Subject: Re: Making a double-edged sword

From: [email-masked] (W Thomas Powers)
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 1996 13:20:30 -0400

>Proving this is difficult; iron objects don't last for very long when
>exposed to weather or buried. This can be especially hard to convince
>some people in the sca, if that is where you are coming from.
>Tamlene

I fear your reasoning is in error; (I cannot address your conclusion
without more study).  During the medieval time period the ferrous
material used was wrought iron. Wrought iron is *much* more resistant
to rusting.  This is why we have so many pieces that have spent a
thousand years in a river or on the outer doors of a church.  I would ascribe
the lack of evidence for swages to the fact that iron had a tendency to 
be recycled almost ad infinitum, especially large lumps.  The best
early medieval blacksmithing finds I know of were blacksmithing tools
that were found in a chest in a lake, or buried with the smith---special
cases where the iron was not re-used!

Yes I am in the SCA, 18 years now, and I have taken MatSci courses,
attended conferences in Medieval Technology, worked with a swordmaker
whose father was a research metallurgist at Batelle, and even smelted
wrought iron from ore using the direct reduction process and made blister
steel.

My biggest problem is trying to explain to people that medieval iron
did not "act like" A36!  (part of my rant: "Iron was not Iron, Coal was
not Coal,.... trying to explain that, yes the name is the same---but
the actual materials differred)

Thomas
AKA wilelm the smith

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From: Steve Smith <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Apr 96 11:58:04 MDT

> thousand years in a river or on the outer doors of a church.  

My impression is that there are far fewer iron objects than there are
bronze and precious metal objects from similar medieval times.  Going
back further (such as the dark ages), iron objects seem to vanish,
while bronze and precious metal objects are still abundant.  All of
these metal objects are suitable for re-use, and the dearth of iron
specifically makes me think that the loss is more likely due to
corrosion than re-use. I don't have any specific evidence, just IMHO.

> I would ascribe the lack of evidence for swages to the fact that
> iron had a tendency to be recycled almost ad infinitum, especially
> large lumps.  The best early medieval blacksmithing finds I know of
> were blacksmithing tools that were found in a chest in a lake, or
> buried with the smith---special cases where the iron was not
> re-used!

Excellent point. I had overlooked this.

Tamlene
--
Steve Smith
[email-masked]