Type of steel made in the Japanese tradition
Tamahagane
(
玉鋼
)
is a type of
steel
made in the Japanese tradition. The word
tama
means 'precious', and the word
hagane
means 'steel'.
[1]
Tamahagane
is used to make Japanese
swords
,
daggers
,
knives
, and other kinds of tools.
The carbon content of the majority of analyzed Japanese swords historically lies between a mass of 0.5?0.7%; however, the range extends up to 1.5%.
[2]
[3]
Production
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]
Tamahagane
is made of an
iron sand
(
satetsu
)
found in
Shimane, Japan
. There are two main types of iron sands:
akame satetsu
(
赤目砂?
)
and
masa satetsu
(
?砂砂?
)
.
Akame
is lower quality,
masa
is better quality. The
murage
decides the amount of the mixing parts. Depending on the desired result, the
murage
mixes one or more types of sands.
The iron sand is put in a
tatara
, a clay tub
furnace
. The clay tub measures about 4 feet (1.2 m) tall, 12 feet (3.7 m) long and 4 feet (1.2 m) wide. The tub is dried and heated to about 1,000 °C (1,830 °F). Then, it is mixed with
charcoal
to add carbon to the steel so it can be hardened.
The process of making
tamahagane
continues for 36?72 hours (a day and a half to three days), depending on how many people work and how much metal is to be obtained. Within an hour of smelting, the iron sand sinks to the bottom, called the bed of fire, in which it will be assessed by color on whether it became
tamahagane
. The iron sand is added every ten minutes, and the mixture is frequently turned over.
After the
tamahagane
is finished, the clay tub is broken and the steel is removed. The best steel is on the edges of the resulting metal block; in this area, the
oxidation
process is stronger. The quality of
tamahagane
is determined by its color: bright silver pieces are very good for making blades.
See also
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References
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]