![]() ![]() Recreating Damascus steel - Verhoeven spent much of the 1980s formulating a method to replicate this process, with blacksmith Alfred Pendray. The cooled and hardened ingots were then shipped to Damascus, where smiths would heat and hammer them to form the blade with its deadly properties and characteristic pattern. Here, craftsmen would melt iron and carbon-containing materials, such as charcoal, in a sealed crucible. Reports indicate that the swords were made by forging small cakes of ‘wootz’ steel, manufactured in India. Yet, as Verhoeven points out, the last swords were made in the early 1800s and the formula for the steel soon died out. Manufactured between the 3rd and 17th centuries, Damascus blades were prized for being so sharp they could cut a silk scarf in half as it fell to the ground. But for Verhoeven, his enduring passion follows a life-long commitment to solving the mystery of the Damascus steel sword. “But, if you are able to cut one up and study its microstructure under a microscope you will see layers of carbide particles that look like the Milky Way tiny white dots all clustered together.”īe it fact or fiction, the professor and many fans of the epic fantasy drama are dazzled by these legendary weapons. “The surface of a Damascus steel sword has this beautiful distinct, wavy pattern,” Verhoeven said. Valyrian steel is also recognizable by its strength and lightweight (compared with ordinary steel), and by its distinctive rippled pattern. Martin, Valyrian steel is a metal produced with spells and incantations in ancient times, and when forged into blades it’s able to hold its extraordinarily sharp edge forever, and never need honing. In the cosmos created by GOT author George R.R. Ask Professor John Verhoeven, a retired Iowa State University metallurgist, about the real-life equivalent – a Damascus steel sword – and you’ll receive the same, wistful response. If you ask any Game of Thrones fan about a Valyrian steel sword, their eyes may twinkle as they describe its exceptional sharpness, strength, lightness, and distinct ripple patterns. ![]()
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