Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Comments, please on Turkish Knife, made from a file

katana · 27th June 2006, 09:12 PM

I was reading about the forging process of a blade. During the processes of heating and cooling, the metals properties are altered. At one point of this process a blade would have the metallurgic properties of a file i.e. very hard and brittle. This is then reheated and cooled to 'soften' the blade to increase its ability to absorb blows (becomes less brittle and hardness is reduced). I can only assume that the file is annealed (made 'softer') to allow it to be forged without fracturing. If this is the case it would make sense that the teeth would be beaten into the surface of the metal and stretched.

27th June 2006, 09:12 PM	#3
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,658	I was reading about the forging process of a blade. During the processes of heating and cooling, the metals properties are altered. At one point of this process a blade would have the metallurgic properties of a file i.e. very hard and brittle. This is then reheated and cooled to 'soften' the blade to increase its ability to absorb blows (becomes less brittle and hardness is reduced). I can only assume that the file is annealed (made 'softer') to allow it to be forged without fracturing. If this is the case it would make sense that the teeth would be beaten into the surface of the metal and stretched.