1 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology What tex Stuff from host 2 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:15,800 Speaker 1: books dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,440 Speaker 1: I'm Jonathan Strickland, and joining me in the studio is 4 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:23,960 Speaker 1: my friend Ariel Casting. She's rejoined the podcast where a 5 00:00:24,000 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: couple of episodes we are going to cover uh, cutting 6 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: edge technology. Swords. Yeah, I made a pun. Uh So yeah, 7 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about swords and for for people like 8 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,200 Speaker 1: myself and an Ariel, this is beyond something that we're 9 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: just interested in. The both of us have done stage combat, 10 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: some extensive stage combat. Ariel, I think you prefer the 11 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: broad sword to the rapier. I do. Yeah, the bigger 12 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: the better. You're crazy, I'm more okay, fine, I'm more 13 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: of a rapier person because I think finesse is some 14 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: times called for. Uh. And also I have a body 15 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: type where rapier works better than a big old sword. 16 00:01:06,640 --> 00:01:09,399 Speaker 1: But we both are interested in this sorce stuff. Actually, 17 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:13,320 Speaker 1: Ariel and I first met working for the Georgia Renaissance 18 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:18,720 Speaker 1: Festival back in two thousand and one, I believe. Yeah, 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:22,280 Speaker 1: so two thousand one we started working there too. I 20 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: had been there a couple of years. An Arie Old 21 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:27,360 Speaker 1: joined the cast and she jumped right into doing combat 22 00:01:27,360 --> 00:01:30,000 Speaker 1: as soon as possible, whereas I was, I decided that 23 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: was not for me. And it was one of those 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,400 Speaker 1: things where both of us have this interest in the topic, uh, 25 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: and you know, we both like the whole swords and 26 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: sorcery stuff too. So when I said let's let's cover 27 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: something and we started talking about the possible topics, swords 28 00:01:47,440 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: was one of those things that it's a technology that's 29 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: been around for longer than longer than written history. In 30 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: some cases possibly that's debatable, but we'll get to that. 31 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: So to start us off, Ariel, can you walk us through. 32 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: Let's say you're looking at your typical sword, like a 33 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: Viking sword. Let's say, what are the parts of a sword? 34 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:14,840 Speaker 1: All right, So there are lots of different kinds of swords, 35 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,959 Speaker 1: but um, they all basically are made the same way 36 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: with the same pieces. So you've got the blade, you know, 37 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,840 Speaker 1: the part that you hurt people with, and then you've 38 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: got the hilt, which I guess you can hurt somebody 39 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: with a help, but it's not as fun um. And 40 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: a lot of hilts also have a guard which protects 41 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: your hand uh from other people's swords, um, which I 42 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: personally know is a good thing because I've been cut 43 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: open on the hand by a sword before. So there 44 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: was actually a day where Ariel was doing stage combat, 45 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,280 Speaker 1: got hit in the hand, had to go and get 46 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,799 Speaker 1: stitches or staples, stitches, stitches, and then came back and 47 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: finished the day. Yep, yep, worth it, so worth it. 48 00:02:57,560 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: But so yeah, so a guard is really important. Um. 49 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: And then you've got a pommel which is at the 50 00:03:04,280 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: very base of the sword, and that helps keep the 51 00:03:07,240 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: sword from slipping out of your hand, because when you're 52 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: gripping on a sword and you're swinging it around, your 53 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,920 Speaker 1: hand gets really sweaty um. And it also acts as 54 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:16,680 Speaker 1: a counterweight which balances the sword. Otherwise you're using far 55 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: too much muscle and strength to try to finesse the 56 00:03:20,320 --> 00:03:25,280 Speaker 1: sword around. Um. Yeah. And that speaking from experience, that 57 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,400 Speaker 1: can get very tiring, even with the pommel. But if 58 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: you didn't have that counterweight helping you with those uh, 59 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 1: those moves, then just the your wrist would get exhausted 60 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: and your forearm in order to control the sword while 61 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: making those swings, you'd be very quickly become an ineffective swordsman. Now, 62 00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:44,280 Speaker 1: the hilt in the pommel, the back end of the sword. 63 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: The decorative part um is called furniture because it's furnishing 64 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: the sword um and really interesting. In ancient Europe, the 65 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: hilt of the sword was the entire back end from 66 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:01,720 Speaker 1: the guard to the pommel, and in North and Viking 67 00:04:01,760 --> 00:04:04,480 Speaker 1: culture it just meant the lower hilt in the upper hilt, 68 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:06,640 Speaker 1: which was like the pommel and cross guard, but not 69 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: the actual grip. Now so so the parts that were 70 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: on either side of the actual grip interesting. And when 71 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: we talk about blades blades also we can break that 72 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: down a little bit more. Blades typically have six and 73 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:26,120 Speaker 1: sometimes seven different areas to them. Uh. First, you have 74 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 1: the edge. This is the important part of the sword. 75 00:04:29,560 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: This is the actual cutting side of the blade. Now, 76 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: some swords are single edged, like the Katana is a 77 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: single edged sword. A lot of different um uh swords 78 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:43,480 Speaker 1: throughout the ages have been single edged, but others are 79 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: double edged swords like long swords and a lot of 80 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: short swords, and even some swords like paz or. Yeah, 81 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: that's true, they technically have three, although those tend to 82 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,920 Speaker 1: be used more for stabby stabby than cutty cutty. And 83 00:04:57,960 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: then you've got the tip that would be the stabby 84 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: tavy part. You've got the back of the sword. Now, 85 00:05:03,360 --> 00:05:08,279 Speaker 1: the back only exists if you have a single edged blade. 86 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:12,400 Speaker 1: The back refers to the non sharpened edge of the sword. 