Tamahagane

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Tamahagane

Tamahagane ( Japanese 玉 鋼 ) is a steel that is obtained from iron sand ( 砂 鉄 , Satetsu ) in the Tatara , a Japanese version of the racing furnace , by smelting (direct reduction). The resulting shell is freed from slag and inclusions by forging out ( fermenting ) and processed into refining steel .

Tamahagane is heterogeneous and is partly characterized by a high carbon content . In addition, it is low in undesirable additives such as sulfur and phosphorus .

The traditional Japanese weapons such as katana (long sword), wakizashi (short sword) and tantō (dagger) as well as yoroi ( or rarely ) the traditional plate armor were made from Tamahagane . Even today, sword blades and blades for knives - such as Hocho (Japanese kitchen knives) or Kamisori (Japanese razors) - are made from Tamahagane.

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