Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

Philip · 24th February 2005, 09:03 AM

Some years ago, I had a discussion with swordmaker Vincent Evans about these tangs which were cleft and forge welded to the blade. I showed him a couple of shamshir blades with this treatment, and also a Chinese saber blade that was similarly joined, albeit a fraction of an inch behind the blade shoulders. Vince, having forged many a blade in his time, could not see any logical reason why a smith would do a joint like that as part of original manufacture. If anything, it's more time consuming than it would be to hammer the tang out as an integral extension of the blade billet. Also, this type of joint creates a potential stress point since the contact area is relatively small.

I had thought about the desire to economize on materials as a rationale, to avoid "wasting" wootz or pattern weld on a part of the blade that would be hidden from view. Over time, I acquired and obtained for study several Ottoman kilij of the late 18th and early 19th cent, and did a polish and etch on the blades to bring out their structure. Two were wootz. Lo and behold, there was a lap weld at the forte, about 3 inches ahead of the shoulders, where the wootz was joined to a plain carbon steel "root" which also formed the tang. When the blade was new and pristine, the ornate gold koftgari decoration (a good deal of which still remained on these pieces) covered up the joint. Vince said that the contact area of this type of lap joint was larger than on the cleft-and-welded tangs, and thus the joint would be stronger.

On two multi-row twistcore pattern weld kilij blades, the tang and the steel at the very base of the forte was a simple linear laminate joined to the pattern weld via a diagonal scarf joint, likewise very strong. On these, the joint was skilfully laid out so that the linear blended with the twisted cores in an aesthetically attractive and structurally sound manner, and there seemed to be no attempt to hide it with koftgari onlay. The deliberateness of the assembly led Vince and me to conclude that these joints were purpose-made at time of manufacture and not a later repair.

24th February 2005, 09:03 AM	#4
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	more observations on blade tangs Some years ago, I had a discussion with swordmaker Vincent Evans about these tangs which were cleft and forge welded to the blade. I showed him a couple of shamshir blades with this treatment, and also a Chinese saber blade that was similarly joined, albeit a fraction of an inch behind the blade shoulders. Vince, having forged many a blade in his time, could not see any logical reason why a smith would do a joint like that as part of original manufacture. If anything, it's more time consuming than it would be to hammer the tang out as an integral extension of the blade billet. Also, this type of joint creates a potential stress point since the contact area is relatively small. I had thought about the desire to economize on materials as a rationale, to avoid "wasting" wootz or pattern weld on a part of the blade that would be hidden from view. Over time, I acquired and obtained for study several Ottoman kilij of the late 18th and early 19th cent, and did a polish and etch on the blades to bring out their structure. Two were wootz. Lo and behold, there was a lap weld at the forte, about 3 inches ahead of the shoulders, where the wootz was joined to a plain carbon steel "root" which also formed the tang. When the blade was new and pristine, the ornate gold koftgari decoration (a good deal of which still remained on these pieces) covered up the joint. Vince said that the contact area of this type of lap joint was larger than on the cleft-and-welded tangs, and thus the joint would be stronger. On two multi-row twistcore pattern weld kilij blades, the tang and the steel at the very base of the forte was a simple linear laminate joined to the pattern weld via a diagonal scarf joint, likewise very strong. On these, the joint was skilfully laid out so that the linear blended with the twisted cores in an aesthetically attractive and structurally sound manner, and there seemed to be no attempt to hide it with koftgari onlay. The deliberateness of the assembly led Vince and me to conclude that these joints were purpose-made at time of manufacture and not a later repair.