87 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: So if you had a know, a scimitar, for example, 88 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: is sharpened along the front side, but not the back side, 89 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: So the back you don't since you don't have two edges, 90 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,200 Speaker 1: you do have a back on that one, whereas with 91 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: a long sword. You know, your typical long sword had 92 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,680 Speaker 1: an edge on either side, so you don't have a 93 00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,679 Speaker 1: back on that type of sword. Yeah, there's the flat 94 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: of the blade that refers to the sides, not the edges. 95 00:05:37,320 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: So if you were to slap someone with the flat 96 00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:41,680 Speaker 1: of the blade, it would sting, but it wouldn't cut them, right, 97 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: You just do that to be a jerk. Yeah, And 98 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,479 Speaker 1: actually that's a go to move from stage combat because 99 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:52,920 Speaker 1: you usually there's a usually it's the cocky hero who, uh, 100 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,600 Speaker 1: while dodging a villain's attack, will slap them on the 101 00:05:56,680 --> 00:05:58,720 Speaker 1: rear end with the flat of the blade. And and 102 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,280 Speaker 1: by the way, that does sting, Yes it does. Then 103 00:06:01,320 --> 00:06:03,880 Speaker 1: you have the fuller. Now, the fuller is a narrow 104 00:06:03,960 --> 00:06:07,000 Speaker 1: groove that runs down the blade of lots of different swords. 105 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:09,960 Speaker 1: Not all sorts have these, but a lot do. Sometimes 106 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: they call it the blood groove or blood gutter. Uh, 107 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: And it's not what a lot of people think it 108 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:19,160 Speaker 1: is there. I have heard folks say, oh, well, it's 109 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 1: it's a channel for blood to flow through so that 110 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,280 Speaker 1: when you stab someone, the blood has a place to go, 111 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,919 Speaker 1: so you know, as you're stabbing them over and over 112 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,720 Speaker 1: they continue to bleed out. That's not what that's for. 113 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 1: In fact, it has nothing to do with blood. It 114 00:06:35,120 --> 00:06:38,400 Speaker 1: has everything to do to making a strong sword without 115 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: having to use as much material to make that sword. 116 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: So the gutter that that channel actually adds structural integrity 117 00:06:49,200 --> 00:06:52,840 Speaker 1: to a blade, so it is able to maintain its 118 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:56,279 Speaker 1: shape while still being a little flexible um, and is 119 00:06:56,320 --> 00:06:59,039 Speaker 1: able to cut through stuff without breaking. And I guess 120 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:00,840 Speaker 1: that would mean it would also be lighter weight. Yeah, 121 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:02,799 Speaker 1: because you don't have to use as much material. Instead 122 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:06,279 Speaker 1: of a solid steel sword where you know, you have 123 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: the whole mass made up like that, you have that channel. 124 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: It means that you use less material. It means that 125 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: less material means less weight. Very important. As it turns out, 126 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: I mean they're not everyone is the mountain in Game 127 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: of Thrones. You know some some of us mirror mortals 128 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,800 Speaker 1: need a little bit of a rest. The aerial is 129 00:07:25,840 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 1: the mountain. But I I need more, uh you know, 130 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: a light sword I appreciate. Next, we have the tang. Now, 131 00:07:33,320 --> 00:07:35,120 Speaker 1: the tang is the part of the blade that is 132 00:07:35,160 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: actually covered by the hilt uh so a sword. If 133 00:07:39,200 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: you were to strip the hilt away, um and take 134 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: away the guard, take away the pommel, you would see 135 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: a blade that on the base of it turns into 136 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 1: almost like a rectangular solid steel um usually steel because 137 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: we're talking about steel today, but solid steel tab essentially 138 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: that If it's a full tang, it's pretty much the 139 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:02,800 Speaker 1: width of the blade and runs all the way down 140 00:08:02,800 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: to where the pommel would attach. If it's a partial tang, 141 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,520 Speaker 1: it's maybe about half the width of the blade. It 142 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: can even be more narrow than that. UM And at 143 00:08:12,760 --> 00:08:15,880 Speaker 1: any rate, this is what the grip fits on top of. 144 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,560 Speaker 1: It's what the guard attaches to. There's actually um a 145 00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:23,160 Speaker 1: shoulder on some on some blades where that's where the 146 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: guard will attach. Where it won't go beyond because your 147 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: card wouldn't be much use if it just went wing 148 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: right off the end of the blade. It would be 149 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:33,839 Speaker 1: you know funny that one time, I prefer a full tang. 150 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 1: I know that I have thought plenty of time with 151 00:08:37,400 --> 00:08:39,600 Speaker 1: swords where the tang was not quite big or long 152 00:08:39,679 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: enough and it's just kind of floppy and there. Yeah, yeah, 153 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: you can actually if it's not if the if the 154 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:48,559 Speaker 1: handle isn't properly fed to the tang, it it's loose. 155 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,120 Speaker 1: You can feel it rattling, and that's that means you 156 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: have less control and also you're doing a lot more work. 157 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: And also it's not it doesn't it just feels unsafe. 158 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: As someone who's fought with these as well, No, I 159 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 1: prefer a full tang sword as well. Also that affects 160 00:09:03,200 --> 00:09:06,200 Speaker 1: the handling of the sword. Uh So if you have 161 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,200 Speaker 1: a full tang sword, it's going to feel different in 162 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,240 Speaker 1: your hand, not just because of whether or not the 163 00:09:12,240 --> 00:09:15,720 Speaker 1: blade is is um steady inside the you know when 164 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:18,880 Speaker 1: you're holding the handle, but it's also going to mean 165 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: that's going to change the balance of the blade. So 166 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:25,679 Speaker 1: that's something else. Um. Also, some swords have was called 167 00:09:25,960 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 1: a ricosso is that where there's a pretty painting on 168 00:09:28,679 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: it that's kind of abstracting. No, I mean, you can 169 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,760 Speaker 1: do etchings on swords and stuff, but that is not 170 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: what a ricosso is. A ricosso is an unsharpened portion 171 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:40,680 Speaker 1: at the base of a blade, just above the guard. 