What are martensite, pearlite and ferrite? Klavasen has no concept of metallography.
In fact, before microscopes could directly see the metallographic phase of metals, blacksmiths from all over the world were relying on their own experience. In the long-term smelting process, they gradually concluded that quenching, tempering and annealing can be used under existing conditions. Heat treatment technology was achieved under the 1990s, and through these measures, the properties of iron have been significantly changed.
Perhaps the birth of block-smelted carburized steel originated from a craftsman's whim and the result of repeated forging with red-hot iron weights.
For example, an owner of iron farm tools wanted a blacksmith to refurbish his farm tools or to shape them into a more suitable shape for use.
The blacksmith was just too lazy to save trouble, so he used the most ordinary charcoal stove to burn the iron farm tools red, and then began to forge them into the shape required by the customer, and then quenched them in cold water and delivered them for use. The blacksmith's laziness and effortlessness are exactly a steelmaking process.
An ordinary family in this time and space, their survival almost depends on farming and growing food. Ironware is more practical than bronze. Although ironware is not a price that one family cannot accept among the people, it is still a precious treasure that is passed down from generation to generation. spread.
The repair process is also a secondary heating process. Because it is low-temperature heating, charcoal, the most cost-effective fuel available to people in this time and space, does not completely burn and heats the wrought iron to a maximum of 700 degrees, often only 500 degrees. At such a temperature, a large amount of carbon monoxide dissipates with the hot wind, and a large amount of carbon molecules penetrate into the carbon-free wrought iron.
Every time it is burned, carbon penetrates in. As long as enough penetrates, the iron weight becomes low carbon steel. If the blacksmith continues to repeat it painstakingly, or even repeats it a hundred times, the iron weight will gradually turn into high carbon steel. If it continues, it will turn into poor pig iron because too much carbon has seeped into it.
This large-scale artificial carburization work for iron-making began in China during the Spring and Autumn Period.
On the other hand, in Greece and Rome at the same time, although iron tools had begun to be used, since the fall of Western Rome, Western European blacksmiths still did not develop a relatively sound artificial carburizing technology for block iron making. Instead, they had to import large-scale iron tools from the North under the control of the Parthian Empire. Indian steel knives.
The source of Otto's Destroyer comes from the Indus River Basin.
The patterns on the sword god are actually derived from some trace elements rather than complex forging techniques. Although the locals are indeed very skilled in making steel swords, the process is complicated and time-consuming.
The locals used local ores for smelting, and any sword made with local ores would have beautiful patterns. However, more than two thousand years later, they could no longer make swords with patterns, and the era also entered the industrial age. The special local iron ore was mined out, and the technology of making pattern steel was immediately lost.
But mankind has become industrially civilized, and large-scale steelmaking has become possible. In the time it took the ancients to make a steel sword, later generations could make thousands of tons of pure molten iron.
Controlling the carbon content of molten iron is a systematic science, and the technologies of later generations almost all come from the technological leap brought about by the development of chemistry. If there is anything that future generations inherit from their predecessors, it is the blast furnace.
In Europe, before learning the Chinese blast furnace technology, they had always had rammed earth furnaces that were half a person's height. At most, individual blacksmiths built the furnaces to a person's height.
Here in Klavasen, he finally waited for the iron bar to cool down for the first time.
During this period of slow natural cooling, Rurik's spirit relaxed and he soon became drowsy. He really curled up on the ground, like a golden kitten, wrapped in an animal skin and fell asleep.
Seeing that Rurik had rested and felt that a blacksmith's house was by no means a good place to sleep, Klavasen urged his son Kawi: "Let's do it again as he asked. Don't be afraid of waking him up, let's get started."
The blacksmith shop began to buzz again, and Rurik fell into a drowsy sleep, until he suddenly felt drowsily being picked up by someone.
"Child, are you awake?" Klavasen asked kindly.
"Well...where are you going if you hold me?"
"Go to the longhouse where my family is staying. Don't worry, it's really too late now. We will continue banging when we all wake up, and we will definitely satisfy you."
"Okay, that iron..."
"I knocked it again and the stove was out. I didn't quench the iron bar directly. I just put it in the room and let it cool freely."
Hearing what he said, Rurik felt very satisfied.
He was laid on the warmer hide and saw the lighted oil lamp again. In the dim light, Rurik saw the figure of an old woman and Rumia's peaceful sleeping appearance.
It's really interesting that Klavason's old wife obviously doesn't mind Rumia's special status as the daughter of a deer herder. The two of them are like an old mother and daughter. Perhaps Klavassen's wife hoped to have a daughter? Who knows?
Rurik felt that he was well taken care of by the blacksmith. He stayed overnight in the blacksmith's establishment. Everyone lay in the sleeping dens covered with animal skins, and the warmth was natural.
