How Japanese Masters Turn Sand Into Swords

real

Nice pfp btw

Man read comment, man upvote

Literally me

Man watch Shōgun, see Katana video, man click

Bsme gang let’s goooo

Hey Google

Same here, the math stuff just goes over my head.

This stuff is undoubtably cool...
But modern day CPM super steels are far superior than this old classic style of making swords.. (CPM is crucible particle metallurgy)

you like phase diagrams?

man, when discovery channel dropped in the mid 90s, it was insane the level of production, the knowledge, the narration.

(((they))) want you to be stupid. Stupid pays 90% of their work as tax that .. Honestly I got no idea where it all goes. But this ain't no 'spiracy.

Imagine if they had TV channel level budgets and power

Because they went for low hanging fruit, resulting in the likes of Ancient Aliens.

because corporate hires morons who do nothing but excuses, accountants that reduce costs until there's nothing left, lawyers so they can cheat people and get away with it. All in the name of "Profit".

** deep inhale**
NNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRDDD
Just messing with ya. Knowledge of such things is cool.

The spines usually also don't have enough carbon to form a pure pearlite structure, rather a ferrite-pearlite structure.

It’s “Leviohsa” not “leviosa”

Wowzers

thank you for this. I knew about perlite from gardening and furnace concrete, and I was very confused when they said that some white volcanic gravel was the same thing these swords were made of.

truly awesome. nice to see an alien presenter. they truly look almost human.

Sooo.... "metallurgy".

Agree. Wish they had included the handle and scabbard parts too

Don’t forget mysticism.

This video is made with care and a lot of effort. However, are you aware of the inaccuracies presented here?

Can I have one and can you teach me how to make a sword!!!

@@GluStiKkhe literally just said they are not blacksmiths but their ancestors were :p

@@annoswet1576 i want a new sword bro wtf😡😡😡😡

Tell me you're rich without telling me you're rich. "Oh, we have a few swords from the Edo period". You're so lucky

@@GluStiKk just make your own sword from a cardboard box. We call that the poor mans katana.

And we can produce better quality steel in less time and more quantity.

This ^^^ Love that science explains the why part

Now we have thousands types of various steels , supper alloys , the modern drill bit made out if tungsten alloy may easily drill trough the best of Japanese swords.
Agree science went a long way .

Insane people were able to figure everything out like that before science

@@pablo.pereyraYep. And lets say, if you dig throu how this industrial processes were discovered. It was literally like - old dude with a dozen generations of experience and a few kids with mechanical engenering knowlage. And they actually figured this out even before science catched up. Early books on subject may casually reference alchemical works because it was a base understanding.

For that price Ryuma should come to my house and give it to me 😂

and a full training course with mihawk

Bruh

F

???

Which is probably why it's only folded 8 to 13 times. 35 years ago, I watched something that talked about them being folded 1,000 times +, they must have not understood how the layers form

@@xakstyles"if it's good, let's do it a thousand times. that'll make it better, right?"

​@@xakstyles it's another marketing trick, saying folded to mean the number of layers formed rather than the number of actions performed.

Indeed. And if the old commercials are true, when the PlayStation 9 lands, you'll be able to do it by thought alone!

Considering the direction in which modern gaming is going, you'll be able to do it in just 1 second soon... because that's how long it takes to do a microtransaction.

Ah yes 14 damage don't think you'll cut through the carpet tho with that 😂

it’s the guy who thirst traps with fish omg!! hi can i have one of ur gfs

Yo so true!

whatsoever ye do, work heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that from the Lord ye shall receive the recompense of the inheritance: ye serve the Lord Christ.
-Col 3:23-24

_… __-wonderful-__ beautiful”_

Probably one of his writers tbh. I'm not sure he writes any of his videos anymore.

WTF??? did you even see the previous video with rods of god ?:D:D:D if they would follow what in your comment they would not take such huge L

We often forget the most important part. You will suck hard at it at first, then you'll become average, then maybe you'll become great.

I guess you can't tell how low the other person has bowed until you coming back up! 🤭

​@@ahobimo732 you don't need to look, you should generally know how low to bow based on the social situation you are in

I noticed this too, I was really shocked at how low he went it almost felt like he was apologizing 😂

@@ahobimo732thats deep

How about a 180 degree bow huh?

"Never half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing." - Ron Swanson

I've also heard people say "the way you do something is the way you do everything". This Japanese meticulousness and perfectionism pervades their culture everywhere you look. Veritasium posted a video about the blue led just the other day, it's a very good example of that. Once they put their mind to something, doesn't matter how hard it is or how many hours of work it takes... It'll be done

reminds me of Amish furniture. My friend bought an entertainment center to put his tv and stereo system in. The back side of the piece that is never seen since it is up against a wall is just as detailed and well built as the front that gets all the eyes.

