Real Samurai Swords...
...are made from folded steel. A block of steel which has been pounded and folded repeatedly creating layers, which gives the inside of the blade enormous strength and flexibility, much like the rings of a tree stump. Factory produced samurai swords are usually simply cast or ground out of a strip of non folded metal meaning they are very weak.
...have been heat treated. Clay is placed along the blade at differing thicknesses, heated, and plunged into water (a process called yaki-ire) which is designed to make the edge of the blade hard enough to retain it's sharpness, whilst making the rear of the blade more soft and reed like, to absorb the shock of a blow. This is also what gives each blade the unique one-off pattern.
...are made from folded steel. A block of steel which has been pounded and folded repeatedly creating layers, which gives the inside of the blade enormous strength and flexibility, much like the rings of a tree stump. Factory produced samurai swords are usually simply cast or ground out of a strip of non folded metal meaning they are very weak.
...have been heat treated. Clay is placed along the blade at differing thicknesses, heated, and plunged into water (a process called yaki-ire) which is designed to make the edge of the blade hard enough to retain it's sharpness, whilst making the rear of the blade more soft and reed like, to absorb the shock of a blow. This is also what gives each blade the unique one-off pattern.