his sword. The king and his advisors deduced that the sword possessed the spirit of the servant and that’s why it was so strong. After that many servants were sacrificed under the king’s command. Each sword that was made by a sacrifice possessed the quality of the king’s sword. It wasn’t until many swords later that they found that it wasn’t the spirit that made the sword stronger it was just the fluid from the servant’s body that quenched the sword and gave it a stronger, less brittle property.
You see we don’t have that kind or research and development in this country. This is why we need to go to third world counties for production.
And that the rest of the story!