Mastering the Secrets of Carbon and Steel

Huge thank you to Upstart for sponsoring today's episode! Don’t wait and check your rate today at www.upstart.com/EVERYTHING
Today we're exploring the relationship of iron and carbon. Let's see how we can use their relationship to produce exact properties whenever and wherever we want in hopes of making steel. Check it out!
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Created and Hosted by Andy George
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[@htme]

Thank you again to Upstart for sponsoring today's episode! Don’t wait and check your rate today at www.upstart.com/EVERYTHING

[@Wasbever_14]

Hello

[@shadowtheimpure]

Upstart gave me a loan to pay off my parent's debt. They are completely legit.

[@bigd1348]

Patreon has patrons not patreon's

[@benkayvfalsifier3817]

If you're going deeper into types of steel, the please keep in mind and differentiate between modern day damascus steel and true wootz steel.

[@rajaafaqamadsteeltrader9846]

Good very nice from pakistan . Im also steel trader

[@spaghettiman7261]

Next up : Starting a war with France

[@bigboydunkin]

with their history, we know France would lose the war.

[@lhtyeehaw1319]

@@bigboydunkin depends, is it Napoleonic France?

[@lhtyeehaw1319]

@Sewan & Sawen Creations for their cheese and wine Maybe their bread too, but that's about it

[@oliverimbrich-hulsmann9127]

Fun fact. France is statisticly the most successful Country At war

[@abdallahmanasrah2317]

@@oliverimbrich-hulsmann9127 one of the most brutal to the people it aggressed against. On a per capital basis maybe only Belgium and Japan can contest the throne.

[@xXMACEMANXx]

I've been a blacksmith for 4 or 5 years now, and I remember my first big hurdle to overcome was understanding hardening and tempering, or that is to say, the metallurgic fundamentals of steel. Very good video! Keep up the good work.

[@storyspren]

I love how Adri started as a guest smith but now there's been so much metalwork that they're a core part of the team :D

[@kaitlyn__L]

I love how this demonstrates exactly why the village/town blacksmith was so revered and important! Not to mention, why some gods in pantheons were blacksmiths too. It really is arcane knowledge, in the best way! Sure, it’s not “one person figuring it all out by themself” like the intro used to be, but if anything this is an even more fascinating demonstration of why and how societies evolved in the ways they did!

[@nubreed13]

Irony is in medieval towns the blacksmith was the lowest class.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@nubreed13 It was my understanding that the blacksmith and the baker were the only ones who weren’t sent into wars? Due to being too important

[@nubreed13]

@@kaitlyn__L that I'm not sure about but it wouldn't surprise me either. Though if they are on campaign you would need at least one in hand to maintain the weapons and armor.

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@nubreed13 that’s true. Though I’d send the apprentice if I were the blacksmith haha

[@SonsOfLorgar]

@@nubreed13 wrong! The lowest class was the executioner and the latrine haulers

[@Ilzhain]

For anyone wondering about the difference between Wootz and Damascus steel they can be the same thing but Damascus is also used to refer to pattern-welded steel which is where two or more different steels are welded in layers to create patterns in the metal which can resemble the pattern found in wootz steel. Basically, Wootz exclusively refers to steel made in a crucible whereas Damascus can refer to either crucible or pattern-welded steel.

[@nickverbree]

I hope the "great Damascus nomenclature war" doesn't flare up again.

[@atharvamarne9187]

Both are same. Woozt the magnificent steel was imported from bharat to Damascus to make weapons. So westers tribes and kingdoms know it by name Damascus. Woozt is sanskrit name

[@robonator2945]

the differences between welded steel like that and actual Damascus steel have been extremely well documented. That LOOKS like Damascus steel. It's as much Damascus steel as pyrite is gold.

