SWORDS

sword is a bladed weapon, consisting in its most

fundamental design of a blade and a handle. The
blade is usually of some metal ground to at least
one sharp edge and often has a pointed tip for
thrusting. The handle, called the hilt, can be made
of many materials, but the material most common is wood
covered by leather, fish skin or metal wiring. The parts of
a sword are remarkably consistent between cultures. The basic
intent and physics of swordsmanship is fairly constant.

This kind of weapon has been in use from the Bronze Age
when the construction of long metal blades was possible for
the first time. Early swords were made of solid bronze or
copper; these were hard, but quite brittle. Not until iron
could be forged did the sword truly become an important
weapon. Soon, smiths learned that with a proper amount of
coal (specifically the carbon in coal) in the iron, another
metal (alloy really) could be produced: steel.

Several different ways of swordmaking existed in ancient

times. One of the most reputed is pattern welding. Over time
new methods were developed all over the world.

In Pre-Columbian South America and Mesoamerica several

cultures made use of types of swords without developing
metallurgy; for example swords with obsidian "teeth" mounted
along the "edges" of a wooden "blade".
Having seen use for about five millennia, swords began to
lose their military uses in the late 18th century because of
increasing availability and reliability of gunpowder weapons.
Swords were still used although increasingly limited to officers
and ceremonial uniforms. Cavalry sabre charges still occurred
as late as World War II during which Japanese and Pacific
Islanders also occasionally used swords.

There are hundreds of types of swords. Here are the most

briefly. Mechanisms for firing the charge of gunpowder and
ejecting the missile can be divided into recognizable types
that make dating possible, but only within wide limits.

From the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries the powder was

ignited by means of a wheel-lock, a hardened toothed wheel
which attempted to strike sparks from a piece of flint
comparable to a cigarette-lighter. Its successor, introduced
early in the seventeenth century, was the flint-lock, in which
a piece of flint gripped in steel jaws was sprung down on to
the powder and ignited it as it struck the steel powder-pan.

This method endured until early in the nineteenth century,

when a small cap, containing chemicals that detonated on
being hit, known as a percussion cap, was invented. The cap
was placed near the powder, and when the trigger was pressed
the hammer fell and the cap exploded the gunpowder.

We have seen how iron and steel were used to show power
through the armours of the kings and his soldiers that proves
their might and power. We have also seen how the making
process involved has progressed from the time it has been
extensively.

Historical Armouries Reproductions - Fine reproductions of

authentic functional Arms & Armour, Medieval Arms and
Armour Reproduction and Restoration. Rentals for Magazine,
Film and TV.

www.historicalarmouries.webs.com

Thanks,
Historical Armouries Team