Now that he has regained consciousness, Rurik muttered quietly: "Tomorrow you...you will do as I say. By the way, what to do with the dregs in the furnace? Just throw them away?"
"The slag must be thrown away, as well as the ashes." Clavarson said indifferently.
"No! Throw away the slag and keep the ashes of the charcoal fire."
"Huh? Are they important?"
"Of course, in this way..." Rurik suddenly hesitated. He estimated that it would take a lot of words to tell the blacksmith about carburizing now, so he simply didn't want to say more. "Just do what I want. You can continue to forge tomorrow. Remember, do not quench directly in cold water."
"I understand, hehe, it's called tempering, which means it's as cold as ice when blown by the cold wind."
"That's it." Rurik smiled every day: "Tomorrow, please ask Brother Kawei to take me to the chief priest's house first."
Kawei, he is very happy that Rurik calls him his brother. Does this mean that the future leader Rurik respects him? "Going to the chief priest's house? Is it important?"
"Of course! I want to check out the situation with the soap. I think you also want to buy a piece of soap! In addition to the soap, I also want to get some seal oil."
"Oil lamp?" Kawei asked naturally.
"Of course not! Starting tomorrow, we must start using grease quenching and seal oil to cool the hot iron bars instead of ice water."
"This..." Kawei heard this in confusion, and Klavasen's situation was even worse.
Quenching with grease, not to mention it is unbelievable, is a huge luxury, because quenching always requires a barrel full of grease!
Rurik didn't want to explain more, but said straightforwardly: "Do as I say, and remember all my requirements. When you make me a good sword that can cut through ordinary iron swords, you will know that now The effort is worth it. When that time comes, I will tell you the real secret here for a long time. Remember, that is the real wisdom of Odin. Now you are just practicing wisdom at my request."
Rurik didn't say anything more so far. Klavasen and Kawei were in a state of excitement and couldn't calm down for a long time. It's really strange to use grease to cool a red sword embryo.
A new day is another busy start.
Kawei sent Rurik to the door of the priest's longhouse as promised.
"Rurik, go in by yourself."
"Huh? You don't want to come in?"
Kawei inadvertently revealed his unspeakable secret, "I... maybe I shouldn't go to Odin's domain."
His words were a bit formal. When Rurik thought about it carefully, it was probably because Kawei claimed to be Thor's servant.
"Then just wait, I'll come as soon as I go."
After saying that, Rurik's small body got in.
His sudden appearance was not unexpected at all, and as expected, the priests continued with their various measures to make soap.
The elderly Vilia spends most of the day practicing meditation, not wanting any exertion to damage his increasingly fragile body.
She also increasingly felt that her successor Bona was a philistine. The next high priest was less pious to the gods and more interested in silver coins.
But the daily life of the priestly community relies heavily on Bona.
The priests rested for a day, and Pona felt that everyone's sore arms had recovered. They began to boil the white seal meat they bought cheaply.
They even ate some raw seal fat as a different kind of delicacy.
"It's Rurik. I heard that you went to the blacksmith. Where's Rumia? She didn't come. Without her, I can only ask others to go herding."
Rurik nodded: "I will ask her to come back tomorrow. I have done something for her, so don't embarrass her when grazing. I came here to ask you for some grease."
"Grease? Don't you want soap?" Poona looked curious.
"I'm taking some grease to the blacksmith's shop. It has nothing to do with soap. Don't ask any further questions."
"Well, I hope it's no trouble."
Bo Na didn't think much about it, because there was just boiled grease, although there was still a lot of unfiltered residue in it.
Rurik took another piece of soap that had been baked to crack and dry, and stuffed it into his leather jacket. He didn't say much, he simply handed Poona a silver coin to shut her up completely.
He personally struggled to carry the wooden bucket full of warm grease out of the longhouse. It could be said that he came and left in a hurry.
Because he really can't waste too much time.
He went out and directly told Kawei who didn't want to stay long: "You carry the barrel and go. When you get back, we will use grease instead of ice water to quench it."
"Ah?" Kawei was sure he heard correctly, "Grease? You question doing this. I'm curious if it won't burn?"
"No, don't ask any questions. We will use it immediately when we get to the blacksmith shop." As he said, Rurik took out the soap and said, "This is what the priest sold you especially. It's still two silver coins. Ask your father to give it to you." I."
"All right."
This was actually the first time Kawei came into contact with soap. This thing has the texture of oil but is not sticky at all. It is really the strangest thing he has ever seen in his life.
Kawei was not worried that the oil in the barrel would spill out because of the cold outside. When the two returned to the blacksmith shop, the barrel of seal oil had turned into a big white solid mass.
From this day on, with the addition of grease, it can be said that the manufacture of block-smelted low-carbon steel can finally officially begin.
The cooling stove was ignited again, and unlike yesterday, Rurik did not ask Kawei to work hard to operate the blower. The blower still needs to be used, it just plays a role in regulating the combustion intensity.
