Rough Timeline of Metallurgy

Chalcolithic (AKA Eneolithic, Copper Age)

Poorly defined transitional period

Copper, accidental bronzes

Bronze Age

4000 BC 000 BC

Bronze ! copper " tin

#ron Age

000 BC on$ards
Basic Smelting Chemistry

%ery little nati&e 'etal in the $orld

(old, platin)', so'e copper, 'eteoric iron

*he rest is in the for' of o+ides, s)lfides, etc,

-'elting at its 'ost basic.

/C)0 " C ! /C) " C0/

1eed heat and a red)cing at'osphere

Timna

Earliest archaeological record of s'elting

24000 BCE

-i'ple bo$l f)rnaces $ith goat3s4in bello$s

Backyard copper smelting
Global source of tin
Iron

#ron ore is e&ery$here

Early f)rnaces $ere no$here near hot

eno)gh to 'elt iron

#nstead, a poro)s 'ass called

a bloo' for's

Contains lots of ch)n4s of

charcoal and slag

5e'o&ed fro' the f)rnace and then

ha''ered do$n to force o)t so'e
of the i'p)rities

%ery labor intensi&e

http://www.bradford.ac.uk/archsci/depart/resgrp/amrg/Rievaulx02/Rievaulx.htm
Flickr user: Stellar Muddle
Wrought Iron

5es)lting $ro)ght iron has banded layers of

differing carbon content, 'a4ing it 'oderately
resistant to corrosion

#n 'odern ter's, 6'ild steel6

7on6t conf)se the na'e $ith $ro)ght iron as a

style of 'etal$or4

7istincti&e 6grain6 pattern if yo) 4no$ $hat to loo4

for
Flickr user: eilaldere!"2#
Blacksmithing

*$o basic operations.

dra$ing o)t. 'a4ing longer and narro$er (easy)

)psetting. 'a4ing thic4er and shorter (hard)

8elding is possible at &ery high te'ps

B)t ri&eting is easier and preferred if possible

-)rprisingly easy to do in an )rban setting .)

Cast iron

*a4es &ery high te'ps, so yo) need good bello$s

or a good po$er so)rce

9irst achie&ed in China aro)nd :00 BCE

China )sed bo+3bello$s

Added $ater po$er aro)nd :0 A7

7idn6t spread to E)rope )ntil the ;

th
cent)ry

E)rope st)c4 $ith accordion bello$s, $hich s)c4

Steel smelting

8ootz

*a'ahagane

Blister steel

Cr)cible steel (<40)

P)ddling (<=4)

Besse'er Process (=;;) (>o)t)be %ideo)

?inz37ona$itz process (@;/)

Steel chemistry

-teel !! alloy of iron " carbon

Anything beyond abo)t A carbon B)st 'a4es it

brittle this is $hat cast iron is

7ifferent 'olec)lar str)ct)res at different te'ps

9errite. P)re iron, body3centered c)bic lattice, lo$

carbon sol)bility

Ce'entite. #ron carbide, brittle cast iron

A)stenite. 9ace3centered c)bic lattice, high carbon

sol)bility

Cartensite. Cetastable res)lt of rapidly cooled

a)stenite

Pearlite. Co'bination of ferrite and ce'entite

Phase diagram
eat treatments

All heat treating of steel is B)st 'anip)lation of the

phase diagra'

1or'alizingDannealing !! slo$ly cooling fro'

o&er the critical te'p to release stresses and
re'o&e all hardening

E)enching !! rapidly cooling to loc4 the steel

into 'artensitic str)ct)re

*e'pering !! partially degrading hardDbrittle

str)ct)res thro)gh the application of (')ch lo$er)
heat ('artensite to ce'entite)
!uenching Myths

*he 01?> f)nction of the F)enchant is to change

ho$ F)ic4ly the steel cools do$n

*he faster it cools do$n, the harder and 'ore

brittle it $ill be

7ifferent F)enchants re'o&e heat at different

speeds, d)e to b)bble for'ation and boiling point

0il G $ater G brine

Hse the correct F)enchant for the alloy, 5*9C

H-#1( -108 #- BH??-I#*

Case ardening

Pac4 the piece in carbon and heat for a long ti'e

C)ch li4e blister steel, b)t non3destr)cti&e

Creates a high carbon zone 'aybe '' deep

(ood for bearing s)rfaces, b)t not blades

Composite s"ord design

*he ideal blade has a &ery hard edge, b)t is still

fle+ible o&er the $hole length

Can appro+i'ate this $ith te'pering

Another $ay is to co'bine steels of different

carbon contents

*his also lets yo) )se lo$er carbon steel, $hich

traditionally $as ')ch cheaper

Classic e+a'ple. the 4atana

(*he folding 0,000 ti'es thingJ B)llshit,)

#ifferential $uenching and hamon

*o 'a4e the edge e&en 'ore d)rable, yo) can

F)ench different parts at different rates

Coat the parts yo) $ant softer $ith a clay 'i+t)re

8hen F)enched, those parts cool slo$er, th)s

harden less

9or's a hamon $hen polished properly

References

*he Cachinery6s Iandboo4

*he Craft of the Kapanese -$ord, ?eon Kapp and Iiro4o

Kapp

0)t of the 9iery 9)rnace. *he #'pact of Cetals on the Iistory

of Can4ind, 5obert 5ay'ond

A Iistory of Cetall)rgy, 5,9, *ylecote

Chalcolithic Copper -'elting. E+ca&ations and E+peri'ents,

Archaeo3Cetall)rgy #AC- 'onograph, Beno 5othenberg,
5,9, *ylecote, P,K, Boydell

-o)rces of *in and the Beginnings of Bronze Cetall)rgy,

Ka'es 7, C)hly, A'erican Ko)rnal of Archaeology, %ol, =@,
1o, /, (Apr,, @=;), pp, /<;3/@,

7e 5e Cetallica, (eorgi)s Agricola, translated by Ierbert

Ioo&er

http.DD$$$,archaeology3classic,co'D

And, of co)rse, 8i4ipedia