03-14-2010, 01:34 AM
Can't help with the specifics of the Orsova kamarion, but I can supply some general information.
It was long known that juxtaposition of wrought iron to charcoal increased the hardness of the wrought iron. Two steel making processes were known and practiced in antiquity; the cementation process and the crucible process. The cementation process involved heating wrought iron in contact with a carbon source (usually charcoal) in such a way as to exclude exposure to air. In the crucible process wrought iron bars were melted in crucibles in which charcoal had been placed.
Steel tools made by the cementation process of Roman origin were found in Britain dating to the second century AD. Carbon content varied irregularly throughout from 0% to 1.3%.(mild steel is 0.15-0.25%; medium carbon steel is 0.25-0.5%; high carbon steel 0.5-1.6% - the hardest and strongest, and used today for cutting tools) It was this irregular distribution of carbon that made the cementation process, or "home-made" Roman steel a bit "hit-and-miss". But clearly high-carbon steel was known and used.
In addition, true steel in the form of "Wootz" steel had been known in India from around 500BC, using the crucible method (and after Alexander's time was known to the mediterranean world.) From after 330 BC, the crucible process was also used to produce 'springy' Damascus steel. However the techniques used were kept secret and did not become widespread.
While steel and the processes to produce it were not understood in the Roman world, medium and high carbon steels were certainly in use, often a mixture of both! ("If it works, use it!")
It was long known that juxtaposition of wrought iron to charcoal increased the hardness of the wrought iron. Two steel making processes were known and practiced in antiquity; the cementation process and the crucible process. The cementation process involved heating wrought iron in contact with a carbon source (usually charcoal) in such a way as to exclude exposure to air. In the crucible process wrought iron bars were melted in crucibles in which charcoal had been placed.
Steel tools made by the cementation process of Roman origin were found in Britain dating to the second century AD. Carbon content varied irregularly throughout from 0% to 1.3%.(mild steel is 0.15-0.25%; medium carbon steel is 0.25-0.5%; high carbon steel 0.5-1.6% - the hardest and strongest, and used today for cutting tools) It was this irregular distribution of carbon that made the cementation process, or "home-made" Roman steel a bit "hit-and-miss". But clearly high-carbon steel was known and used.
In addition, true steel in the form of "Wootz" steel had been known in India from around 500BC, using the crucible method (and after Alexander's time was known to the mediterranean world.) From after 330 BC, the crucible process was also used to produce 'springy' Damascus steel. However the techniques used were kept secret and did not become widespread.
While steel and the processes to produce it were not understood in the Roman world, medium and high carbon steels were certainly in use, often a mixture of both! ("If it works, use it!")
"dulce et decorum est pro patria mori " - Horace
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
(It is a sweet and proper thing to die for ones country)
"No son-of-a-bitch ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country" - George C Scott as General George S. Patton
Paul McDonnell-Staff