172 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 1: So if you've ever seen a big sword where you've 173 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: got the big hilt and then the blade when it 174 00:09:47,280 --> 00:09:49,880 Speaker 1: first when it comes out past the guard, you can 175 00:09:49,920 --> 00:09:52,679 Speaker 1: tell it's not sharp for another you know, seven or 176 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: eight inches, that's the ricosso. And those are often used 177 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: for really really monstrous lead big swords where you were 178 00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,520 Speaker 1: using it against pikeman or you're using it against mounted cavalry. Uh. 179 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:08,800 Speaker 1: And you just you you wanted to have the ability 180 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:12,200 Speaker 1: to grip a little higher on the blade um in 181 00:10:12,320 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: certain situations, but then again you're risking getting your fingers 182 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:20,199 Speaker 1: cut off. Yes. Uh. Interesting. You saw some of the 183 00:10:20,200 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 1: footage from the E three where they had the Viking 184 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,840 Speaker 1: versus Nights game. The thing that it bugged me was 185 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 1: that in that game, one of the characters has a 186 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 1: finishing move where they flip the sword around so they're 187 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,480 Speaker 1: holding it by the blade and they bring bring it 188 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: down almost like the hilt is acting like a bludgeon 189 00:10:41,400 --> 00:10:43,120 Speaker 1: or an ax, but instead of it being a bludgeon. 190 00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 1: They hit a person just at the very base of 191 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,480 Speaker 1: the blade and cut into them to to to kill 192 00:10:49,559 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: your opponent, and the whole time I'm thinking your fingers 193 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: would be gone. So I have a theory about this, okay, okay, 194 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:57,959 Speaker 1: because I've been thinking about this and it bothered me too. 195 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:01,440 Speaker 1: I believe that that king fought so long and hard 196 00:11:01,480 --> 00:11:04,400 Speaker 1: that his blade was so dull that it was safe 197 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:06,160 Speaker 1: to handle. It was safe to handle, it was no 198 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,160 Speaker 1: longer useful for the purpose it was made for, and 199 00:11:09,160 --> 00:11:11,480 Speaker 1: he had to turn it around. And the only part 200 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:13,800 Speaker 1: that's sharp now is the bit that's right above the guard. 201 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:17,480 Speaker 1: So I'm just gonna flip this around. Yeah. Interesting, I 202 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: I like that you're an apologist. I don't know if 203 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: that's true or not. It's probably not. Probably. So we 204 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:26,559 Speaker 1: wanted to look a little bit too at the history 205 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:30,200 Speaker 1: of swords, because you know, it's they've been around for 206 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:32,400 Speaker 1: quite some time. And actually, when you get to the 207 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:35,319 Speaker 1: point of you know, where were the earliest swords made, 208 00:11:35,880 --> 00:11:39,559 Speaker 1: there there's a lot of disagreement, and it's largely because 209 00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: swords are uh there there's not a rough like a 210 00:11:44,520 --> 00:11:48,200 Speaker 1: very clear definition of what is the sword versus what 211 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: is a dagger. Um, generally speaking, you would say a 212 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:54,839 Speaker 1: sword is longer than a dagger and a dagger shorter 213 00:11:54,880 --> 00:11:58,480 Speaker 1: than a sword. But that's not very satisfying, right, because 214 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: it's like saying a mountain's taller than a hill, like 215 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:04,320 Speaker 1: you need it would be great to have some hard 216 00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:08,880 Speaker 1: numbers there. Well, there there are some. It's kind of 217 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:17,079 Speaker 1: considered that a dagger is between seventy yeah, yeah, but um, 218 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 1: because there is that controversy, like we don't actually know 219 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:23,959 Speaker 1: when the first swords came about, right the the there 220 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 1: was a cool find in two thousand three where some 221 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:30,800 Speaker 1: archaeologists discovered weapons in as Land Tepe, Turkey, and I 222 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: could be completely butchering that that place name, and I apologize. 223 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:38,360 Speaker 1: It looks like to me, yeah, that's just a total 224 00:12:38,440 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: guess on my part. So they the weapons they found 225 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 1: had been forged more than five thousand years ago. However, 226 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: this was one of those cases where some of the 227 00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,760 Speaker 1: other experts were saying, well, these aren't really swords, they're 228 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: just long daggers. And again, like sometimes people argue it's 229 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:59,960 Speaker 1: whether or not the uses for attack or defense because 230 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,440 Speaker 1: a lot of people think of a dagger's defensive weapon. Um. 231 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: But but I mean, when it comes down to it, 232 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:09,000 Speaker 1: we at least know which came first, the dagger of 233 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 1: the sword. Yeah, yeah, the daggers came first, or or 234 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:14,160 Speaker 1: even a knife. But if you would consider a dagger 235 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:19,040 Speaker 1: or a knife a sword of a sort um, then 236 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,200 Speaker 1: you can't even go back to the Stone Age because 237 00:13:22,160 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 1: there were sharpened wood and bone and clinton stone knives 238 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: and daggers then yeah, and uh, I mean when we 239 00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,920 Speaker 1: talk about daggers versus knives, even that gets confusing, right 240 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 1: because some people will argue that a knife has a 241 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,160 Speaker 1: single cutting edge and a dagger has two cutting edges, 242 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:40,959 Speaker 1: but it all depends upon But then a sword has 243 00:13:41,000 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 1: a single or double and there's some people who are like, well, no, 244 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: this is a knife, that's a dagger, that's a dagger, 245 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:48,480 Speaker 1: that's a knife, and and it's you know, so I an'tway. 246 00:13:48,480 --> 00:13:52,120 Speaker 1: The reason why we're saying it's hard to nail this 247 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:56,839 Speaker 1: down is because language itself is complicated, so finding the 248 00:13:58,080 --> 00:14:02,360 Speaker 1: specifics are trick. But getting back to that awesome archaeological 249 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:06,160 Speaker 1: find over in Turkey, the swords predated the next oldest 250 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: find by about a thousand years. Yeah, a millennia passed 251 00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:17,360 Speaker 1: between these weapons and the next oldest weapons that had 252 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: ever been found. Um. Some means the swords would have 253 00:14:20,120 --> 00:14:22,760 Speaker 1: been forged sometime around three thousand, three fifty b C, 254 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 1: which is at the very beginning of the early Bronze Age. 255 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: The if you think of the ages, the three big ones, 256 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:34,080 Speaker 1: the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, this 257 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: is at the just at the end of the Stone Age, 258 00:14:36,640 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: the beginning of the Bronze Age. Some people call it 259 00:14:38,360 --> 00:14:41,600 Speaker 1: the Copper Age because copper was a metal that was 260 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: the first metal that humans discovered. Um so, and smithing 261 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: started with copper and then turned into bronze. Yeah. In fact, 262 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: the copper that was are the swords that were found 263 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:54,800 Speaker 1: were a copper alloy, right, yeah, yeah, they were a 264 00:14:54,840 