Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Kaskara with unusual patterning in the blade

katana · 25th May 2010, 07:34 PM

I have decided not to 'create' a window, it would destroy the overall patina of the blade. As a compromise I have lightly sanded an area and oiled it. The darker areas are not pitted rusted areas. One of the pictures has been tweaked with high contrast which shows the overall uniformity of the 'patterning'. You could argue that the patina could be 'creating' the pattern...but to have such a consistent patina (and therefore pattern) over the entire blade....both sides

seems strange.
The only other observation that may be relevent .....is the condition of the blade edges. Under magnification the sharp edge is almost 'micro serrated' ...not by design ......but it seems by the structure of the blade. It seems that minute particles (on the edge) have either corroded or worn at a different rate to the rest....almost suggesting that the blade is not homoganised steel

Shear Steel , a defination from "The Engineer's And Mechanic's Encyclopaedia Vol1" by Luke Hebert published 1849

.....Shear Steel
This name was given to a steel that was first made by Crowley, of Newcastle, about sixty years ago, in imitation of a peculiar kind of bar steel that we formerly imported from Germany. Crowley, however, stamped his production with the figure of a pair of shears, to indicate its suitable application. The process of making it at Sheffield, where the manufacture of this and all other kinds of British steel is conducted on an immense scale, is as follows: - The bars of blistered steel are broken into pieces of from one to two feet in length, which are then piled up into bundles or faggots of a size and weight adapted to their subsequent applications. The faggots are then taken up by means of a long bar having a ring at the end, into which one extremity of the faggot is inserted; and by means of the bar as a handle, a workman puts it into a reverberatory furnace, whence, after it is brought to a welding heat, it is taken out and placed under a heavy hammer, by which it is drawn out into a bar; this bar is then divided, the pieces laid together, brought again to a welding in the furnace, and then under the hammer, or by rolling, reduced to the size required.

By this process the steel has lost much of its previous brittleness, and has acquired a uniform texture, which adapts it to the manufacture of a great variety of edge tools and other purposes to which it was before unsuited. Various qualities of shear steel are made, distinguished by the terms half-shear, single-shear, and double-shear, according to the number of times it has been cut, piled, welded, and drawn out......."

Regards David

25th May 2010, 07:34 PM	#9
katana Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Kent Posts: 2,653	I have decided not to 'create' a window, it would destroy the overall patina of the blade. As a compromise I have lightly sanded an area and oiled it. The darker areas are not pitted rusted areas. One of the pictures has been tweaked with high contrast which shows the overall uniformity of the 'patterning'. You could argue that the patina could be 'creating' the pattern...but to have such a consistent patina (and therefore pattern) over the entire blade....both sides seems strange. The only other observation that may be relevent .....is the condition of the blade edges. Under magnification the sharp edge is almost 'micro serrated' ...not by design ......but it seems by the structure of the blade. It seems that minute particles (on the edge) have either corroded or worn at a different rate to the rest....almost suggesting that the blade is not homoganised steel Shear Steel , a defination from "The Engineer's And Mechanic's Encyclopaedia Vol1" by Luke Hebert published 1849 .....Shear Steel This name was given to a steel that was first made by Crowley, of Newcastle, about sixty years ago, in imitation of a peculiar kind of bar steel that we formerly imported from Germany. Crowley, however, stamped his production with the figure of a pair of shears, to indicate its suitable application. The process of making it at Sheffield, where the manufacture of this and all other kinds of British steel is conducted on an immense scale, is as follows: - The bars of blistered steel are broken into pieces of from one to two feet in length, which are then piled up into bundles or faggots of a size and weight adapted to their subsequent applications. The faggots are then taken up by means of a long bar having a ring at the end, into which one extremity of the faggot is inserted; and by means of the bar as a handle, a workman puts it into a reverberatory furnace, whence, after it is brought to a welding heat, it is taken out and placed under a heavy hammer, by which it is drawn out into a bar; this bar is then divided, the pieces laid together, brought again to a welding in the furnace, and then under the hammer, or by rolling, reduced to the size required. By this process the steel has lost much of its previous brittleness, and has acquired a uniform texture, which adapts it to the manufacture of a great variety of edge tools and other purposes to which it was before unsuited. Various qualities of shear steel are made, distinguished by the terms half-shear, single-shear, and double-shear, according to the number of times it has been cut, piled, welded, and drawn out......." Regards David Attached Images