Damascus Steel

Once again talking about ancient technology, here are some of my old thoughts (along with a few new ones) on the steel of legend. This steel, according to these legends, was strong enough to cut through solid stone and remain sharp enough to cut falling silk. Of course, these legends could just be a major exaggeration, but if man really was as smart in the past as I believe, I wouldn't put it past them.

Here is a picture of our "modern" damascus steel:

Pretty unique look, isn't it? This is pretty much how it is believed to have looked. Of course, I believe we have lost the special techniques they would have used to make it so strong in the past. And if you think that story is a little far fetched, here's another, more recent story I heard.

I got to meet an actual knife maker. It was a hobby for him, but now he makes a pretty good profit out of it. Enough of a profit to make knives out of armor grade metal. He once even made a knife, put it in a clamp, and shot it three times with a .50 calibre bullet. The knife was a bit roughed up, but otherwise just fine.

If I lived in ancient history, and was rich enough to afford a damascus blade, I would like one of this type of design:

2100 and 2103 are my favorites of those in the picture, I think. But a damascus sword like this would be pretty amazing thing to have. Imagine it, a sword so sharp I could drop a cloth on it and the cloth would be sliced right through. Then of course, the blade would be incredibly tough and dull very slowly. I could easily cut a man in half and not even have to worry about sharpening the blade!

Yes, I do like to imagine a bit sometimes. You must remember though, it isn't really all to far of a stretch for ancient man to make weapons like this if you think about it.

Okay, so this short post was about the boy inside me. We all have to have a little fun, don't we?