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: copper alloy. They had mixed arsenic with it. Um and 265 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: not so if you if cut me a die from poison, no, no, no, 266 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:05,360 Speaker 1: it wasn't. It wasn't poisoned blades, although they might have 267 00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: poisoned their blades, I don't know. Um. They did it 268 00:15:08,120 --> 00:15:11,960 Speaker 1: to change the metal, to to change its chemistry, and 269 00:15:11,960 --> 00:15:14,240 Speaker 1: it made it actually stronger, and it made the copper 270 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: because copper is pretty soft it made it hold its 271 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,240 Speaker 1: shape and hold its edge. And then also three of 272 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:23,360 Speaker 1: the swords were inlaid with silver. Yeah, so they fancy 273 00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:25,760 Speaker 1: they were there, fancy swords. They weren't just you know, 274 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:30,800 Speaker 1: old like hackneyed, kind of gross little things. Right, So 275 00:15:30,880 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: it be technically if if these swords this amazing find, 276 00:15:34,760 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 1: if they are, if we got to a point where 277 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:39,720 Speaker 1: we all said, okay, so these are not swords, when 278 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: would we say swords really got their start? Well, I 279 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: guess most people would say that swords really got their 280 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:53,640 Speaker 1: start closer to seventeen hundred sixteen hundred BC, which is 281 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: the middle of the Bronze Age, And they were made 282 00:15:56,040 --> 00:16:00,000 Speaker 1: of bronze, which is alloy of copper and tin um 283 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: and and the argument stems from the fact that a 284 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: sword has to be strong in order to be used 285 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 1: the way it's meant to be used, which is, you know, 286 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:12,720 Speaker 1: slicing into people or hacking things apart or whatever. Um 287 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: and soft metals just don't work for that. So copper 288 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 1: wouldn't work so well for that, especially in longer blades 289 00:16:19,520 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: like sword blades as opposed to daggers. Yeah, that's it's 290 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: absolutely true. Uh, that's why you know, until we got 291 00:16:27,600 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: a better understanding of what alloys were. And we'll talk 292 00:16:30,640 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 1: more about what an alloy is in just a second. Uh, 293 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: you know, relying on pure metal was tricky because that 294 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: pure metal couldn't stand up to the rigors. I mean, 295 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: you get to a point where you're in combat and 296 00:16:43,520 --> 00:16:46,800 Speaker 1: you are uh, fighting with your weapons. If your weapons 297 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,120 Speaker 1: are bending or breaking, then obviously you are at a 298 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:52,360 Speaker 1: distinct disadvantage. So let's talk about some of these materials 299 00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,200 Speaker 1: that we use. All right, So copper and alloys. So copper, 300 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 1: as I said, was first metal discovered by humans. It's 301 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,920 Speaker 1: very easy to shape, so that makes it incredibly useful 302 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:03,680 Speaker 1: for stuff like if you want to turn it into 303 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,720 Speaker 1: cookery or or jewelry, or these days, if you want 304 00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 1: to turn it into wire so that you can run 305 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,600 Speaker 1: electricity through it, because it's also a great conductor. But 306 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: that's also the trautback is because it's so easy to 307 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:17,000 Speaker 1: be shaped, it's also easy for it to bend. It 308 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:19,040 Speaker 1: won't hold onto an edge very well. When we talk 309 00:17:19,080 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 1: about holding onto an edge, we mean that the metal 310 00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,440 Speaker 1: has to be a special kind of hardness. It has 311 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:26,840 Speaker 1: to be hard enough so that when you give it 312 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:30,080 Speaker 1: an edge, and then you hit something. That edge is maintained, 313 00:17:30,320 --> 00:17:32,399 Speaker 1: but soft enough so that you can make it have 314 00:17:32,440 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: an edge in the first place. So it's a delicate balance. 315 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:39,119 Speaker 1: So you can sharpen a copper blade, but once you 316 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: use it it becomes dull. And actually I saw a 317 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:46,800 Speaker 1: really cool demonstration of this. The BBC did a whole 318 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:51,240 Speaker 1: series about ancient Britain and at one point they talked 319 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:54,720 Speaker 1: about the the Bronze Age, and they made two arrow heads, 320 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:56,480 Speaker 1: and one was made out of copper and one was 321 00:17:56,480 --> 00:17:59,119 Speaker 1: made out of bronze. They had a little sheet of metal. 322 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: They put the copper arrowhead against the sheet of metal 323 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 1: on and it had a little like arrow extending behind it. 324 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:10,520 Speaker 1: They used the hammer they hit the arrow so that 325 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:14,160 Speaker 1: the head of the tip of the arrow would press 326 00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,040 Speaker 1: against this metal, and the copper just buckled. And then 327 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: they the bronze and they did the same thing and 328 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,640 Speaker 1: the bronze pierced through the metal. So it showed that 329 00:18:21,960 --> 00:18:26,359 Speaker 1: bronze is a much stronger material than copper, So wasn't 330 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:30,280 Speaker 1: Copper was mostly used in weaponry as a way of 331 00:18:30,680 --> 00:18:34,600 Speaker 1: giving more weight to stuff like maces and clubs. So 332 00:18:34,720 --> 00:18:37,840 Speaker 1: for the smashy smashy but not the slicy slice. Yeah, 333 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 1: and you may go, well, but pennies are copper, and 334 00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:43,160 Speaker 1: I can't bend a penny, and that's because they're made 335 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 1: from copper alloys. Around three thousand BC, humans figured out 336 00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:49,359 Speaker 1: how to make copper stronger by adding other stuff to 337 00:18:49,440 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: it um, making it an alloy, which we've already kind 338 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:55,399 Speaker 1: of talked about a little bit um. And sometimes the 339 00:18:55,440 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 1: thing they added is another metal. So in the instance 340 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:01,000 Speaker 1: of bronze, which is kind of what pennies really are, 341 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: it's uh, copper and tin um. And then sometimes like 342 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,439 Speaker 1: with iron which makes steel, it's a metal and a 343 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:14,000 Speaker 1: non metal like iron and carbon. Right, So when you 344 00:19:14,000 --> 00:19:17,359 Speaker 1: have an alloy, you've got two main things you're thinking about. 345 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: It can be more than two, by the way. You can. 346 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:21,639 Speaker 1: In fact, there's some types of bronze where they add 347 00:19:22,119 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 1: magnesium and some other stuff to it, but the basic 348 00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:30,760 Speaker 1: ingredients are are copper and tent. But your primary primary 349 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:34,200 Speaker 1: material is called the main metal. So with bronze, that 350 00:19:34,200 --> 00:19:38,280 Speaker 1: would be copper. Most of bronze is made up of copper. 