The swordsmiths will carefully break the kera apart, and separate the various carbon steels. The lowest carbon steel is called hocho-tetsu (soft iron), which is used for the shingane (translated as "core-steel") of the blade. The high carbon steel (tamahagane) and higher carbon pig iron, called nabe-gane, will then be forged in alternating layers, using very intricate methods to form the very hard steel for the edge, called hagane (edge steel), and the springy metal jacket, called kawagane (skin steel).
The most useful process is the folding, where the metals are forge welded, folded, and welded again, as many as 1600 times. The folding removes impurities and helps even out the carbon content, while the alternating layers combine hardness with ductility to greatly enhance the toughness.
Currently, tamahagane is only made three or four times a year by Nittoho and Hitachi Metals during winter in a wood building and is only sold to the master swordsmiths to use once it is made.
Because they meme that japanese steel is made from iron sand and therefore must be inferior to European steel (it only takes longer to remove impurities).
While forgetting that the katana were so sharp because they were polished and polished and polished and polished... and Luke's sword was magical.
Jaxon Turner
The most famous japanese swords are actual swords.
The most famous Western swords are all fictional or magical.
There was no rape nor any "retcon". It was all just a bullshit rumor with zero evidence. Don't believe anyone who says otherwise.
Aiden Anderson
Why would you even need to do that? From a physical standpoint, it is impossible for a katana to cut through any sword because it would need to bend the other sword along the cut to make way for the katana's thick blade - and that's ignoring the problem of steel cutting steel. The best the katana can hope for is to break the other sword.
Nolan Lopez
Sure sounds like the thing one would say after retconning something.
Come back when when you can show hard evidence that there was ever actually a "retcon" or "reprint" or whatever bullshit people keep claiming. No such thing was ever mentioned on any Japanese sites.
Liam Kelly
sorry to break it to you but jap metalworking, jap steel and jap swords were all pretty shit. Also those are basics of metalworking used everywhere in the world where people worked with steel, weeb names ain't gon make em any better.
This same thing happens in an early episode of Kenshin, but to Sanosuke's sword which has gotta be three times bigger than the one in this gif. I don't get why that's never brought up or memed about.
from what i've read,damascus steel is pretty good,i wonder if there's a katana made of damascus steel
James Nelson
my favorite recent nippon strong has to be that manga about a samurai in the 30 years war to teach the baka gaijin how to war
Brody Howard
fucking kek. japs in the 17th century were already hopelessly behind Europe in terms of technology or tactics
Isaac Wood
real damascus steel doesn't exist, art lost to history theoretical nu damascus steel still is okay though
Noah Thompson
We've made steel that has the exact chemical composition of the old damascus, the end result after testing was determined "Yeah it's pretty good, but modern 10XX steel is still better"
Because surprise surprise, we have a better understanding of metallurgy in 2019 than we did in the 11th century
Nathaniel Cooper
Because no one got raped
Benjamin Morris
Thought the quality of jap steal mainly due to them not having access to a furnace that could fully smelt iron until the 1700-1800s
the katana bends in this but it wasn't cut and theresq a visible cut into the western sword katana is sharper
Nolan Torres
The western sword is thinner. It's easier for the katana to penetrate.
Logan Evans
>The folding removes impurities As a metal scientist I can tell you what also folding does. It adds dislocations to the metal every time you fold it and deform. The only way to heal out those dislocations is to glow the metal to some extent which they don't. Therefore you have a piece of shit with huge amounts of dislocations that cause the metal to be extremely plastic and brittle. One smash against the wall and your glorified metal rod snaps in half.
ok and? its still fucking funny to post that and not realize
Jaxon Fisher
That's not what that means you idiot. The katana also got a deep nick in it.
Nicholas Myers
If we put all threads with this gif together it would be exhaustive corpus full of sword knowledge.
Wyatt Allen
The western sword remains serviceable. The katana does not.
Jose Evans
It looks like it only folded in, there are better gifs for this
Landon Thompson
I remember when this would rack up 500+ replies every single time
Robert Powell
>It looks like it only folded in Not really.
Levi Morris
you're brain is smooth
Dominic Powell
That metal is cleaved apart.
Lucas Clark
guaranteedreplies.jpeg
Dylan Taylor
>He is just shit swordsman. A real samurai knows how to properly guide the sword to break any obstacle. This, I remember watching those videos were nips try to cut down several bamboo trees, and only those with enough skill can pull it off.
Levi Mitchell
Bamboo trees are pretty difficult targets, edge alignment and geometry is important for succeeding with that - but it's hardly something that can only be done with a katana
Henry Carter
I once cleaved through the space-time continuum with my katana. And wouldn’t you know it, I saw OP having sex with another man.
Julian Nelson
Japan has shitty iron, so they were forced to rely on constructing billets this way. If they had access to better iron, then you'd have seen more uniform steel in their blades. The folding process is multiplicative: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024. So if you're going with single hot cuts after every forge weld, then you only have to fold the billet 10 times to achieve a 1000+ layer count. As OP already stated, the folding process drives out slag and increases the steel's anisotropic properties (to an extent which depends on the carbon content of the steel), but again, this is all necessity because Japan has shit iron. You don't need to fold high carbon steel like this to achieve a uniform grain microstructure - not unless you're going for a fancy Damascus pattern. In all, the katana is functionally a saber and a heavy one at that. Not like that matters because it didn't see a fraction of the combat compared to pole weapons. If you want to weeb out about Japanese swordsmithing, then do so over how they made the best they could with limited materials. Otherwise, it's not magic.
Hudson Morales
you just don't understand how superior nippon bushido is
Nicholas Morales
Japanese swords = cut European swords = thrust and stab Middle-Eastern swords = Slash and cut Fencing swords = thrust and stab Gigantic swords = Executioner tools, not specifically made for combat Axe = Murder Maces and Hammers = Destruction The Mind = Subjugation, domination, command and conquer The World = MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA
