Hello everyone,
I have no doubt one or many of the myArmoury members can answer or at least provide some usful information of this issue and question.

What is the appearance of iron inlay on a polished sword blade or hilt component of steel or at least of a steely iron? I have seen the black-and-white pictures or viking and early midieval sdwords like some "ulfberts" that have an iron inlay which is certainly very visable. I am wondering if and what the appearances of said inlay is in on a sword free of corrosion and newly made. Are the lines smothly and crisply difined as can be seen with silver, latten, and copper embellishments.

A color picture of an iron inlayed sword or surphace would be neat, I think.

Jeremy

I don't think the lines of pattern-welded iron inlays would (could!) have been as accurate and precise as the letters and symbols made of latten, silver or bronze. It's completely different manufacture process.

With inlays made from soft materials (latten, silver or bronze) you engrave your design onto a heat treated and already finished blade. If you're skilled this can be done with great accuracy and when you inlay the wire (usually heated), you can with a bit of care completely avoid any deformation of the blade and therefore letters or symbols.

Iron inlays are a bit different matter. You make the letters (usually pattern welded), place them while still cold on a very hot blade and pound them into the surface. Or you engrave the proper voids for letters. Then you have to forge-weld letters onto the blade by heating everything and evenly striking it. Of course the letters will deform and widen with this process, and boundaries between blade material and inlay will not be as sharp as with softer materials due to the diffusion at forge welding. And of course there is not much of the contrast between steel blade and pattern welded iron inlay – I guess such inlays would be slightly etched. Most of the photos of “ulfberth” and “ingelrii” blades are severely corroded, so the “etch” is a bit more pronounced there. I guess such blade would look very smooth and flat, with just a hint of lettering or decoration, seen in proper lighting conditions. I’d certainly like to see such a blade personally.

I don’t think any of the blades with iron inlays survived in “pristine” condition, although I remember Oakeshott writing that some of inlayed blades were repolished and re-etched, and that they look marvelous. No photos, though.

Sorry for the spelling, I’m almost from Africa (as some Englishman observed not long ago).

Something to keep in mind here is that iron, even when highly polished, has a darker tint (appearance?) than steel. So a polished blade, even if mirror-smooth, should show the iron inlay as darker letters against the bright steel of the blade's body.

--ElJay

Are there any known period references to such inlays in period literature? Or references which at least could be in referece to such an inlay? I'm speaking here only of twisted iron inlays such as those which appear on the Ulfberht and Ingelri blades. I don't believe I've ever come across one.

Thanks everyone for your replies,

Jeff- a special thanks to you for the photos which I found very enlightening. For the first time I have a fair idea of the appearance of these inlays So it seems the consensus that iron inlay would generally be quite visable and distinct on a polished blade.

Were most or all blades of the ulfbert and ingelrii tpyes say 1000-1150 using twisted wire inlays. Do you guys know of the benefit of twisted wire versus a non twisted iron wire? I think it would be really cool to see a modern reproductionfeaturing such an inlay.

Here is a question for sword makers like Craig, Peter, Vince, and other makers- Do you have any experience with iron inlay in the blade?

Jeremy

C.L. – definite period references, no, none that I’m aware of.
Jeremy – you’re welcome, glad I could help.
You know, the whole ‘twisted iron’ is really a misnomer, these inlays were done with pattern welded material – iron of differing carbon content or phosphorus content (I’m not aware of any metallographic studies that indicate which).
They twisted it for perhaps two reasons – it looks cool that way, and it references the recently outdated technology of assembling the sword out of twisted pattern welded material, which was probably equated with quality. Every U. & I. sword I’ve seen was done with twisted wire (the ones where you can tell, anyway).
The ‘naðr’ inlay photographed above was a test for an inlaid sword I made, unfortunately before I got a camera and started taking photos, so that’s one modern repro that’s not see-able. But it's an entertaining and nerve-wracking process, I recommend it to the other swordsmiths out there.
Jeff

Sure -
1. Forge out a blade blank, but don’t go so far as to put in the fuller or bevel the edges.
2. Make a billet of low-layer Damascus – seven is good, the one pictured is 11 or 13 and a little too busy for the Nth degree of authenticity if we’re talking Ulfberhts – draw it down to 1/8” sq. and twist tightly, then re-square (or round, your preference – match your chisel shape).
3. Chisel into the blade blank the design you wish to inlay.
4. Fit bits of wire into the grooves you cut.
5. Carefully forge weld the inlaid wire to the blade.

The above inlay was one-sided, so I cut 90° v-grooves and just dropped the wires into the grooves –to do 2-sides like the Ulfberhts it makes more sense to securely cold inlay the wire so you can weld both sides in one heat. And as this test showed, you need to get the wires well fitted to avoid pits or gaps, but that’s true of all welding operations, the better it looks going in, the better result at the finish. It’s possible to use the remaining heat (after the weld is set) to start roughing out the fuller – if you had a tooling-intensive shop you might be able to do the inlay after the fullering, but I’ve not tried that.
Be sure to read with a grain of salt any (printed) description of how the inlays were done, since they were mostly written by folks who had no practical experience at it. And I don’t think the method outlined above is the only way, it’s just what I considered most likely, and which I’ve found to work for me – your mileage may vary.

There are very few people who have done iron inlays. Jeff Pringle, could you post images of the whole sword, not just the inlaid part? It looks ... well... beyond words. :-)

Thank you for your guide to inlaying. You are right, most people (including me) have no experience at forging, let alone making iron inlay letters. I think I have read about the other possible method (forging the cold letters onto the blade, then forge weld) in a book by Oakehott. But, as you know, recreating medieval swords is a fairly new "hobby" and much academic guesses have gotten into the processes that are purely practical and can be verified.

Excellent stuff Jeff!

Thanks for taking the time to explain.

ks

I'm really enjoying this thread,

I think that it's about time collectors and smiths alike began paying more attention to inlay- especially in the blade. Looking at surviving pieces we find inlay on most blades so I am really looking forward to owning an inlayed blade one of these days- most likely in iron as that is contemporary to my period of interest and my favorite antique sword is a type XI Ingelrii.

Very cool stuff and I would like to see other smiths chime in as well regarding their thoughts on this process. I would find a photograph featuring brass or copper inlay also very interesting- though I have seen pictures of this and seen some antiques in person. I don't know what it is about inlay that I think is so cool. :)

Jeremy

This topic has been promoted into a Spotlight Topic.

This thread made me realize I had the opportunity to make a really obscure pun -
[ Linked Image ]
Puns like that don't come around so often!
:p

:) :)

You should call the next one "+Pringlberht+", though it admittedly does not sound as neat and "pringelrii"

Alexi

Hello everyone,

I wanted to resurrect this topic as I have begun the process of comisioning a sword inspired by Records XI.5 Shaftesbury Sword. As actual measurements are unavailable (unless someone here knows of any) mine will not be an exact copy of this piece, but will incorporate a gold plated pommel and iron cross terminating in beast heads as per the original.

In any case what really excites me is that I am opting to have the +INNOMINEDOMINE+ inlayed in iron on one side of the blade and something else on the other. I would feel strange having GICELINMEFICIT reproduced. It seems through my reading that on this sword the inlay was applied in iron non-pattern welded strips. Well the process will be a long one and I will keep everyone posted. Needless to say I am excited as this is my favorite sword and I have a thing for inlay.

Lastly, can anyone point me to references to this particular sword besides the usual suspects i.e. Records, SAC, AOW?

Jeremy