Shotley Bridge swordmakers

Jim McDougall · 15th November 2017, 07:55 PM

Not wishing to defer this outstanding discussion from the intriguing topic of these English sword makers to the more mundane topic of learning mediums, I simply agree, Wiki and videos along with many other developing technological advances are very much advancing our resources.

Even in the old days in my researching, no papyrus jokes!!!

, as I pored through book after book, the cites and referenced notes were prompts for me to check those cited sources further for context and additional information.
It is no different with Wikipedia or any other medium, and it is quite frankly more expedient to have such resources at ones fingertips than interlibrary loan or searching for books by mail or old book stores.

I agree, too many fall short of further research, as evidenced here many times by participants who do not read previous posts or do not use the easily accessed search function and resources here at hand. It is a matter of personal preference, and choice. People have quite varied ajendas, and if there is too much depth, or not enough, on a topic, the choice is to move past it and to material more to their own level of interest.

Back to the subject at hand, the use of machinery, Sir Richard Burton visited Solingen around 1875, "...the city had not yet been touched by the Industrial Revolution", and he noted 'the hammering and forging are utterly ignorant of progress', revealing his own contempt for the modern affectations of machines.

He notes that tempering is done in water 'as usual' rather than oil.
It was noted that the steam engine had led to many new machines, but despite dislike of the machines by bladesmiths, there was no denial of the opportunities afforded for mass production.

In 1847.....a mechanism for ROLLING BLADES from long strips of steel was introduced, a "painful blow for the old masters".

-"By The Sword", Richard Cohen, 2003, p.119 ('The Great Swordmakers).

It seems odd that the most influential blade making center in the world apparently relied on tried and true old traditional anvil hammering methods this late in time, yet in England this great attention to rolling mills was at hand in the 17th century.

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15th November 2017, 07:55 PM	#11
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,278	Not wishing to defer this outstanding discussion from the intriguing topic of these English sword makers to the more mundane topic of learning mediums, I simply agree, Wiki and videos along with many other developing technological advances are very much advancing our resources. Even in the old days in my researching, no papyrus jokes!!! , as I pored through book after book, the cites and referenced notes were prompts for me to check those cited sources further for context and additional information. It is no different with Wikipedia or any other medium, and it is quite frankly more expedient to have such resources at ones fingertips than interlibrary loan or searching for books by mail or old book stores. I agree, too many fall short of further research, as evidenced here many times by participants who do not read previous posts or do not use the easily accessed search function and resources here at hand. It is a matter of personal preference, and choice. People have quite varied ajendas, and if there is too much depth, or not enough, on a topic, the choice is to move past it and to material more to their own level of interest. Back to the subject at hand, the use of machinery, Sir Richard Burton visited Solingen around 1875, "...the city had not yet been touched by the Industrial Revolution", and he noted 'the hammering and forging are utterly ignorant of progress', revealing his own contempt for the modern affectations of machines. He notes that tempering is done in water 'as usual' rather than oil. It was noted that the steam engine had led to many new machines, but despite dislike of the machines by bladesmiths, there was no denial of the opportunities afforded for mass production. In 1847.....a mechanism for ROLLING BLADES from long strips of steel was introduced, a "painful blow for the old masters". -"By The Sword", Richard Cohen, 2003, p.119 ('The Great Swordmakers). It seems odd that the most influential blade making center in the world apparently relied on tried and true old traditional anvil hammering methods this late in time, yet in England this great attention to rolling mills was at hand in the 17th century.