Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

BluErf · 28th January 2007, 03:24 AM

I guess it was a practical solution to an old problem - the ironsmiths/pandai besi/empu did not have very strong iron/steel alloys to work with. In order to strengthen the weapons/tools that they made, different metals were forged and folded together, which not only removed impurities but also resulted in a layered structure that was stronger than the individual component metals. Then maybe by some accident, or simply with the passage of time, differential oxidation rates or exposure to etching chemicals exposed the pamor patterns, and the people thought it was a nice thing to have, which led to the pandai besi/empu coming up with fancier and fancier patterns.

I am also guessing that san mai construction did not dictate the necessity for forged and folded material. If a certain kind of alloy met the strength requirement, it could be used as the sandwich material, while the cutting edge would be made of harder steel. If I'm not wrong, ancient bronze swords from China was cast with 2 different kinds of bronze - the spine and handle was made with a softer but stronger bronze, the cutting edge was made of a harder, but more brittle bronze (more antimony in the mix, I think). The technique was not forging and folding, but casting.

28th January 2007, 03:24 AM	#4
BluErf Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Singapore Posts: 1,180	I guess it was a practical solution to an old problem - the ironsmiths/pandai besi/empu did not have very strong iron/steel alloys to work with. In order to strengthen the weapons/tools that they made, different metals were forged and folded together, which not only removed impurities but also resulted in a layered structure that was stronger than the individual component metals. Then maybe by some accident, or simply with the passage of time, differential oxidation rates or exposure to etching chemicals exposed the pamor patterns, and the people thought it was a nice thing to have, which led to the pandai besi/empu coming up with fancier and fancier patterns. I am also guessing that san mai construction did not dictate the necessity for forged and folded material. If a certain kind of alloy met the strength requirement, it could be used as the sandwich material, while the cutting edge would be made of harder steel. If I'm not wrong, ancient bronze swords from China was cast with 2 different kinds of bronze - the spine and handle was made with a softer but stronger bronze, the cutting edge was made of a harder, but more brittle bronze (more antimony in the mix, I think). The technique was not forging and folding, but casting.