[@Cretaal]

Wootz is the historical Damascus of legend. Damascus refers to an aesthetic of patterns within steel made to mimic the aesthetic of Wootz (it's the difference between antique bronze and antiqued bronze). Remember that "Etched Damascus" is a term alongside "pattern-weld damascus" where "pattern-weld" is often just replaced with the style of pattern weld (example: butterfly damascus). And etched damascus is just regular steel etched with a laser or acid. If someone only calls it "Damascus" without being specific, they're selling you a gimmick. Demand specifics. You can have up to 5 different steels in one of those, make sure it's not 50% angle iron.

[@Crowbars2]

@@Cretaal Was all Wootz steel also historical Damascus steel then? So, If back in the day, someone took a good Wootz steel ingot and made a crappy blade, would that technically also be historical "Damascus steel"? What if someone took a Wootz ingot to England, would a blade made from it also be called Damascus steel? Could you get historical Damascus steel without the Damascus pattern? Or was that pattern something that was intrinsic to forging Wootz steel? EDIT: I had to add the term "historical" so there was no pattern weld/damascus confusion.

[@491n4he5]

A video on sanding stones and how you' re able to get a stone deadflat could be interesting, albeit maybe much shorter. It would be the 3 stones technique(?) Anyways, steel is a crazy important development but having stones flat enough to sharpen a chisel or tool crazy sharp/flat and accurate is an immensely forgotten aspect as well.

[@cvspvr]

the whitworth 3 plate method?

[@nickverbree]

I've given really similar "what IS steel" talks (though focussing on modern steels), and you totally knocked it out of the park. All the time and effort that goes into actually filming the entire process, and then to use it to explain steel metallurgy 101 without it getting confusing or boring? 11/10 brilliant video. I have a ton of people I'm sharing this with.

[@v.sandrone4268]

All explained without a single phase diagram...

[@cvspvr]

steel is a concept invented by weak "men" who're incapable of using their hands as axe heads

[@drstrangefart]

Dude, that was a VERY good crash course explanation of how steel do.

[@slartbarg]

I think you did a pretty good job at explaining the iron-carbon system for steels. Only thing I would have added was a line or 2 about why grain size affects properties (including grain boundaries affect on these properties)

[@Sanity016]

I really liked this episode it finally answered some of the remaining questions I had about how iron goes from the bloom to a workable piece.

[@jt9602]

I watched another video on making steel with black sand and they used silica a a flux for the ore. They also graded the size of coal to roughly 2” x 1” so they weren’t clogging up the chimney. The chimney was made with a few other ingredients besides horse poo and clay to withstand the heat. I would love to see you guys try making steel again but do some modifications to succeed. You guys rock and I look forward to seeing more videos

[@jameskelly1680]

Impressive series, starting with dirt and charcoal and ending with case hardened steel chisels. Very good work and a lot of talented people.

[@trogdor8764]

The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, Andy. You must learn its discipline.

[@EvilSearchEngine]

Steel isn't strong, boy..... FLESH is stronger!

[@benjamindavidson4680]

@@EvilSearchEngine The Iron Hands disagree boy!

[@jackp492]

Flesh makes steel and flesh can destroy it, flesh is stronger

[@pheorrungurd8746]

If you take that steel, and put it into a crucible, you can melt it completely into a solid ingot to Forge easier. That is how I was taught to make steel, before hammering it into nails. Nails were the first thing, from what I was told, every black Smith started out actually forging. That is because you can always heat them up and fold them into a larger piece later if you need something else instead of nails.

[@ckl9390]

I've been told that nails are the first thing to master because they are good practice. They test several core skills, precision movements, and repeatability. All while not requiring much resources per nail, and, as you mentioned, they're still a usable size that can be welded back together with relative ease.

[@hedgehog3180]

I'm guessing it's also because you can always sell nails.

[@marschlosser4540]

My father, a welder and iron monger would have loved this. You rock.

[@inserttext2412]

Hello How to Make Everything team, you guys should check out high phosphorus iron. It's somewhat of a stop gap between wrought iron and steel. It's a lot more finiky to work with but would be an interesting topic to cover. There's even an old Norse saga that involves a magical blacksmith using bird droppings to intentionally up the phosphorous content of his sword. If you are looking to pursue case hardening father Clickspring has a great video on timings and mixtures to use.

[@dan_the_dj]

Yeah, clickspring is a great channel. He introduced me to the idea of case hardening. Before that, everybody used to tell me that making any edged implement that way was impossible and a waste of time. Well, what do you know, it works like a charm :D

[@KainYusanagi]

I know it's just a typo, but "Father Clickspring" seems so apt when talking about metalworking... Dude is an absolutely insane smith and metalworker.

[@inserttext2412]

@@KainYusanagi well what can I say sometimes my genius is... it's almost frightening. All jokes aside I'm glad someone got a laugh out of my typo.

[@dan_the_dj]

@@KainYusanagi I didnt even notice there was a typo hahahah

[@danielkanes4752]

As a History and Geography teacher in AUS, thank you! I will use your videos as part of my upcoming lessons!

[@SF-li9kh]

Eagerly looking forward to Wootz steel. Maybe it can be used for your Ballista project

[@RangerOfTheOrder]

This is random, but I was binge watching HTME last night before bed, and I had a dream you did a colab with Adam Savage. I could die happy if this actually happened

[@mikoro88]

One of the best series I follow on KZbin hands down! Such an interesting topic, with so many opportunities to explore various cool topics! Can't wait to see what the future holds for this channel!

[@Khitiara_]

fun fact if you cut a case hardened piece the cross section shows where became steel and what stayed iron and it's super visible

[@nubreed13]

Sounds very similar to how you can cut an arc welded piece of steel and see all the individual beads in the cross section when you do stress testing.

[@hedgehog3180]

One of the important steps in the development of battleships was the ability to accurately control the depth of hardening, allowing for the production of armor that had a hard surface but was backed by a more ductile layer that could flex and both absorb the force of an impact as well as stretch in response to temperature changes.

[@zanekovac726]

As someone who has a passion for physics and chemistry this is a really interesting topic I would like to look into more!

[@jamescope581]

Excellent work mate 🔥🔥love the video and the commitment to the grind

[@cmw184]

The first time i got interested in this stuff is when i was in welding school. I was assigned to make a power point about the hardness of steel. I never fully understood it until a couple years ago, eventhough that was like 5 years ago. Its very interesting, and i plan to make my own iron too, out of magnetite that ive gathered.

[@DH-xw6jp]

You should explore making a flat grinding stone. Using random rocks to sharpen your tools is holding you back.

[@kaitlyn__L]

As the technology progresses, the number of things to work on grows exponentially! I can understand why he’s put that off, but you’re right that it would speed things up quite a bit.

[@KainYusanagi]

Or just make it, with a large slab of granite cut off from a boulder.

[@Taygetea]

three plate method! three plate method! three plate method!

[@DH-xw6jp]

@@Taygetea three cheers for the three plates!

[@tyggna]

This video is making me SOOO grateful for induction smelting

[@itachi15243ify]

Watch htme be the one to rediscover true Damascus steel or something. Keep up the good work!

[@vold2268]

Already done for like 70y

[@kassiog.6595]

Search wootz on KZbin and you can rediscover it

[@itachi15243ify]

@@kassiog.6595 No, it hasn't been. I hate it when people think this and act so arrogantly in the comments like they have all the information when they know nothing, or maybe watched 5 minutes of a scochow video on Damascus steal that got it WRONG. There is a difference between pattern welding to make steel with the same type of design and pattern of Damascus steal (the well known Damascus steel traits) and actual, true, Damascus steal that was historically made from wootz steel (which also hasn't been recreated, it came out of the ground in a certain place and manufactured in a particular way that we haven't replicated. Most wootz steal was not good steal, and was mainly made into Damascus. Only a fewer ACTUAL Damascus steel swords still exist in the world. While the process was, again briefly recreated in the 1700's fairly successfully, it was again lost and now only a few REAL Damascus swords exist in the world now, and are in museums. Please do proper research before making these types of comments. Otherwise, you're just spreading misinformation.

[@kassiog.6595]

@@itachi15243ify wootz is not some magic mythical steel, its crucible steel. Simple as that.

[@itachi15243ify]

@@kassiog.6595 I never said it was mythical all? It was a good steel that made a good sword that stayed sharp for a long period of time. In honesty, we probably have better sword steels today. That doesn't mean that we've successfully reproduced, true Damascus still in the effing 21st century. Someone please do some actual research, maybe read the full wiki ffs.

[@morrigankasa570]

Cast Iron cookware & cooking tools are the best type of cookware & cooking tools out there!!!

[@NathanOkun]

"Case-hardening" is also called "cementing" and, in late-19th Century steel naval armor, "Harveyizing", after the US steelmaker who developed it using French nickel-steel armor as its basic material. The layer of high-carbon material is rather thin, though in armor it was usually about 1-1.5" thick, making up only the thin surface layer in thick naval armor used in cruisers and battleships of the period. The later thick-faced Krupp Cemented armor steel for naval armor used a chromium-nickel alloy for better hardening and tempering (toughening) but usually kept the thin Harveyized surface layer to make that layer extremely hard during the final hardening processes (a few types skipper the Cementing process and used the somewhat softer, but much tougher, thick face layer by itself for improved resistance to enemy gun projectiles).

[@appo1860]

amazing video as always! Love everything you do! Keep it up man!

[@AwareOCE]

I learned so much about steel and iron and was so entertained along the way, amazing video!

[@Travelling..Bottle..Digger]

This kept my attention. Well done. I enjoy finding old iron relics so this was very interesting to me. Thanks for sharing👍⛏

[@GlorifiedGremlin]

Aye shoutout to that bug at 13:39, you a real one

[@lweismann]

This is a great series. If you want to do a series on workholding through the ages, I’d be happy to help and I’m from Minnesota.

[@danielheckel2755]

That is interesting. How did they hold the first steel, If they didn't have steel tools?

[@cvspvr]

​@@danielheckel2755with their hands. modern men are weak

[@petersipp5247]

Nicely explained. Metal fabrication is my lifes work. You explain well the influence carbon has in c/s. (carbon steel). It has taken me a long time since I have been to the iron mines the colonists used in Orange County NY ( just north of the New Jersey line) in (1961) to understanding the elements making up different grades of c/s. I have a much better comprehension of the materials used in metal fabrication. Thank you tons for your efforts to make this story understandable.

[@ravenwalden7576]

I learn so much from your channel and I love it thank you

[@largestudent198]

Imagine the number of steps necessary into the adaptation of metallurgy between iron hammering by blacksmiths and Bessemer Method; then imagine whether there were more than two magnitudes (multiply by one-hundred) of steps necessary into the adaptation from sticks and stones to bronze. It's amazing.

[@nicelir]

really cool episode! I didn't know that steel casting is such a complet process

[@theYeti1000]

My fav vid yet man. Keep it up.

[@ArrakisHeir88]

Love the Barovia shirt. I'm playing through Strahd with some guys on the weekends, very fun.

[@zell9058]

Excellent video! I learned alot

[@mprobison]

HEY! Good work on the metallurgy. I had to learn this shit in material sci - and it took me like three weeks to get my brain wrapped around the structure changes.

[@LiteraryCurtastrophe]

I loved this video. Great stuff

[@nickg5250]

outstanding vid as always

[@FrauWNiemand]

This process is really complicated to understand. I can imagine, that with nowadays tools it is really simple to turn carbon into steel and find the perfect melting point with the amount of carbon and heat, but I have absolutely no idea how he turned this out with his self-build oven.

[@SonsOfLorgar]

Even with modern tools, it's not a simple process other than in the sense that it's largely automated.

