>You can form a colored layer of oxidation on an iron blade by polishing the metal and heating it to a specific temperature.
>These sorts of treatments were probably pretty common, though they often don't survive on weapons recovered from archaeological sites. Some of the weapons I study (which were buried in graves and, hence, are now heavily corroded) have surviving traces in their metallurgy of having been carefully heated to the right temperature to turn their blades bright blue when they were new. Others have inlayed copper alloy decorations which are hard to see on uncolored steel, but which really pop when the metal is turned black or blue. Brian Gilmour has argued that these kinds of surface finishes were widespread, but have in many cases been polished off by years of over-zealous Victorian museum curators who tried to keep the weapons artificially shiny, and I think he's correct.
What kind of man wields a blue sword?
>>47081386
>citation needed
>>47081623
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10426910902988059
>>47081623
I don't have a source, but I know exactly what OP is talking about, it's pretty easy to get a wide-range of colors in your metal by applying a combination of heat and chemicals.
You tend to get blue or orange though, red is pretty fucking hard to get since it switches almost right away.Does anyone want to get answers about Metallurgy?
>>47081386
>Others have inlayed copper alloy decorations which are hard to see on uncolored steel, but which really pop when the metal is turned black or blue.
Jesus Christ, imagine a black steel blade with bright copper inlay.
I'm salivating just thinking about it.
>>47081386
My next Antipaladin is wielding a bright red sword and you can't stop me.
>>47081795
Well, yeah, this is 4chan. I can't make you do anything.
I can, however, point out that there are also some very nice purples, yellows, and desaturated reds on that graph too, which will say 'sinister' without screaming 'edge' quite as loudly as bright red.
>>47081795
Why not go with a nice dark gray inlaid with silver?
>>47081386
>a silver colored blade? This is so 1370s. Get with the times and buy a blue one.
I can only imagine adventurers who travel to some other land where they are considered the most unfashionable people and not treated seriously. It's like wearing socks to sandals - with a suit.
>>47081423
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BinWA0EenDY
>>47081649
Stat this /tg/.
Actually, what stats would each temper allocate to the sword?
>>47081893
Anti Paladins are edgy by default.
>>47082032
Are Counter-Paladins any better?
>>47081893
>purple
>using Mace Windu's saber color on an Evil character
The others are neat, though.
>>47082063
What about postpaladins? This doesn't sound as edgy.
>>47082032
Instead of generic red and black, you can go with purple and black, or a sickly yellow.
They're still edgy, but they're at least a little more original.
>>47081386
Source? RIS points to tips for forging, not making bitchin' purple swords.
>>47082517
>Source? RIS points to tips for forging, not making bitchin' purple swords.
>>47081673 here, found it! It's called bluing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bluing_%28steel%29
D. Hov sucks
>>47081423
Not a man, but a hobbit.
What about anodizing a blade? Rainbows, bitches.
>>47083156
How does posting about /tg/ relevance contribute anything to /tg/?
You've yet to have any /tg/ content in your posts, buddy.
Shitposting about what you consider shitposting? Turns out that is, indeed, also shitposting.
>>47083586
Anodizing and iron don't mix too well unless your goal is to make it black . Color anodizing, though useful for many metals, doesn't work to well on most of the ones typically useful for combat, i.e. ferrous.
I've had heat-treatment coloration, however, a part of my setting for some time as I encountered it back in my metal shop days.
>>47081969
The various colors are affected by the temper treatment the blade gets. The hotter the temper the harder the blade, harder isn't always better though, due to the fact that it becomes more brittle as well.
>>47084172
FRIENDLY REMINDER THAT 1065 STEEL IS THE BEST STEEL AND EVERYONE ELSE CAN GET THE FUCK OUT.
>>47084260
Is that temperature or the number for the type of steel?
>>47084325
Number type.
>>47084260
There is no "best" just ones that excel in different applications. You don't want super hard steel in a spring, it'll snap.
>>47081386
Blueing weapons (and other steel tools) is absolutely a thing but this color chart exaggerates to a great degree.
>>47084374
1065 probably makes the best swords.
>>47084538
Or, to be more specific, 1065 with a nitride hardened surface.
>>47084538
For regular carbon steel anyway
>>47084436
Doesn't seem to exaggerated >>47084172
While certainly it's not a flat vibrant color, I don't think anyone was expecting it to not be a bit more metallic and tinged.