351 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: That so it's called the main metal, or the base metal, 352 00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,200 Speaker 1: or even the parent metal. So the other stuff is 353 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,600 Speaker 1: called the alloying agent, not the annoying agent, which is 354 00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:52,800 Speaker 1: what mine is the alloying I don't have an agent, 355 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: so I can say that the alloying agent. So the 356 00:19:55,520 --> 00:19:59,959 Speaker 1: parent metal can be or more of the overall substance. 357 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: It can be less than that to uh, and the 358 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,120 Speaker 1: alloy maybe as little as one percent. The alloying agent 359 00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: may be as little as one percent or even less 360 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:11,520 Speaker 1: of the overall. When we start talking about steel, we'll 361 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: be talking about some really amazing like you have to 362 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,640 Speaker 1: be super precise with adding the carbon to your iron 363 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 1: in order to get usable steel. So most alloys are 364 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,800 Speaker 1: solid solutions, so that means the different atoms of material 365 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,840 Speaker 1: are just mixed together, but aren't chemically bonded to each other. 366 00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:33,879 Speaker 1: The easiest way to imagine this is let's say that 367 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:35,960 Speaker 1: you actually let's say you've got a little dish and 368 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,600 Speaker 1: you pour pepper and salt into it. Now, the salt 369 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,080 Speaker 1: and pepper aren't chemically bonded together. You could, with enough 370 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 1: patients and a fine enough pair of tweezers, pick out 371 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:50,080 Speaker 1: all the grains of salt, so they have not chemically bonded. 372 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: And no matter how much you mash the salt and 373 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 1: pepper and make it into finer and finer grounds, it's 374 00:20:54,520 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: still going to be salt, right exactly. You you could 375 00:20:57,760 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: get increasingly smaller tweetsers and still separate it. Would you'd 376 00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:05,080 Speaker 1: be wondering why I'm making you do this, and the 377 00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:09,960 Speaker 1: answer is because you know, you know why. But a 378 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: few alloys are actually compounds. Now, compounds are different from solutions. 379 00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,560 Speaker 1: Compounds mean that the atoms of the parent metal and 380 00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,640 Speaker 1: the alloying agent actually do chemically bond. So in this case, 381 00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:22,960 Speaker 1: we would talk about two things that when you mix 382 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 1: it together and make a third thing. So salt itself 383 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:31,440 Speaker 1: is sodium and uh you know sodium and chloride. You 384 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:34,360 Speaker 1: put those together and that makes salt. You can't separate 385 00:21:34,400 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 1: that back out again easily. Right. It's not like you 386 00:21:37,520 --> 00:21:39,480 Speaker 1: can take really tiny tweezers and like, okay, now I'm 387 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:40,760 Speaker 1: gonna put all the sodium over here and all the 388 00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:43,520 Speaker 1: chloride over here. Now you would have to use fancy signs, 389 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:47,560 Speaker 1: yes you would. Uh. So, the atoms and an alloy 390 00:21:47,600 --> 00:21:50,719 Speaker 1: are in a structure called a crystalline lattice. So if 391 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,440 Speaker 1: you were to look at these with an electron microscope, 392 00:21:53,920 --> 00:21:56,760 Speaker 1: which those are a blast to use. By the way, 393 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,199 Speaker 1: you'd see the atoms of both the alloy and the 394 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,840 Speaker 1: parent metal and they'd be arranged in some way. So 395 00:22:02,920 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: some are substitution alloys. These are pretty simple to imagine. 396 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:12,160 Speaker 1: So let's say that, well, we'll we'll talk about Let's 397 00:22:12,200 --> 00:22:15,240 Speaker 1: imagine that you're talking about the bronze and you've got 398 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,119 Speaker 1: copper balls, and you've got ten balls like T I 399 00:22:19,320 --> 00:22:22,960 Speaker 1: N not T E N, and you lay out the 400 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,000 Speaker 1: cover balls in a grid, and then you remove some 401 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:28,399 Speaker 1: of the copper balls and replace them with the tin balls, 402 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,919 Speaker 1: just a few, like maybe of them. If you're Chinese, 403 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,439 Speaker 1: because that's what the Chinese like to do, then you 404 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:37,760 Speaker 1: would that that would be a substitution alloy. But some 405 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,840 Speaker 1: of them are called interstitial alloys, and this is where 406 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:47,000 Speaker 1: the alloying agent fits into the crystalline structure and fills 407 00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,720 Speaker 1: up gaps that are in that crystalline structure. So for 408 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:52,679 Speaker 1: this example, imagine that you have a net and the 409 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: net the the holes in the net are just big 410 00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:58,880 Speaker 1: enough so you could wedge a golf ball into them, 411 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: and so you choose some of the holes, not every 412 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:03,080 Speaker 1: single one, but some of the holes, and you put 413 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 1: golf balls through it. That's gonna make the net behave 414 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: differently than it would if there were nothing in those holes. 415 00:23:09,119 --> 00:23:13,520 Speaker 1: The same sort of thing, but on atomic scale for this. Yeah, Now, 416 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:19,160 Speaker 1: even though making an alloy makes the metal stronger, there 417 00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:21,480 Speaker 1: there's a disadvantage because it also makes it harder to 418 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:26,679 Speaker 1: work with. Yeah. Generally speaking, you you trade off malleability, 419 00:23:26,760 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 1: which is the ability to work a metal for a 420 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,600 Speaker 1: stronger material. You do um, And so now we're gonna 421 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,360 Speaker 1: talk about how you make an alloy. Basic metal metallurgy 422 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:43,160 Speaker 1: involves melting the components together. So you take your tin 423 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,159 Speaker 1: and you take your copper, and you melt them together, 424 00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:48,919 Speaker 1: and you mix it up so they're all nicely mixed 425 00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:51,840 Speaker 1: and thoroughly mixed, and then you come out with bronze. 