A fast look at a experimental smelt. The builder of the firnace had been in conversation with Kevin Smith about his work excavating an 'industrial' level Viking Age iron smelting site at Hals in Iceland.

Making a bloom requires an iron smelting furnace. The work on the actual smelting end (creation of the iron blooms) is a combination of a learning process extended into experimental archaeology.

This Is another type of heat treating kiln. This is a nice D.I.Y article that gives you all the info you need

I find it difficult to maintain 1000°C temperatures to truly relax and align the crystalline structures in the steel. So I decided that an electric heat treating oven is the way to go. I have no intention of spending $1000 on an off-the-shelf unit

This is a well written book about the evolution of weapons and how different cultures have changed the basic shape and styles.

This article talks about how the Chinese first harnesed the power of gunpowder

This is a great piece about the invention of gun powder.

This article talks about how a wheel lock firing mechanism works and tells you the name of each part of the mechanism.

Typically, the inlay found on excavated Viking-age hilts is only a pale shadow of its original brilliance.

There are few great things that happen in the dark ages but one was the Viking Sword. The sword was the mark of a warrior in the Viking age. They were difficult to make, and therefore rare and expensive.

This is one "mad-mans" endeavor to make a beautiful inlay on a straight razor.

There are many techniques in which contrasting metals are placed side by side. Those that can properly be called inlay require a mechanical attachment to secure a soft material into a harder one.

This article is a fairly well written informational tutorial about making a inlay that goes all the way threw a blade.

This is a great tutorial for just starting to learn inlay work with very detailed and easy to understand instructions.

This piece tells you how to weld thin pieces of metal without melting or blowouts and how to keep panels from warping wile welding the seams.

This is a grate how-to with pictures and detailed instructions on how to place and weld pieces of metal to replace rusted out spots on a car.

This is a paper talking about the experiments done to test if the cryogenic heat treating process improves the characteristics of a piece of metal and how much the characteristics are in fact improved.

This site talks in depth about the Science behind the Cryogenic heat treating Process and the ways it can improve the characteristics of steel.

This site is an overview of why and how cryogenic processing improves the characteristics of iron and steel.

This site talks about how iron affected the culture in west Africa, how iron turned tribes into mighty kingdoms and allowed them to gain a plethora of resources skyrocketing there economy.