Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Lee · 19th January 2022, 07:32 PM

Those are extraordinarily nice! I envy you.

I think that we may have had a double helix stage in developing the pattern, that is, a typical twisted stacked rod was then twisted together with an un-patterned rod and the two forged together. Two (or four if a different two are showing on the opposite face) of these double helix rods were then laid side by side for the body of the blade and un-patterned cutting edges were then added.

Something similar is likely going on with the larger example. Based upon the XRF survey on my patterned examples, the lighter areas reflect phosphorus and nickel effects and manganese and other elements may have contributed to the darker areas.

I suppose that it might also have been achieved with what was stacked into a single rod, but the plain areas do seen amazingly wide. Hopefully a bladesmith who does pattern-welding will stop by and tell you exactly how it was done.

19th January 2022, 07:32 PM	#2
Lee EAAF Staff Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Upstate New York, USA Posts: 932	A double helix! Those are extraordinarily nice! I envy you. I think that we may have had a double helix stage in developing the pattern, that is, a typical twisted stacked rod was then twisted together with an un-patterned rod and the two forged together. Two (or four if a different two are showing on the opposite face) of these double helix rods were then laid side by side for the body of the blade and un-patterned cutting edges were then added. Something similar is likely going on with the larger example. Based upon the XRF survey on my patterned examples, the lighter areas reflect phosphorus and nickel effects and manganese and other elements may have contributed to the darker areas. I suppose that it might also have been achieved with what was stacked into a single rod, but the plain areas do seen amazingly wide. Hopefully a bladesmith who does pattern-welding will stop by and tell you exactly how it was done.