426 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: So it doesn't always involve melting, but for bronze it 427 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,879 Speaker 1: certainly did. In fact, I saw a really really in 428 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: that same video, the bb see one. They actually demonstrated 429 00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:07,440 Speaker 1: how an ancient uh metallurgist would or even a blade 430 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: smith would create a bronze blades by melting the copper 431 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:16,679 Speaker 1: and the tin down, pouring it into a mold and 432 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:19,399 Speaker 1: going from there. So that's pretty cool. So we do 433 00:24:19,440 --> 00:24:23,160 Speaker 1: have copper alloys like the copper arsenic alloy we mentioned earlier, 434 00:24:23,960 --> 00:24:27,400 Speaker 1: and bronze was the one that really changed things. Uh that, 435 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,800 Speaker 1: as we've said, like an alloy of copper and tin, 436 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:32,520 Speaker 1: sometimes you have other elements in there. It's more flexible 437 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:35,280 Speaker 1: than copper, it's stronger than copper. It's able to hold 438 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:38,680 Speaker 1: an edge longer than copper. So this was the first 439 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,240 Speaker 1: time we actually had a material that had the qualities 440 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:46,760 Speaker 1: necessary to make a sword a practical weapon. Yeah, But bronze. 441 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:50,920 Speaker 1: The ratio of copper to tin varied by region. So 442 00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:55,200 Speaker 1: in China, Uh, they preferred higher concentrations of tin about 443 00:24:55,240 --> 00:24:58,760 Speaker 1: twenty or so, which made a harder alloy, but it 444 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:03,200 Speaker 1: was more brittle ye. Um. And because bronze could still bend, 445 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:09,919 Speaker 1: particularly in places that favored to mixture of around lake tin. Yeah. 446 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: Sword designs also tended to have our sword designs tended 447 00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:16,440 Speaker 1: to have a wide curve shape to them to help 448 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,760 Speaker 1: with the bending, to keep from bending too, I see. 449 00:25:19,800 --> 00:25:23,399 Speaker 1: So that way, if you encounter a force when the 450 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: sword hits something, it distributes it along greater surface area. Yeah. 451 00:25:28,480 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 1: A popular design was called the leaf blade sword, which 452 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: had a blade that curved out just a little bit 453 00:25:33,880 --> 00:25:36,960 Speaker 1: before the hill. Right. So if you look at ancient grease, uh, 454 00:25:37,119 --> 00:25:38,800 Speaker 1: and you look at the swords that were produced in 455 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:43,160 Speaker 1: ancient Greece, you will often see this leaf blade also. Uh. 456 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:45,760 Speaker 1: It's one that was used a lot in uh in 457 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:47,399 Speaker 1: Lord of the Rings, Like there are some of the 458 00:25:47,440 --> 00:25:49,280 Speaker 1: Lord of the Rings weapons head sort of this leaf 459 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:51,560 Speaker 1: blade look to it. And so you've got this kind 460 00:25:51,600 --> 00:25:55,560 Speaker 1: of um blade. It's a short sword typically, so it's 461 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,440 Speaker 1: it's a fairly you know, wide blade that comes out 462 00:25:58,480 --> 00:26:01,760 Speaker 1: tapers to a point, but just before you hit the 463 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:06,400 Speaker 1: handguard it it curves outward a bit, so it's got 464 00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:09,800 Speaker 1: this sort of leaf shape to it. The pretty cool. Now, 465 00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:13,440 Speaker 1: a sword maker working with this bronze alloy would heat 466 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:17,600 Speaker 1: it in coals until it was molten um, and then 467 00:26:17,840 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: it would he would pour the molten mixture into a 468 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,760 Speaker 1: sword mold and then cool it down until the bronze 469 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:26,080 Speaker 1: was hardened, and then the mold would be broken away 470 00:26:26,320 --> 00:26:28,159 Speaker 1: and you'd have your sword, and then you finish it 471 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:31,040 Speaker 1: and shape it right right, yeah, Because you would essentially 472 00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:36,400 Speaker 1: have a sword, a a sword shaped hunk of bronze, 473 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:38,320 Speaker 1: and you would obviously it wouldn't be ready to go 474 00:26:38,359 --> 00:26:41,160 Speaker 1: immediately because you would still need to Um, you would 475 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: still need to to sharpen it and shape it a 476 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:47,280 Speaker 1: little bit. Would a had a hilt? Very important. The 477 00:26:47,320 --> 00:26:50,800 Speaker 1: next big material humans used to make weapons from was iron. 478 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:53,479 Speaker 1: So the Bronze Age transitioned into the Iron Age at 479 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:57,000 Speaker 1: different times for various regions. I'm just of the Bronze 480 00:26:57,000 --> 00:26:59,880 Speaker 1: Age head transitioned at different times for different regions from 481 00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:02,199 Speaker 1: the Stone Age. So in other words, it wasn't like 482 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:04,760 Speaker 1: one day there was a Wednesday where everyone woke up 483 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:06,680 Speaker 1: and said, welcome to the Iron Age. That's not how 484 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:09,399 Speaker 1: it works. It would have been fun, there'd be a 485 00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:12,640 Speaker 1: great musical involved, but no, it was not that way. 486 00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:16,680 Speaker 1: The way it worked was that certain certain regions began 487 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:20,920 Speaker 1: to develop technology with iron more early earlier, not more 488 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:25,439 Speaker 1: early Jonathan needs more coffee earlier than other regions. Uh. 489 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 1: In fact, India was a big one. India they started 490 00:27:28,160 --> 00:27:30,720 Speaker 1: working with iron very early, so did UH some other 491 00:27:30,800 --> 00:27:33,960 Speaker 1: areas of Asia. But giving a range of for the 492 00:27:33,960 --> 00:27:37,200 Speaker 1: Iron Age is pretty tough. UM. In general, you could 493 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,080 Speaker 1: say it began around four b C. And Asia minor 494 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: which is now Turkey, Big surprise, that's actually where we 495 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: also found the copper alloy swords. Now, making a sword 496 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:52,200 Speaker 1: out of iron isn't as easy as it sounds. First 497 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:54,960 Speaker 1: of all, you have to get iron ore and then 498 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:56,800 Speaker 1: smelt it so that you can even work with it 499 00:27:56,840 --> 00:27:58,400 Speaker 1: in the first place. So you can't just be like, oh, 500 00:27:58,480 --> 00:28:01,600 Speaker 1: here's my here's a big of iron stick to the ground. Yeah. 501 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:02,760 Speaker 1: I just pulled it out of the ground. Now I'm 502 00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,359 Speaker 1: good to go. No, anyone who's played Minecraft knows you 503 00:28:05,440 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: gotta you gotta throw that sucker enough furnace first. Yeah. 504 00:28:08,600 --> 00:28:11,760 Speaker 1: And in the good old days, this was called bloomery yeah, 505 00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:16,720 Speaker 1: because it would make like a little bubbly bloom of metal. Yeah. Essentially, 506 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 1: a blacksmith would use charcoal and bellows to heat up 507 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,680 Speaker 1: the iron ore. Not only would let would this let 508 00:28:21,680 --> 00:28:24,240 Speaker 1: the iron like heat up and become melty, but it 509 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:29,040 Speaker 1: would add carbon from the charcoal and carbon monoxide into it, 510 00:28:29,640 --> 00:28:32,439 Speaker 1: um into the process, and that would add carbon to 511 00:28:32,520 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: the metal and what you get is a spongey horse 512 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: material called a bloom yep. And uh so this this 513 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: was different from bronze and that they weren't melting it. 514 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:44,480 Speaker 1: You know, you have to you have to go hot, 515 00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:47,400 Speaker 1: much hotter with iron than you do with copper in 516 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,080 Speaker 1: order to melt it. So they were not getting it 517 00:28:50,160 --> 00:28:54,000 Speaker 1: quite to that temperature. But the blooms the spongy kind 518 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 1: of looking stuff. Uh, it had holes in it. And 519 00:28:56,840 --> 00:28:58,480 Speaker 1: part of the reason