Now if only they knew what they were doing. Spring steel is far superior.

Explains Toyota's jidoka and kaizen principles.

These swords are literally the physical embodiment of trial and error in a form that cannot be perfected further, and as you said, without understanding the molecular science.
Japanese swordsmiths are geniuses.

@@SariahPendragonUhm ... I mean they did the best they could but traditional japanese katana were vastly inferior in terms of the steel it used, over European swords. Let alone modern ones.
Saying the smiths of that time were highly skilled and did the best they could is valid. Saying they reached a "form that cannot be perfected further" is assinine. Modern mass-produced steel katanas will beat any traditionally crafted one in terms of performance. (And the "Traditional" needs to be put in quotations too, since the sand used as ore is sifted with electromagnets. Older Katanas have far more impurities than modern "Traditionally" crafted ones)

@@bass-dc9175 Could you share a source or two for the statement "traditional Japanese katana were vastly inferior in terms of the steel it used, over European swords"? Thank you.
I did my 20 minute research and in the 3 places I had time too look it turns out the Japanese traditional steel was not at all inferior to European traditional steel.

@@ingerasulffs People did a number of tests, for instance striking the swords with one another. The japanese sword breaks in half, not the European one.
Japanese swords are also much thicker and heavier, this is evident when you see that a Katana is used two handed despite having a very short range. It is also sharpened on one side only and not very good at stabbing, which is how you best use a sword in war.
The reason for this is that the Japanese smelting process produces lots of low carbon iron and a small amount of high carbon steel. In order to make a useful weapon the smith must forge weld many different pieces together and they are very good at it. Europeans use a single piece of high carbon but springy steel, which makes the blade very tough, and the outer layer is hardened by cementing aka case hardening.
The japanese barely used their swords in combat, it was a status symbol so it's battlefield performance didn't really matter.

@@iotaje1BS...google is free bro.

Slag is also impurity that will weaken your steel.

Their*

Where is your master from?

Earth​@@faramund9865

Hahhaa! He's just messing with you man. It doesn't matter if glance away or not.
They will sneeze in there while you blink.

Bro he learned basic Japanese for this that's insane.

Katana means Japanese sword

You know I'm screenshotting this comment to send to Derek right? -- Petr

​@@veritasiumToo late, I already did. - me

Get that raise boy @@veritasium

cry in your six likes, sold account

And what did he use it for, chopping a bit of bamboo!!
Now what will he do with it? Spend years training to use it like the Japanese warriors did?
Or put it on a stand on his mantlepiece and tell visitors how craftsmen spent days making finely tempered steel sword, with a razor edge ......for them to look at!!! 🙄

@@Wordavee1Yes, it's an art. They don't use it to kill people anymore. What do you expect?

Look up the NHK documentary Tamahagane: Miracle Steel of Japan… it’s only about an hour, but it’s more in-depth on the older ways of the tatara steel production process (and where I think Veritasium got the idea for this video.)

​That was a good doc.​@@Holly_Mike

​@@Holly_MikeI was going to suggest the same documentary, it is really best documentary about katanas I ever saw. Much more in depth about traditional katana making. I am glad I am not only one who saw it

How do you feel about them using modern techniques like the electric hammer? as a lay person, im a little disappointed they werent still using originals methods.

@@rangleski3695not the original commenter but I think as how blacksmiths are more rarer than what is used to be in Japan, I imagined getting apprentices to help hammering would be also a rare occurrence. That’s my theory anyways but I feel the same way with you that I wish it was kept as the traditional ways but I understand to a certain point.

@@rangleski3695 IHMO the eHammer is basically like Ai tools (sans GenAi) or even modern farm tools. It's only a tool so much it reduces the effort needed to get to the final product...

Man, you're on point. It is such a bad argument to show something so cool as swordsmithing.

You can do it with a butter knife.

I've seen someone do it with a butter knife. Not impressive at all.

謎理論

Yeah bullets aren't the hardest materials

Wondered how many generations it took to form this whole process from raw materials to perfection.

Were tataras used for all iron and steel production in pre-modern Japan?

When you consider the state of modern metallurgy, it's mind-boggling thinking of how we got here. You think of all the different elements, different combination of elements, and different concentrations of each element which can be added to make a steel alloy. The different heat treating processes which can be applied to it. And you come up with a staggeringly ginormous number of possible different combinations, each with its own slightly different properties. Countless smiths over millennia tried out different combinations, noted its strengths and weaknesses, and passed that knowledge down to their apprentices, which was eventually collated into textbooks and catalogs of common knowledge. What we know about alloying today is the cumulative total of countless lifetimes of experience spanning thousands of years.