It's not like automotive paint or something. I'm more amazed that this is an actual thing at all. Colored swords sound very stylish.
Shame there isn't a way to get green out of it.I think it's the only color of the rainbow missing.
>>47084591
That's what the copper inlay is for.
>>47084591
There are various "blueing" agents, at least some of which can produce green, a blacksmith friend of mine did it to a knife I saw. Dunno if it was something available in preindustrial times.
Also, that picture is of steel that was blued after being cut and polished, in practice you are unlikely to get this kind of result with kind of steel you'd be making a blade out of, or with the process used to make a blade.
>>47084653
Still looks pretty cool
>>47084690
Oh yeah totally
This is cool as fuck, but I'm wondering how medieval smiths were able to control the temperature well and consistently enough to pull this off regularly. I imagine it was a practice reserved for the elite or anyone who could pay for it.
This is giving me so many cool ideas though.
Cool as heck. And you're sure this doesn't wreck the blade or anything?
>>47084916
Steel changes color as it is heated. I imagine it just took a lot of experience.
>heat it to this specific shade of dull cherry red and it'll come out blue when quenched.
>>47084916
It definitely seems like the sort of thing that would take experience and practice to get right. Even then you might need to make multiple attempts.
Still, that's stylish enough that you could easily sell it to nobles or the like for a fair bit more than a typical blade.
>>47082243
>not creating your armor out of tightly-fitted holy symbols
>not crafting your speech entirely out of scripture
>not dedicating your life to the word and spirit of your one true god entirely for the irony
ISHYGDDT
>>47085121
>>47084916
Holy shit, I'm remembering a master armorer in Game of Thrones that lauded himself as being the only one in King's Landing who could "color steel without enameling."
This is his secret, he was bluing the steel. Fuck, it just hit me.
>>47085105
That is exactly the process, it's why blacksmithing buildings tended to be round and have an entrance hall that spiraled around the building. It helped keep the interior dark and the exact shade of the steel's glow more easily discernable.
For anyone interested in blacksmithing I would highly recommend watching Forged in Fire on the history channel.
>>47084916
Want some more cool ideas? Look up Electric Arc Furnaces and imagine those functioning with magic.
Or imagine how fantasy metals react in alloys; is alloyed Mithral steel easier to enchant? Does Adamantine steel have the best hardness/toughness of any metal while still maintaining reasonable ductility? Does the best steel blade have a mithral core edged with Adamantine?
>>47084436
It's not. I've accidentally blued steel.
t. Welder.
>>47084436
>>47084591
Yes, it will be that vibrant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhjiIPohUyw
>the ancient and medieval worlds were full of vibrant colors
>rainbow swords were a thing
>theropods had feathers
Why is the past so fabulous?
>>47085475
Because the present expects you to see the past as a terrible, regressive land of muted colors and terrible living conditions.
If you maintain the present is the best it's ever been and the past was crap, saying "what is this, the 1950s" becomes a filthy word, declarations of the current year become a rallying cry, and the future can only get better.
>>47081386
I want a purple knife. Confuse everyone and everything.
>Gee, how'd you get a PURPLE knife?
>I got from a giant purple people eater.
>Oh, neat.
>Yeah, and it turns red breddy good when I stick it in the right stuff!
>Really?!
>>47085515
But high medieval sucked hard for almost everybody but a small group of highly privileged guys.
And every time I go to a dentist I imagine how bad would it be without the modern tools and anesthetics. Recently I almost lost my front tooth - back in the day the best I could have would be a local blacksmith pulling it out.
Fuck this noise, [current year] is a pretty good time.
>>47086061
A middle (probably even lower middle) class person in literally any developed country has a higher standard of living than royalty did in the middle ages. By most objective measurements the world is becoming a better place for nearly everyone.
>Recently I almost lost my front tooth - back in the day the best I could have would be a local blacksmith pulling it out.
For a time my grandpa ran a free dental clinic in a rural part of a very,very poor country. It's horrifying what passes for dental care among people who have access to literally none. By the way, on top of sucking in their own right, mouth infections can cause a surprising number of a serious problems in other parts of your body and potentially even by life threatening. So ya, modern dentistry FTW