that holes in it is that 520 00:28:58,720 --> 00:29:00,640 Speaker 1: the iron ore had a lot of oxygen in it, 521 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:04,800 Speaker 1: and that carbon, some of it went, would transfer over 522 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 1: into the iron, some of it would combine, like the 523 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:11,040 Speaker 1: carbon monoxide given off by the the charcoal would combine 524 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: with the oxygen that was inside the iron, and you 525 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:17,360 Speaker 1: would get carbon dioxide as a byproduct. So you would 526 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:20,400 Speaker 1: hammer and shape the bloom, which would help remove some 527 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:25,240 Speaker 1: of the impurities. Ah. But even then once you had 528 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:29,640 Speaker 1: shaped the iron, iron actually is, in the grand scheme 529 00:29:29,680 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: of things, a pretty soft metal. So it also does 530 00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:36,760 Speaker 1: not hold an edge very well. You have to continuously, 531 00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: you know, resharpen your blade because you would dull it 532 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,520 Speaker 1: as you would use it. So typically the early iron 533 00:29:43,560 --> 00:29:46,880 Speaker 1: swords were made by heating the bloom. You would hammer it, 534 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:49,960 Speaker 1: you'd let it cool, and then you'd start that process 535 00:29:50,000 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: all over again. And this was called work hardening because 536 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:57,320 Speaker 1: you are actually using physical work, the hammering to get 537 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:01,080 Speaker 1: the iron into a state suitable for use as sword UM. 538 00:30:01,080 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 1: There's a different type of hardening that's used later, but 539 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:09,040 Speaker 1: the early versions were work hardened swords UM, and so 540 00:30:09,280 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: these were kind of marginal improvements over bronze swords. In fact, 541 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,400 Speaker 1: you could argue that a bronze weapon might be superior 542 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:21,800 Speaker 1: in some cases to an iron one. However, iron ones 543 00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 1: became incredibly popular, and it wasn't because they were better. 544 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:29,840 Speaker 1: It was because ten was relatively rare. Copper was everywhere 545 00:30:29,920 --> 00:30:32,800 Speaker 1: people could find copper, what they couldn't find was ten. 546 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:34,640 Speaker 1: And since you needed to add the tin to the 547 00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: copper to make bronze and then iron, all you had 548 00:30:37,720 --> 00:30:39,600 Speaker 1: to do was heat it up and then smack it 549 00:30:39,640 --> 00:30:43,480 Speaker 1: around with a hammer. Iron one out. Yeah, and yeah, 550 00:30:43,520 --> 00:30:47,120 Speaker 1: you'd want iron over just copper, but you'd want steal 551 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:50,760 Speaker 1: over both of those. Uh. And that actually brings us 552 00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:53,800 Speaker 1: to the last huge advance and sword making, which came 553 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:58,880 Speaker 1: about when they discovered that you could add specific amounts 554 00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:02,959 Speaker 1: of carbon to the iron to create the alloy steel um. 555 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:05,280 Speaker 1: And in the smelting process some carbon would be introduced 556 00:31:05,280 --> 00:31:09,120 Speaker 1: to the iron, the carbon from the charcoal. But it's tricky, 557 00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,640 Speaker 1: you know, obviously you're guessing with that, Yeah, it's it's 558 00:31:13,520 --> 00:31:16,640 Speaker 1: very imprecise, and in fact, there's a lot of there's 559 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:21,240 Speaker 1: a lot of scholarships suggesting that early steel swords were 560 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:26,959 Speaker 1: created purely by chance. That it wasn't that someone said, hey, 561 00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: I bet if I added some of this stuff to 562 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:31,400 Speaker 1: some of this stuff, it will be way better. It 563 00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:35,040 Speaker 1: just because of the way swords were made. Some swords 564 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:39,360 Speaker 1: were more iron and some swords were more steel. Uh. 565 00:31:39,440 --> 00:31:43,640 Speaker 1: In Europe they used patterned welding to the early Middle Ages, 566 00:31:43,720 --> 00:31:47,840 Speaker 1: where they would take iron and steel rods of different 567 00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: harnesses and twist them and fold them together. And that 568 00:31:50,360 --> 00:31:52,440 Speaker 1: was kind of a pre early way of trying to 569 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 1: get that. Yeah, so when we say the mixture being 570 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: just right, we are talking about tiny amounts of carbon 571 00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:06,080 Speaker 1: added to the iron in order to create steel, typically 572 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,320 Speaker 1: between point two and one point five per cent of 573 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 1: the overall alloy. That's yeah, that's hard. Like, you know, 574 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,360 Speaker 1: it's not not the simplest thing in the world to do, 575 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:19,120 Speaker 1: and it was so tricky that it was pretty latent 576 00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:21,760 Speaker 1: to the medieval era, before more than a few swordmakers 577 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:26,120 Speaker 1: outside of India could produce steel reliably. Um So, if 578 00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:30,040 Speaker 1: you look at the earliest discoveries of steel. Also, steel 579 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:33,600 Speaker 1: was resistant to oxidation, which means it would not rust 580 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:37,040 Speaker 1: the way iron would. It can rust, but it does 581 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 1: so less readily. Um So it was it was a 582 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:44,040 Speaker 1: very valuable metal. But in India people had figured out 583 00:32:44,040 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: how to make it fairly reliably, and outside of India 584 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: it was much more touch and go all the way 585 00:32:51,160 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: up into the Middle Ages and even into the Middle 586 00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:57,080 Speaker 1: Ages for some areas. So the earliest method of attempting 587 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:02,280 Speaker 1: to produce steel reliably was called sementation. So they would 588 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:05,200 Speaker 1: take iron and they put that inside a container made 589 00:33:05,200 --> 00:33:07,520 Speaker 1: from something that had a lot of carbon in it, 590 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:11,440 Speaker 1: and that container would be heated in a furnace. And 591 00:33:11,520 --> 00:33:14,800 Speaker 1: sometimes this would go on for days, sometimes just for hours, 592 00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:16,360 Speaker 1: but sometimes you put it in a furence and leave 593 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: it there for days. During that heating process, some of 594 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:23,720 Speaker 1: the carbon from the container would migrate and enter the iron, 595 00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,800 Speaker 1: and at the end of the process, if everything went well, 596 00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,200 Speaker 1: you had steel. Now you see when you said sementation, 597 00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:31,960 Speaker 1: I thought you meant you put the iron into a 598 00:33:32,000 --> 00:33:34,120 Speaker 1: cement block and then you threw it into the ocean. 