[@hedgehog3180]

Steel is still complicated enough that it's the single most recycled material, about a third of all steel produced is actually just recycled scrap steel. Steel Mills are also some of the largest and most expensive to operate factories in the world and require very skilled labor.

[@Freakmaster480]

Just for reference the iron-steel-cast iron rough placements are a good rule of thumb. Bot nescessarily hard and fast rules. Super high carbon, high alloy steels can have well over 3% carbon in the mix. Rex 121 and zdp 189 are good examples. You can also have steels with very little carbon that instead rely on elements like nitrogen or boron for hardening. Vanax is a good example.

[@Zzz_top]

My mans got his energy and cheer back! Heck yeah! I’m glad you are doing better, homie!

[@PersonCalledErin]

We love Adri in this household! Great vid

[@zeddock]

Nice Steele anvil. Great blacksmithing channel

[@RealAndySkibba]

Thus looks like it'll be a great video!

[@unitedharmony8405]

Great video keep up the good work

[@christopherdaurio2617]

Late to the party, but I gotta say that "It's Never Sunny in Barovia" tee is great! Oh, also the amazing metal working too 👍

[@Vermino]

16:25 - I love the [Car Park] sign LUL.

[@choccolocco]

Impressive hand work.

[@TychoNorris]

That's a nice Alec steel anvil 😁

[@isaacgraff8288]

I do not know why but I love seeing a Steele anvil in different vids.

[@jamesklark6562]

Is it possible that you try a video where you attempt to make coil springs using a primative method? I know they're a few hundred years old but I'm genuinely curious what the minimal amount of tools and methods you would need to produce them while still being functional.

[@ckl9390]

Before the industrial revolution one of the uses for baleen was leaf springs for carriages. Coil springs, even earlier ones, have higher weight capacity, travel, and longevity, but there are organic workarounds to many of the applications we use metal for.

[@EvilSearchEngine]

Hey! One thing I didn't catch was how do you REDUCE the amount of carbon in the steel if you're still covering it in charcoal?

[@moukidelmar]

The name of this episode should be "Solving the Riddle of Steel"

[@autocorrectsucks6233]

Awesome content

[@Geeksmithing]

Man, the edit on this piece was all over the place.

[@gratmccall]

Love the schnauzer in the background helping

[@prestontucker6171]

I'm halfway through this video, and all I can focus on is the fact that they are running a primitive refinery hearth...in the middle of a backyard FULL of long, dead, dry grass... 🔥🔥🔥

[@danrichbotha]

I like this, more please. also good job : )

[@Minalkra]

4:00 That dude's got my hat!

[@ryanblystone5153]

Thank you

[@Moggzilla76]

Thanks!

[@danacoleman4007]

It's been a long time but I knew I recognized the name barovia. Awesome shirt!

[@nightrealm04]

Discussing the topic of iron and steel, could you visit/comment on the Iron Furnace in Southern Illinois, not far from Golconda, IL?

[@generalgrievous4432]

nice achievement!

[@David-gk2ml]

4:01 it's never sunny in barovia -T-shirt LOL now I have to look up Barovia

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Maybe I missed it, but what was done differently between the two runs that added carbon to one batch and removed it from the other?

[@htme]

The tuyere was placed near the top on the first run to remove carbon, and then was lowered to add carbon to it. Joe touches on it some at 8:32

[@robonator2945]

​@@htme so, if I'm understanding it right, you basically have a brick bucket, filled with charcoal and "iron" (of any purity), the charcoal and the iron do not directly mix, so while both will get hot their different properties mean that they won't melt into one homogenous blob. If the intake is at the bottom, as the iron* melts and drips to the bottom it will absorb more carbon from the surrounding CO2 formed from the charcoal's combustion within the high-oxygen environment. If the intake is at the top however, as the iron* melts and drips to the bottom it is left in a low-oxygen environment where some of the carbon within it actually seeps out? (I assume mixing with the limited oxygen there is to form more CO2?