This stuff is undoubtably cool...
But modern day CPM super steels are far superior than this old classic style of making swords.. (CPM is crucible particle metallurgy)

​@@traplover6357hell even getting the raw materials is impressive, I'd've never thought of that sand trick, props to whoever figured that out

I recently discover a well-done sharp machete can do better than most swords, in circumstances where do you need to cut things.

@@cesarkopp2 I bet a machete would definitely make the job easier. I was just referring to in battōdo and iaidō, it takes a lot of training and practice before you actually get to cut a real mat, and most beginners either are unable to completely cut through the mat or even if they cut through, the sliced edge is curved and there are split ends of the tatami everywhere. It is hard to slice a tatami mat with a katana in such a way that it results with the sliced pieces to look like it was digitally sliced in a 3d modeling software.
(I assume professionals can do even more impressive cuts at a much more slanted angle, his cuts were mostly perpendicular to the mat's side by an angle nearing 90 degrees which in theory is easier but still is impressive nonetheless)

@@_Mukuchi why is that? what is the technique and why is it difficult without it?

​@@cesarkopp2qqQ

Oh, yes I do! Experience is a bitter teacher.

Nah that's just japan

​@@animenation7171moronic comment from someone who knows nothing about editing

Mexico and China crying in gray shades

@@RafidW9 moronic comment from someone who knows nothing about comedy and sarcasm

@@jg4780nah mexico bein graded in near monotone orange

omg heckin japan

What do you think about material science in building engineering? Is that somewhat the same

@@rodidoesburg4061 If by building engineering you are asking about more structural engineering/ architectural engineering this is a little different. Materials science and engineering is more of an atomistic approach for how a material behaves. So when a material scientist talks about structure, they are usually referring to the crystal structure (how the atoms arrange next to one another, to build a larger crystal) This is different from building engineering, or at least what I believe you are referring to, where structure means bulk properties like strength, ductility, etc. materials science figures out why a material has a certain strength or ductility based on how it was produced, where building engineering just applies the bulk properties to engineering problems like what steel to use to reinforce a building. Long winded but let me know if that answered your question!

What do you do for grad school? I finished grad school recently and was everything metals (casting, mainly).

@@cayman7806 I’m looking at how a new additively manufactured steel that the navy uses to weld their submarines and ship hulls together compares to the actual material they use for the ship hulls when it comes to environmental assisted cracking (seawater+ stress+ not a stainless steel = cracking which leads to failure). The navy wants to try and expedite their submarine production and if they can limit the amount of time needed in heat treatment facilities by printing the parts rather than traditional wrought production, they can make more subs. What did you do for grad school?

@@patrickkirsch1239that’s neat. I worked with the Air Force to develop a benchmark casting process that could be used to develop property process structure maps for novel aerospace alloys. Lots of simulation modeling and lots of melting/pouring metal.

I was gonna say this dawgg

Lmaoo I was trying to find a comment like this

God dammit

I came here to say this

scrolled for this one

Yeah, this video is pretty misleading. It's also omitting a lot of information about other swords, making the katana seem a lot more unique and advanced than it actually is.

I mean that's the story with almost all specialty made Japanese goods. Could you get something produce in a lab/factory that's technically better? Sure. People pay for the history and culture of it.
The same can be said for organic food. Even the debate about AI art will literally come down to "did a human put blood sweat and tears into this?".

Any through tempered spring steel is going to make a superior sword. Shadiversity just did a breakdown on this video, and while painfully long, its really good. It seems veritasium fell victim to a lot of the mysticism surrounding the katana and tamahagane steel.

@@ALittleMessiyah you not wrong that logically makes sense however- being a fine furniture trainee (if we talking about straight functionality of swords ignore me but u mentioned art) there is a certain feel that human crafted objects art- furniture posses that machine made processes really really struggle to replicate if at all.

My point is- is not always bout the history and culture and yes human craftsmanship can and does produce ‘better’ things even if technically they are not perfect.

thank you. i love the artistry of japanese swords, but to think that the same quality isnt done elsewhere in the world is a very limited view of the world.

@@roromad9603 Shad made alredy pretty good sumarisation of all mentioned "misinformations"

I do love the Japanese katana, and it is my favourite sword, but yes, I have to agree that there are too many untrue myths surrounding the Katana. No one sword or sword types is the "best", it all depends on the many different elements of the combat environment and the sword user.