All the slag from yesterday was cleaned up in the furnace, and Klavasen carefully collected the plant ashes according to Rurik's request.
Dark red flames emitted from the stove, and yellow flames shot out from the top of the stove.
The two blacksmiths understood that such a flame could only burn the ore red, but could not separate the slag waste from the iron.
But this was Rurik's request.
The iron weight was hammered into iron bars yesterday. It was smeared with a layer of solidified seal oil and wrapped in a layer of "clothes" of ashes and charcoal debris.
Klavasen and Kawei had to follow suit, and naturally there were doubts.
"Is this the key? Maybe we should have been like this yesterday." Klavasen wondered.
"But we had no grease yesterday. You go ahead and put the iron bars into the pile of carbon now and let them smolder for a while."
It is wrong to just take it out and beat it as soon as it is red-hot. Only by increasing the contact area between the wrought iron and the incompletely burned carbon fire will a large number of carbon atoms penetrate into it.
As for applying grease and coating it with plant ash and carbon powder, it involves another purpose.
Plant ash contains potassium nitrate, and there is nitrogen in the nitrate, and the presence of nitrogen is very important for the careful introduction of carbon. Grease is not just for sticking to plant ashes. Grease itself contains a large amount of carbon and a small amount of nitrogen.
Substances containing carbon and nitrogen can adhere to the wrought iron at zero distance and are processed by low-temperature smoldering heat treatment. The carbon will penetrate the surface of the iron bar more efficiently.
The smoldering was deliberately carried out for a while. Since there was no such thing as an hourglass, Rurik had to think of a temporary trick.
Klavasen didn't mind drilling a hole in one of his own barrels, because he could order hundreds of oak barrels from the tribe's shipbuilders for less money than the money given by Rurik, the patron. The barrel was not valuable, but the "water flow timer" made by Rurik made him feel it was necessary.
A hole was drilled into the bottom of the keg, and Klavasen poured half of the melted snow water into it.
When the water ran out, the dark red iron bar was taken out.
The forging begins!
It's still the same routine as yesterday, bending and folding, desperately beating it into an iron weight, and then smashing it into long strips again. Rurik temporarily set a cycle for it, that is, hitting it twice for each fold.
"Okay, stop! The iron bar has cooled down, now insert it into the grease."
Kawei was not surprised at first, but it was Klavasen who was surprised: "Must it be quenched with grease? Is it really necessary?"
"Just listen to what he says and do it." Kawei urged his father.
"Okay, if you insist."
The temperature of the iron bar has naturally cooled to less than 300 degrees, and its metallographic phase is changing. Iron at this temperature cannot cause fat burning. It will still sizzle the oil it comes into contact with in the grease bucket.
Oil quenching is gentler, and this is what Rurik needs now. Only in this way will the hardness of the iron not become extreme due to rapid cooling, and the carbon that has been carefully introduced can better penetrate into the deep layers, so that the overall carburization can be even.
When the iron bar was taken out, it became a black bar with greasy substance attached to it.
Rurik ordered: "Now follow the initial steps, wrap it with charcoal and ashes, and continue to smolder. Remember, the barrel is filled with water. If the water leaks, take out the iron bars. Please be sure to repeat this ten times today. "
"Huh? So many times? So complicated?" Klavason shouted in disbelief.
"Today is just the beginning." Rurik said without changing his expression: "This is Odin's wisdom. Only in this way can we build the hardest sword and easily cut through other people's ordinary iron swords. Don't you think the money I gave you is not enough?" ?You continue, there are still four days of work in the future, and you must repeat it fifty times starting from today."
What more can be said? It would be foolish to piss off the donor. And Klavason also wants to get the legendary sword to arm himself and his son. As long as he succeeds once, Klavasen is confident that he can replicate his successful experience. Think about it, a sword that cuts iron like clay, and you believe in the effort you put into it. Generally, an iron sword costs three silver coins in front and back, and a sword costs at least thirty silver coins. Would a wealthy warrior be stingy with thirty silver coins and give up a divine sword?
With such admiration for the wealthy future, the two blacksmiths quickly corrected their mentality and devoted themselves to the most arduous work.
They started sweating profusely, and Rurik and Rumia just watched.
Bailiang Steel, this is Bailiang Steel, is the first in the Nordic world to use Bailiang Steelmaking technology to manufacture block-smelted low-carbon steel. But with the crazy methods of carbon-nitrogen co-infiltration and the high-intensity work of "Fifty Refining", is it still low-carbon steel?
I'm afraid it's already medium carbon steel.
The sword embryo is made of medium-carbon steel that has both flexibility and hardness. After several rounds of earth-burning and oil-quenching techniques, the sword blade turns into harder high-carbon steel and can cut through wrought iron, for sure!
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Chapter 97 The beginning of hard work
