Are the knives in the craftsman's workshop made by hand?

It is forged by hand folding. The high-hardness steel plate and the low-hardness steel plate are stacked together, heated and softened, and then forged into steel plates. Fold it a few times in the middle and then twist it, that is, twist it. Finally, hand-forged Damascus steel is both rigid and flexible, and there are dazzling patterns. These patterns are formed by folding and forging. The reflectivity of steel with different hardness is different, and there will be color difference between light and dark. When they are folded and forged together, they will show patterns. In order to make the pattern more obvious, it is necessary to carry out pickling to remove the oxide on the surface and enhance the concave-convex feeling of the surface.

Knives, handles, polishing and carving in craftsmen's workshops are all done by craftsmen. Zhang Yong, the founder of the workshop, is a swordsman family, which is quite famous in North China and recorded in local chronicles.

Production process:

1. Forging 6 identical thin iron sheets. (Assume that each iron sheet is 1 inch wide,112 inch thick and12 inch long. )

2. Forging five thin steel plates with the same shape and size as the iron sheet.

This means that we have prepared 1 1 pieces of steel. Of course, if you use more materials, the final pattern will be more complicated.

3. Stack these steel plates and iron sheets together.

It should be noted that the steel plate must be placed between two layers of iron sheets, that is to say, the first layer is iron sheet, the second layer is steel sheet, the third layer is iron sheet ... and the last layer is iron sheet. Start with iron sheet and end with iron sheet. Wrap each layer of steel sheet in the middle of iron sheet. Make no mistake, no matter how many steel plates you use.

As shown in figure 1, the number range of each sheet is 1 to 1 1, where a stands for steel and f stands for iron. Fold them together in this order, and then clamp all the sheets with clips.

Figure 1- Knife Craftsman's Art Illustration

4. Put this group of alloy steel into the fire, raise the temperature, and make it evenly heated.

5. Take out the alloy steel and forge it evenly to reduce its thickness to 2/3 to 3/4 inches.

6. Continue to heat to bright red (not completely white), then clamp one end with a vise and screw it evenly from one end to the other like a screw. As shown in figure 2.

7. Forging the twisted alloy steel into alloy steel with a width of 3/4 inch and a thickness of 1/4 inch.

Figure 3- Illustration of Knife Craftsman's Art

8. Fold it into two parts as shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4- Illustration of Knife Craftsman's Art

All the work of piling, forging, twisting, forging and folding is to combine steel sheets and iron sheets to form a strong and tough steel structure, and no force can separate them. Steel is completely combined by welding and repeated forging, interwoven and infiltrated with each other, forming a magical alloy material-hard and tough.

The blade made in Damascus will never break unless you bend it repeatedly and forcefully.

9. Heat the Damascus knife to the color of copper, quench it in cold water, and then, as long as the blade is made thicker and rounder, you can easily use it to cut iron.

Source: 177 1 How do craftsmen make Damascus knives?