[@hedgehog3180]

@@robonator2945 The carbon isn't seeping out but rather chemically removed through oxidation, the simple explanation is that oxygen binds incredibly strongly to other atoms so the carbon would rather bond to the oxygen than the iron. Once the iron melts it is however fairly unlikely to bond to carbon again until the fire is very hot, and of course you just make sure to stop the fire before the iron has time to absorb much carbon. In the other case where they're adding carbon they're keeping the iron in an oxygen poor environment, since the oxygen is reacting too quickly with the other metal and so there's only carbon there. The bottom of the furnace should also be hotter so that means the iron will end up absorbing carbon.

[@ciaprisoner]

I only watch these videos in the hope that Adri shows up

[@pablozurita2996]

YES

[@darrellbeets7758]

u managed to make some nice square steel there in the end!

[@michaelbird2857]

I’m a fan of the Alec Steele anvil :)

[@doraspoljar697]

I didn't get a notification for this even though the bell is on? I didn't know that was possible

[@enochlove]

The riddle of steel!!!

[@ckl9390]

One problem with case hardening is when one wears through the hardened case to expose the softer core is exposed making a softer edge. It is likely that after sharpening enough times where the hardened case layer noticeably ran through, that the chisels may have been periodically returned to the smith to be re-hardened.

[@MrEmiosk]

I saw a way to easily soften iron is to heat it up as much as you can. Then bury it in leftover ashes to cool over night. This will soften it and make it very workable.

[@TheFriendOfLucifer]

Cool!

[@theprancingprussian]

The genral idea, despite mathematics not playing into physics for a chunk if history, was an engineer tested a bunch of stuff and established connections between things, like how sooty a fire was and how brittle the iron became

[@Detson404]

It’s never sunny in barovia!

[@tuseroni6085]

"its never sunny in barovia" i love that guy's shirt.

[@mysticdavestarotmachinesho5093]

I like the sound of that anvil. What is that 140 pound Steele brand? Nice.

[@davefellhoelter1343]

Thinking out loud with not much OJT in this chemistry area. Considering the relation to oxygen or lack of. Would the low carbon steel get more carbon in a surface treatment if your clay and char wrapper was discarded while Hot under or immersed in a Hydrocarbon or oil for a temper also? I am working on color case hardening or at least a DIY case hardening historically easy with tech of the day.

[@derentius]

love the Strahd shirt lol

[@HuggeK]

crazy to hear about bessemer since i live in the town it was created. Little story there was a man called Göran Fredrik Göransson who made his steel company sandvik and that started my city sandviken. Pretty crazy to hear something i have grown up knowing.

[@Mireaze]

Can we get a full adri episode? I love their work and presentation so much!

[@spacemanx9595]

lol we know why you think that. their work is actually quite shit

[@kaitlyn__L]

Yessss. I was admiring the nail polish the whole time

[@IPostSwords]

So there WILL be a crucible steel video? Exciting.

[@dukecharlie1146]

Most interesting channel

[@AnUnfortunatePotato]

You put this on the wrong end of the playlist lad. It’s at the beginning, rather than the end of the playlist

[@Akren905]

Worked in a steel foundry for 3 years I can help with ur core making and venting. Plus ur pour pressures. Example ur iron swords ur neck was to small as was the pour cup in the mold. I made everything from crane plane train parts to oil wells excavator teeth and even a Francis impeller. But alot alot of farm equipment and chemical plant flanges.

[@wun_zee3599]

Could you do a video on primitive dyes?

[@somebodyyoudontknow2663]

I think this channel will rising again, good luck

[@TheStigmacher]

In some episodes of the reset they reference a graphic that looks like a family tree listing each technology. Is there a link to the full chart somewhere? Maybe at the end?

[@bobofreddy1171]

You guys need to make a series of books

[@user-gw4oz1rk3i]

Question, how did you get all of those ting pieces consolidated into two bars of steel and iron?

[@linuxstreamer8910]

the anvil adrian used is a alec steele one i recognize the touch mark edit 1 also steele co