Tamahagane info.

[bluboxer]

Happy Holidays everyone,

I have just finished reading two very interesting research papers dealing with the characteristics of swords produced from tamahagane.Both articles are fresh this year and are available at the indicated links.In a nutshell;the first article examines the steel structure with optical microscopes and with a scanning electron microscope.A 2nd generation Muramasa blade was sampled along with newer blade steel.

The 2nd article repeats the investigation with similar materials i.e.,tamahagane.

What they have found is truly significant (especially for those of us that are clouded by science) as they have revealed both metallic and non-metallic inclusions fairly evenly distributed within the steel matrix.The interesting part for me is that these inclusions (particularly Titanium oxides) are between 5 and 25 micrometers.That is 0.000005 - 0.000025 meters.For perspective;a single human blood cell is approx. 6-8 micrometers in diameter.

This helps me to visualize what the texture is all about especially with swords produced with local iron sands -Koto.

 

http://www.esomat.org/index.php?option= ... _07018.pdf

 

http://www.esomat.org/index.php?option= ... _02024.pdf

 

Cheers,

Alan

[John A Stuart]

The inclusions are just what would be expected considering the source ore (two actually, masa and acome) and the method of smelting (tatara). Japanese iron sand ore is a naturally titanium bearing ore. Silicon is of course in all iron ores. The texture as we see it with the naked eye is the result of the forging method and is a gross physical manifestation. Inclusions in this microscopic domain do not manifest visually. Nice articles. John