Where did Moros get their Metals to make their blades (all time periods)

[Timo Nieminen]

Tribal forging on Sarawak:


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:S...e_V0037410.jpg

Split wooden stick as tongs, stone anvil, stone hammers.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by Timo Nieminen

Split wooden stick as tongs, stone anvil, stone hammers.

Very, very interesting!

Thank you!

[Shieh]

Leftmost man is operating a bellow? Looks like a pair of hollowed out tree trunks, probably a palm specie.

[Timo Nieminen]

Yes, bellows. Having two tubes allows a continuous flow of air, while still being usable by one person.

[Ian]

The bellows shown here are a standard design used widely in SE Asia and southern Asia. They are virtually identical to the systems that were used in Burma and other mainland SE Asian areas to help create a very hot forge. The pistons comprise sticks wrapped with bird feathers that fit snugly in the cylinders.

It is a surprisingly efficient and very old system for achieving a forge fire that is sufficiently hot to melt iron and other metals. The ones I have seen operating used a combination of charcoal and wood cut into small pieces.

Ian.

[Ian]

Timo has posted a link earlier in this thread to an excellent account of metal ore mining and processing in the early Spanish colonial period. Clearly there was indigenous iron ore mining and processing at that time. I can't add anything further for that period. I do have some experience with the Philippines mining industry more recently.

In the late 1990s I was part of a team doing consulting work in the Philippines for an Asian Development Bank project on the health of the Philippine population. Part of my task was to consider workplace health and safety conditions throughout the islands. We had a group of local consultants, and an article was published subsequently of some of the occupational health and safety work. In the course of our research we visited numerous workplaces (including metal extraction and foundries) in Manila and nearby areas, as well as in the Visayas and Mindanao. As one might expect, most current operations had started post-WWII, but there were a number that had been active in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Local metal mining and extraction, including iron and copper, was certainly present during Spanish colonial times. These industries became larger and more widespread during the U.S. period of governance (first half of the 20th C), and there were still large foreign mining corporations active in the Philippines in the early 2000s. Gold, silver and nickel mining and extraction have been conducted also in the Philippines for several centuries, although these were mainly small scale and poorly mechanized operations until about 50 years ago. Today there are mining and extraction operations for iron, copper, gold, nickel and silver, as well as some chromium mining and production.

I am unaware of any bauxite mining or aluminum smelting in the Philippines.

From the perspective of manufacturing knives and swords, there was indigenous iron, gold, silver, nickel, and copper production recorded in the late 19th C and during Spanish colonial times, and this continues today. Attached is a current map (June, 2017) provided by the Philippines Government that shows mining activities presently occurring in the Philippines. I have further information on the production levels of the various metals for each mine if you need those data.

Ian.