| How was a katana sword made? This question is | | | | To produce their best blades the Japanese used a |
| more of an inquiry into the physical build of the | | | | much more involved process. For the interior of the |
| Katana but there was much more to it than that. | | | | katana, they used a comparatively soft, laminated |
| Before the blade forging would begin, the sword | | | | metal that would resist breaking. The blade's exterior |
| maker underwent fasting and ritual cleansing. They | | | | and edge were made of different kinds of hard steel |
| would then do their work in robes of white, much like | | | | welded together in a compacted form that was |
| priests. These sword makers were held in very high | | | | folded and hammered out as many as 20 times or |
| regard. | | | | more, giving it more than a million laminations! This |
| As early as the 13th Century, Japanese swords were | | | | outer coat of steel could be made even harder by |
| known to be far more superior than any made | | | | first heating the sword and then quenching it quickly |
| anywhere else in the world. Not until the | | | | by submerging it in water. In the final step, the |
| development of contemporary scientific metallurgy in | | | | sword maker would cover the rough blade with a |
| the 19th century, could steel be made that would | | | | thick layer of adhesive material, mostly clay, leaving |
| face up to the superiority of that made by these | | | | only the edge uncovered, and heat the blade until the |
| Japanese 600 years earlier. | | | | glowing metal reached an extreme bright glow. The |
| To fabricate their unmatched katanas, Japanese | | | | sword maker would then thrust the heated blade into |
| artisans had to conquer a problem that had baffled | | | | water. This would cause the exposed edge to cool |
| many others throughout the world. They could make | | | | instantaneously while the rest of the blade, protected |
| swords that were very strong, but this would also | | | | by the clay, cooled slowly and remained relatively |
| result in them being very brittle and would snap | | | | soft. |
| easily. The Japanese defeated this problem by folding | | | | The result was a blade of soft non-brittle metal |
| the steel over and over repeatedly hundreds of | | | | encased in a very thin layer of hard steel. About one |
| times to make it extremely hard yet durable. When it | | | | fifth of an inch of its edge was made of metal so |
| was honed to a sharp edge the metal resisted dulling | | | | hard that it held a razor's edge during repeated use. |
| and the soft steel kept the sword from breaking. | | | | |