Last year, a new competition was created at the annual Metals Minerals and Materials Society’s (TMS) conference for smithing historically accurate blades. Hearing of this challenge, UCB quickly formed a team of students led by Prof. Hosemann. This teamed joined with local artisan blacksmith Jim Austin for his expert guidance and experience. Utilizing Saxon sword manufacturing processes, the team smelted magnetite ore into ingots. These ingots were forged into strips, and forged-welded together to create the body of the blade. The final shape of the blade was achieved through hand-hammering and lengthy mechanical polishing. Finally, after a hardening heat treatment, a handle was affixed and the sword “Berkelium” was formed! Along the way to the completion of the sword, the team characterized samples of the blade material during the manufacturing steps to understand the evolving microstructures during smelting, forging and hardening. At the TMS conference the UCB team was awarded “best example of a traditional blade process / ore smelting technique.”