599 00:33:34,360 --> 00:33:36,480 Speaker 1: That's pretty much the way I would have to do it, 600 00:33:36,520 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 1: because I know that I would never I mean to me, 601 00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:42,200 Speaker 1: it's amazing that anyone ever figured this stuff out, Like 602 00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:45,200 Speaker 1: it's a you know, we we take it for granted today, 603 00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:49,640 Speaker 1: but somebody, somebody somewhere in the past had to figure 604 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: out that this is how you make it happen, and 605 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:57,080 Speaker 1: that is phenomenal. So it's steel is way harder than 606 00:33:57,160 --> 00:33:59,640 Speaker 1: iron or bronze. It can keep an edge longer than 607 00:33:59,640 --> 00:34:03,520 Speaker 1: either those. It's also flexible if you make the steel properly. Obviously, 608 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:05,600 Speaker 1: if if you put too much carbon in it, it 609 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: can become brittle so that you don't want that in 610 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,719 Speaker 1: either armor or weapons. But with the right amount, it 611 00:34:11,800 --> 00:34:14,880 Speaker 1: was flexible as resistant to corrosion rust compared to iron, 612 00:34:15,160 --> 00:34:18,440 Speaker 1: So it's pretty much the better material to iron in 613 00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:21,720 Speaker 1: every single important way. And out of all the types 614 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:24,520 Speaker 1: of steel used in all the swords in the world, 615 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,200 Speaker 1: there's probably one steel that is the most legendary, and 616 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:32,640 Speaker 1: that is Damascus steel. Yeah uh, which wasn't made in Syria. 617 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:35,920 Speaker 1: It was made in surprise, surprise, India. Yeah they they 618 00:34:36,320 --> 00:34:38,640 Speaker 1: There's some different scholarship on this. There are two different 619 00:34:38,680 --> 00:34:41,600 Speaker 1: types of steel that are referred to as Damascus steel. 620 00:34:42,480 --> 00:34:44,880 Speaker 1: Some of it is patterned steel, which you kind of 621 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:46,840 Speaker 1: talked about it a little bit earlier. And then the 622 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:51,920 Speaker 1: other type is woots steel. Yeah, so it's supposed to 623 00:34:52,000 --> 00:34:55,200 Speaker 1: be really really strong. Um, and I say supposed to 624 00:34:55,280 --> 00:34:59,759 Speaker 1: be because we don't know how it's made anymore. Yeah. Yeah, 625 00:34:59,800 --> 00:35:01,840 Speaker 1: they could figure out how to make tiny amounts of 626 00:35:01,840 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: carbon with iron to make steel, and we can't figure 627 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,240 Speaker 1: out how to make the boots steel. Yeah. No, it's 628 00:35:06,239 --> 00:35:09,879 Speaker 1: the the especially essentially the recipe for woots steel has 629 00:35:09,920 --> 00:35:13,439 Speaker 1: been lost to time. So whatever the methodology was, there's 630 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:16,000 Speaker 1: been a lot of people who have claimed that they 631 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:20,600 Speaker 1: were able to replicate woots steel, but from everything I 632 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:24,840 Speaker 1: have read, no one has successfully done so. And so 633 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:30,560 Speaker 1: it's interesting to me that a methodology that was was 634 00:35:30,719 --> 00:35:35,720 Speaker 1: mastered more than a thousand years ago is totally lost 635 00:35:35,719 --> 00:35:39,840 Speaker 1: to us. Well. I think that's partially because swordmaking fell 636 00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:42,400 Speaker 1: out of practice for a while. Picture we have guns 637 00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:45,200 Speaker 1: and other things like that, and now with this maker society, 638 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:48,200 Speaker 1: it's coming back into fashion. Yeah. Actually, one of the 639 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:51,080 Speaker 1: videos I watched in preparation for this had a guy 640 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:56,600 Speaker 1: uh fashion a sword he found um leaf springs from 641 00:35:56,640 --> 00:36:01,360 Speaker 1: an old probably an old trailer like leaf spring is 642 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:05,759 Speaker 1: probat of the the system on a trailer, uh and 643 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:10,240 Speaker 1: use that as the means of creating a sword, and 644 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:15,400 Speaker 1: even then starting from a piece of material that is 645 00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:19,120 Speaker 1: roughly the size of what you wanted to be. Even then, 646 00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:20,920 Speaker 1: it was incredible to see what kind of work goes 647 00:36:21,000 --> 00:36:24,279 Speaker 1: into making one of these. Yeah, And I mean I 648 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: watched a video as well, and he was talking a 649 00:36:26,640 --> 00:36:30,040 Speaker 1: lot about Viking swords and how the Vikings forged and 650 00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,319 Speaker 1: used their swords, and a lot of that knowledge is 651 00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:35,640 Speaker 1: passed by word of mouth. And if it's written down, 652 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:37,880 Speaker 1: if someone doesn't use it, that piece of parchment or 653 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:41,239 Speaker 1: paper whatever is gonna degrade. And yeah, yeah, so most 654 00:36:41,239 --> 00:36:43,120 Speaker 1: of the most time you would look at it from 655 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,400 Speaker 1: master to apprentice. But as sword making fell out of 656 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,880 Speaker 1: failure favor, there was no need to have an apprentice. 657 00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,920 Speaker 1: So you then get to a point where this art 658 00:36:54,360 --> 00:36:57,839 Speaker 1: is largely lost, and you know, some of it has 659 00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:00,839 Speaker 1: been written about, especially as people were puzzling out how 660 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:03,560 Speaker 1: is it that this one sword is so much more 661 00:37:03,760 --> 00:37:07,640 Speaker 1: boss than this other sword? Uh? So this this has 662 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,320 Speaker 1: been really an interesting discussion. Now it's just the first 663 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:15,680 Speaker 1: part of our talk on swords and sword technology. In 664 00:37:15,719 --> 00:37:18,920 Speaker 1: our next episode, we're going to go through the process 665 00:37:19,080 --> 00:37:22,320 Speaker 1: of actually making a sword, So we wanted to really 666 00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:24,759 Speaker 1: cover things like the basic parts of a sword and 667 00:37:24,840 --> 00:37:28,040 Speaker 1: the basic materials that swords are made from in this episode, 668 00:37:28,080 --> 00:37:31,720 Speaker 1: because uh, it's just way too much information to cram 669 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:35,560 Speaker 1: into a single episode. So I'm looking forward to doing 670 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,040 Speaker 1: that next episode. You guys, tune in so you can 671 00:37:38,080 --> 00:37:41,439 Speaker 1: hear how swords were actually made back in the old days, 672 00:37:41,480 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 1: as well as some information about how they're made today. 673 00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:47,360 Speaker 1: We'll also kind of go through a few different types 674 00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:52,640 Speaker 1: of swords to uh kind of explain how crazy wide 675 00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:56,160 Speaker 1: a variety there are in these things, and uh, who knows, 676 00:37:56,200 --> 00:37:59,000 Speaker 1: we may end up geeking out about some you know, 677 00:37:59,239 --> 00:38:02,840 Speaker 1: fantasy sword as well. So Ariel, thank you for joining 678 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,000 Speaker 1: me on this episode, thank you for having me, and 679 00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:08,440 Speaker 1: I look forward to us continuing this conversation in mer moments. 680 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:09,839 Speaker 1: But for everyone else, it's going to be a week. 681 00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: And guys, if you have any suggestions for future episodes 682 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,280 Speaker 1: of tech Stuff, whether it's a technology or a company 683 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,520 Speaker 1: or a person, or maybe there's a guest you would 684 00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:22,279 Speaker 1: like me to have on the show, either as an 685 00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:25,359 Speaker 1: interview or a guest host, please let me know. Send 686 00:38:25,400 --> 00:38:28,240 Speaker 1: me an email. The addresses tech stuff at how stuff 687 00:38:28,239 --> 00:38:30,719 Speaker 1: works dot com, or drop me a line on Facebook, 688 00:38:31,120 --> 00:38:34,160 Speaker 1: on Twitter, on Tumblr, and all three. I am text 689 00:38:34,200 --> 00:38:37,040 Speaker 1: stuff hs W, and I will talk to you again 690 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:46,760 Speaker 1: really soon. For more on those thousands of other topics 691 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:57,399 Speaker 1: works dot com