When did Europeans shift from pattern welded sword blades to predominantly homogeneous steel blades? Who made the first homogeneous steel blades in Europe?

I'm not sure I have my terms right. If not thanks for your patience.

I would have to do a lot of checking to give you a great answer. Some concepts to consider though.

Large billets of material, enough so as to make a whole blade, were exported by around the 11th century. There are variations by region, but we can say prior economic and material availability conditions that could have favored piled construction really changed.

Some authors, I believe Verhoeven included, have mentioned frequency or percentage of swords from various eras that appeared "pattern welded" by which I mean to have deliberate mechanical manipulation of the piled construction so as to contain elaborate geometric designs if contrasting materials were used. Just swagging it ... I the peak of this was around 7th to 10th century. There was still historic demand and replication or reinvention of the attractive geometry "pattern welded" blade long after, including amongst current day collectors. It is fairly difficult to say it "ended" other than to say it appears it was both unnecessary and progressively less common as steel production method and export industry increased.

It's worth considering that 'homogeneous' steel weren't all that common up to the 16th century, though mostly in smaller workshops.

Just items out of rather homogeneous iron 'steeled', so roasted in coal powder until outer layers would get to desirable levels of carbonization, and then properly tempered and generally treated to achieve desired characteristics.


So while it obviously wouldn't be any pattern welding, it wouldn't be homogeneous steel either.

Bigger manufactures, particularly huge industries in Northen Italy or in modern Austria would already have a lot of billets that would be mostly steel, of course.

Most people define homogenous steel as "not pattern welded", but Bartek's defintion is more accurate. You would probably have to clarify what you mean to get a useful answer.

I'm using the only definition I know, the one used in physics and chemistry. A homogeneous material or system has the same properties at every point; it is uniform.

I realize few materials have the same properties at every point. I mean reasonably homogeneous. I also understand that a reasonably homogeneous steel can have a differential crystalline structure due to the tempering.

I guess my question might have better phrased. How about: When did pattern welding stop being used as the predominate method of sword making in Europe?

In Europe, blister steel (heterogeneous) was further refined to shear steel, with the English then refining some steel further in crucibles by the mid 18th century. The blister to shear steels continued well into the 19th century, even past Bessemer's "innovations". My understanding of it anyway. There is an article somewhere regarding some furnace slag was decarbed going back to the medieval centuries and furnaces in Scandinavia.

Cheers

GC

Pattern welding is the deliberate combination of at least two different materials that show contrast when etched in acid. Heterogenous. As people have alluded to... due to the available technology many swords were composed of multiple layers of the SAME material just to get a large enough billet to make a sword. So in this sense.. it could be seen as 'homogenous' to some extent. Sword blades were made like this since the beginning of the iron age and all through the middle ages.

The only truly homogenous steel would originate in a molten form.. and the first examples of this were made in crucibles. So the shift to using crucible steel in England might be your best line of research. I'm assuming you mean a European scenario and don't need to consider Persian crucible-made steel, wootz, etc.

Thanks for all of your well thought out answers.

Certainly better answers than the facetious, "14:00 on 12 November 1193".

Plate armour often shows differing layers, welded together to get steel that has the desired characteristics, essentially adjusting the average carbon content by layering. Swords seem to be the same till industrial processes make homogeneous steels possible. Not that they really are; a piece of 1050 can vary from 0.45% to 0.55% carbon, last I knew.