Bronze Bladed Knives

[Four-and-twentypence]

The Government... You must chuckle a little at that username each time it is used.
Thanks to The Government, my wallet will be planning its own coup against me.
The Government has sparked again interest in bronze blades, thereby creating a great deficit in my budget spending.
Mad Science Forge will love it if the price is right.

 

[B.F.U]

Thanks abbydaddy. Don't worry I plan to try some tungsten-copper alloy blades in the future. It isn't a true alloy: the hard tungsten micro-bits are distributed throughout the copper almost like carbides. Combined with the work-hardenability of the copper, it could make a really neat and effective little blade.

That sounds like an awesome material, I had no idea of its existence. I'll have to snoop around.

 

[Mecha]

That sounds like an awesome material, I had no idea of its existence. I'll have to snoop around.

I planned on getting some for use as hilt parts anyway, as it looks like a muted, washed-out copper, very pretty. It's usually used as an electrode material I think. Tungsten percentage can vary a lot.

 

[abbydaddy]

I planned on getting some for use as hilt parts anyway, as it looks like a muted, washed-out copper, very pretty. It's usually used as an electrode material I think. Tungsten percentage can vary a lot.

Do you have any insights on it's properties as a blade material? Or is this going to be more in the vein of an experiment? I tried looking up a bit on it, and quickly came to the conclusion that I am not a metallurgist.

 

[Mecha]

I'll post up info as soon as I get some hands-on work with the stuff.

 

[Rhinoknives1]

Bronze is very easy to forge hot or cold. If you hammer it cold it begins to steadily work-harden, and it must be annealed before it gets brittle and breaks, by heating it just until it begins to glow and quenching it in water. I'm sure there's more to it but that's how I've been doing it for good results.

As Mete alluded to, the other main thing is that some of the copper alloys are poisonous and can give off poisonous gasses when hot.

I saw a documentary on a excavation of a Neolithic village in France or Italy a few years back and they mentioned that they could tell who was the Copper Smith and his family in the village by testing the amount of Arsenic I believe in their bones. It was high and they died young! Be careful guys!

 

[B34NS]

Great stuff Mecha! :thumbup:

I saw a documentary on a excavation of a Neolithic village in France or Italy a few years back and they mentioned that they could tell who was the Copper Smith and his family in the village by testing the amount of Arsenic I believe in their bones. It was high and they died young! Be careful guys!

Yes! Very cool, they even found traces of arsenic in Ootzi's (the iceman) hair from copper smelting along with his copper axe. The Chalcolithic period is pretty cool, just before they figured out how to work with higher heat and tin.