casting of sword blades in the 19th century

David R · 4th April 2022, 03:04 PM

This is a conversation that has gone round and round over many years, even on this site. It is possible that the waters have been muddied by written references to "cast blades" which in fact meant "cast from service" and sold on, which is what happened to a lot of the 1796 sabres.
The billet may well have been "fluid cast steel" but it went through a forging and rolling process, which doubled it's length, halved it's thickness,and gave it a better grain, and more resilience. Even so blister steel aka shear steel was still being used for some blades right into the early 20th century.
Some bayonets were made by "drop forging" but still not cast. Below are pictures from a sword factory of automatic hammers and grind stones used in the forging of blades in the late 19th century.
I think if you want to back up the casting of blades theory we now need to see some evidence, video, photo or documentary.

urbanspaceman · 5th April 2022, 07:23 PM

I can't quote figures here but I can say that the iron in the Wupper Valley had a very high Manganese content which reputedly accounted for some of the reason for fine blades.
I notice that the WS manganese content is very low compared to the rest of the steels.
Did Solingen eventually need to import their ore?
Does anyone know if the Danemora iron had high manganese?

4th April 2022, 03:04 PM	#1
David R Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,120	This is a conversation that has gone round and round over many years, even on this site. It is possible that the waters have been muddied by written references to "cast blades" which in fact meant "cast from service" and sold on, which is what happened to a lot of the 1796 sabres. The billet may well have been "fluid cast steel" but it went through a forging and rolling process, which doubled it's length, halved it's thickness,and gave it a better grain, and more resilience. Even so blister steel aka shear steel was still being used for some blades right into the early 20th century. Some bayonets were made by "drop forging" but still not cast. Below are pictures from a sword factory of automatic hammers and grind stones used in the forging of blades in the late 19th century. I think if you want to back up the casting of blades theory we now need to see some evidence, video, photo or documentary. Attached Images

5th April 2022, 07:23 PM	#2
urbanspaceman Member Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Tyneside. North-East England Posts: 620	Manganese I can't quote figures here but I can say that the iron in the Wupper Valley had a very high Manganese content which reputedly accounted for some of the reason for fine blades. I notice that the WS manganese content is very low compared to the rest of the steels. Did Solingen eventually need to import their ore? Does anyone know if the Danemora iron had high manganese?