Immense gratitude! In a way, a conspirologist might even accuse Veritasium in promoting pseudo-science (remember the self-driving cars advertisement?).
- Adûnâi

​@@starogodno he hasn't, shad is probably the worst historical KRplusr out there, he has given out inaccurate statements regarding Japanese swords and other weapons ignoring criticisms and disregarding corrections, including regarding European weapons not really discussing how many were actually made at the time but rather looking at modern recreations with better metal working. The majority of the historical community don't even like him and even actually historians are not fans.
Here are some actual info regarding swords both Japanese and European.
Neutron diffraction study on full-shape Japanese sword"
The Investigation of Establishing Time of Zuku-Oshi and Kera-Oshi with Data of Iron Image of Buddha Making Age and Old Document "Kokon-Kajibiko"
Ancient and historic steel in Japan, India and Europe, a non-invasive comparative study using thermal neutron diffraction, F.Grazzi et al, 2011.
The Sword and the Crucible: A History of the Metallurgy of European Swords Up to the 16th Century, A. Williams, 2012
Some Aspects of the Metallurgy and Production of European Armor OCTOBER 18, 2016
Archaeometallurgical Investigation on Historical Sword-Making Techniques in Northern Italy Between the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, G.Tonelli et al, 2022
November 04, 2019 Japanese Swords "Mythbusting" - Part 1
La question du minerai de fer pour la période médiévale (IXe - XVIe siècle)
Home-made steel: A week at Manabe Sumihira's zuku-oshi tatara
Mineralogical Study of Iron Sand with Different Metallurgical Characteristic to Smelting with Use of Japanese Classic Iron-making Furnace “Tatara”
Micromorphology, chemistry, and mineralogy of bog iron ores from Poland
SOME THOUGHTS ON UTSURI
Posted on 2013/08/22
January 27, 2019
Iron and Steel Technology in Japanese Arms & Armors - Part 3: Bladesmithing
Also Gunsen History@gunsen_history.
This person has actually made a few responses to him regarding his katanas videos.

Ah, good reason to NEVER GO THERE, then.

Oh wait you are right, how did I miss that?

So you're saying the village at death minutes, double death seconds..

Oh my… no wonder it feels familiar

@@RhynoD2You can go, but there is no return from the forest where cicadas cry.

Tinkers construct

Really shows the reality of the actual process, it ain't as easy as putting it in the crafting table

Runescape

You are deaf

Must be intentional!

As it is writen

As it was written

I don't even know what edge alignment is and I'm still impressed by it.

This. Overhyped a lot. Mass produced European swords had the same or better quality.

You can cut a bullet in half with a Mora knife.

True. Bullets are soft so any sword can cut one. Unless it's an armour piercing round, then that will break any sword.
Katana have a harder than usual edge, which makes them more prone to breaking.

I've seen a butter knife cut a bullet in half.

@@gleniu2 It is classic Japan though. They will take something that is pretty ordinary and devout 100x hours to the process and make an art of it. It has it's pros and cons.

As it was written

Lisan Al-Gaib

lmao

If that wasn’t specified it would imply he lost the 60th.

@@sequoia7284 no because he says he retired after or something so he not ded

Not every duel ends in death for the loser

@@jtg1912 every duel to the death does in fact end in death for someone.

Makes sense, The 'Tachi' seams closer to that of the european 'Long Sword' in use cases. While the fighting style of 'O-dachi' would fill a same kind of roll as a 'Flamberge'.

Ok nerd

Absolutely. At most, the O-Katana was a battle-field weapon, but not the katana. The katana was more used for show, status, and sometimes duels.

The important part of that statement is
"The materials they had at hand"
The Japanese did not have perfectly clean iron ore to begin with. They also could not make pure steel because the bloomery furnace did not liquify the iron. Only the outer slag/impurities were removed. The slag/impurities on the inside of the iron ore stayed. This is exactly why they folded the steel. It was the best compromise. Can't remove all the impurities, so lets fold the steel so the entire blade is uniformly impure, not perfect in some spots and super impure in other spots.
You are not incorrect in what you say. I agree with you. However as a secondary battlefield weapon (not primary like the yari or guns) and based on the materials they had at hand the katana was the best they could make.
Also around the 1500's the Japanese used the older Tachi and the newer uchigatana.
Uchigatana means strike sword.
Around the late 1500's the Tachi went out of fashion and the uchigatana was then just known as Katana. Katana just means sword. There was no longer two different backup weapon swords being used so no need to differentiate them.
At that point when everyone is using a striking sword, no need to call it striking sword, so peopel just called it a sword (Katana).

@@dfriedbauer why would one watch Veritasium documentaries and at the same time write comments downplaying the value of well-written comments such as OP's, which provide corrections and extra info to everybody interested in it?

Overdrive

Ok, boomer...🤔😂

Tldr

Wtf? 😂🤣

When you were partying, I studied the blade. While you indulged in the latest binge-watch, I mastered the ancient techniques of sword-forging. As you scrolled endlessly, seeking validation through likes and follows, I cultivated patience and precision in the heat of the forge. Now, as the world marvels at the artistry of the Japanese sword, and collectors clamor for a piece of history, you have the audacity to ask me to share the secrets of the katana. Remember, while you chased fleeting pleasures, I embraced the discipline of the blade.

Y'all wouldn't know a pasta if someone served it to you in some fancy restaurant

😎