Tamahagane
Mythological · Rare · Medieval
Sacred steel smelted for 72 hours in a clay tatara furnace, fed with charcoal and iron sand. The process is overseen by a Shinto priest who maintains ritual purity throughout. The result is a heterogeneous bloom of hard and soft steel that a master smith separates by hand.
Identity
- Source
- Japanese Shinto tradition
- Aliases
- Jewel steel, Soul steel
Physical Properties
- Appearance
- Near-black folded steel with a visible hamon, a wavy temper line of silver-grey along the edge
- Luster
- Metallic
- Density
- 7.8 g/cm³
- Melting point
- 1400 °C
- Boiling point
- 2700 °C
- Lighter
- Glassforged
- Denser
- Steel
- Magnetism
- Ferromagnetic
- Electrical conductivity
- Medium
Mechanical Properties
- Mohs hardness
- 6.5
- Tensile strength
- 2000 MPa
- Softer
- Titanium
- Harder
- Vanadium
- Workability
- Difficult
- Brittleness
- Moderate
- Malleability
- Low
- Ductility
- Low
Chemical Properties
- Corrosion resistance
- low
- Reactivity
- moderate
Lore & Narrative
A single tatara smelting produces enough tamahagane for perhaps two blades. The smith selects only the finest fragments, discarding the rest. Each blade is said to carry the spirit of the fire that forged it.
- Notable uses
- Katana, wakizashi, ritual blades
- Forge uses
- blades, ritual weapons
- Worldbuilding traits
- sacred, spiritual, folded, japanese
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