The development of the sword was not possible until ancient civilizations discovered how to mine and work metal. Thus, the first swords were probably made of the oldest worked metal, pure copper. The earliest copper mines were in Egypt around 3700B.C., and in Anatolia (in what is now Turkey) around the same time. By about 1900B.C., copper working had spread across Europe, and presumably copper swords were made during this era. Copper alloyed with tin produces bronze, and this metal made stronger weapons than pure copper. The earliest bronze swords were made by the Egyptians in about 2500B.C. They made blades by heating bronze ingots or by casting molten metal in clay molds. Bronze swords were used throughout the ancient world, until bronze was replaced by iron as the metal used to make weapons. The Hittites knew how to smelt iron as early as 3000B.C., but an efficient method of forming the iron into blades was not discovered until somewhere around 1400 B.C. The Hittites were the first to harden iron for blades by heating it with carbon, hammering it into shape, and then quenching it in water. They kept their methods secret for as long as they could, but gradually ironworking spread across the ancient world. The Romans used iron swords with double blades, a weapon for hand-to-hand fighting. A bigger sword, which could be used to fight from horseback, came into vogue in Western Europe by the third century. Both the Vikings and Saxons were renowned swordsmiths. They used sophisticated ironworking techniques both in forming and decorating their blades.
After Forming,core Drawing out, Fitting the blades, Packing the edge, swords were subjected to tempering, Filing and grinding
Tempering
· Now the blade is tempered—transformed from soft, workable metal into a hard blade. The smith holds the blade over a fire that may be a long fire built specially to fit swords. The difficulty is in getting an even heat all along the length of the metal. When every part is glowing an even color, the smith quenches the blade in a vat of oil or brine. For this first quenching, the blade is placed in the vat with the blade held flat, parallel to the liquid's surface. After it cools, the smith cleans off the metal scale that collects on the blade's surface. Then, the smith heats the sword again, in a slightly different way. The smith heats a long iron bar to orange-red, and lays the sword on it. When the sword heats to a blue or purple color, the smith lifts it with tongs and quenches it again, this time edge down (perpendicular to the first quenching).
Filing and grinding
· The blade is next polished with a series of fine files. The edges are ground sharp on a grindstone, a rotating wheel of textured stone.
Decorating
Many blades were elaborately decorated with inlaid patterns. Usually the sword was sent to a jeweler for this step. The jeweler engraved a pattern on the metal, and then often etched it out with acid."
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