As we all know, ancient Chinese weapons have a very high cultural taste and are outstanding representatives of the economy, culture, science and technology of an era, and the forging texture displayed on the sword is one of the highlights.
The forging of swords in ancient China is extensive and profound. So far, there are Tuan Da, running water, spin welding, horse teeth (horse teeth), etc., and there are also some unique ones that will not be described here.
Tuanba: This is a very popular folding forging. The process is relatively simple, saves labor and time, and is suitable for mass production. The texture is rough, mostly like rolling mountains, and the cutting edge is clipped. The steel is clearly visible.
The running water, the thickness of the running water, is mostly folded at the tip. This is also one of the references for judging whether the blade body of a sword with this kind of forged texture is broken or incomplete. The thicker ones flow evenly along the blade body, while the thinner ones are mostly concentrated in the middle of the blade body, and some flow out of the ridges between the blade bodies. The flowing water texture is stretched and smooth, really like gurgling water. At the same time, there is also a type of texture, such as a few ripples in the water, evenly distributed on the blade body, which is called thumbprint.
Spin welding is a modern term and a general term. The pattern of spin welding is not fixed, but looks like feathers, fish intestines, chrysanthemums, and ladders. Spin welding is also a kind of folding forging, but the forging texture it presents is very regular, the patterns presented are gorgeous, and it is very aesthetically pleasing. This has a lot to do with the forging techniques of the craftsmen, and the materials used for forging swords also have a considerable impact. As for whether the legendary iron welding is spin welding, it is still unclear. Here are two excerpts from ancient books for reference and judgment. One of them is recorded in "Yun Yan Guo Yan Lu" written by Zhou Mi of the Song Dynasty: a grate knife, the iron of which is all finely decorated, it is said that this is a thin piece of silver cut, and an iron piece is cut as fine as silk hair, and then it is beaten with ten thousand hammers, and it is made. Nature's flower. Another record is from Ming Dynasty Cao Zhao's "Gegu Yaolun": When iron comes out of Xifan, there are spiral flowers on the surface, and sesame and snowflakes on the surface. All swords are polished and polished with gold wire alum, and the flowers are like See, it’s worth more than silver. What kind of spin welding pattern is iron can only be understood by each person!
Horse teeth are described in "Seal Engraving Needles" by Chen Keshu of the Qing Dynasty: Use teeth, hair and saltpeter to burn ashes in equal parts, and use vinegar to make the edge of the knife like a jagged tooth, and sharpen it with horse teeth steel. If you are not on the same scale as Yu Tie, you are alone and strong. Judging from the text, the horse teeth should be the product of burning edge quenching. It is the heat treatment of the blade after the blade body is forged and trimmed, rather than the traditional simple steel clamping and steel inserting. In the actual objects seen, the horse teeth are shaped like pointed tusks, neatly arranged on the edge of the blade, and the blade body is mostly made of flowing water forging texture.