These are the required elements for making steel:
- Iron
- Carbon
- Manganese
- Chromium
- Phosphorus
- Sulphur
- Nickel
- Molybdenum
- Titanium
- Copper
- Boron
Source: https://www.cliftonsteel.com/education/11elementsfoundinsteel
So, iron is only step 1. Humans are carbon based lifeforms, so I’m guessing that carbon is also sorted, that’s step 2.
There’s plenty of other elements in the human body, like phosphorus and sulphur, but I’m guessing that it’s going to take more than 300 adults.
Source: https://sciencenotes.org/elements-in-the-human-body-and-what-they-do/
Source: https://sciencenotes.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/PeriodicTableHumanBody.png
Yes
Someone else did the math, accounting for waste made during forging. https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-gaming/blood-iron-sword-myth-explored/
This is extremely helpful, and fits perfectly into my secret plan
Secret plan
I will use this info as background for a BBEG in my TTRPG game
Fucking awesome, exactly the comment I was looking for in this thread
Steel requires only iron and up to about 2% carbon
Rest are minor alloying elements used mainly in modern steel alloys to improve the steel beyond what just carbon steel could do like for example stainless steels
- Your link says these are elements commonly found in steel, not that they are all required. In fact it says of phosphorus and sulphur that they are generally undesirable.
- We don’t need to make a steel sword, an iron sword could do.
Either way you would definitely need carbon, but as you say that’s pretty easy. I don’t think any of the other elements are absolutely required.
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Those are all of them, but that’s for a lot of different types of steels. You don’t have to have all of those metals to make steel. You really just need iron and a tiny bit of carbon. A few of your ingredients help with purity, and the rest are additives for different steel properties you may want. Like a touch of nickel for stainless steel.
I searched for ingredients for making steel. I’m obviously not a metallurgist, nor do I pretend to be one on the internet :)
The meme triggered my interest into discovering just what might be involved.
Clearly I’ve just scratched the surface …
This thread is giving me massive deja vu. I’m pretty sure I read almost this exact thing six months ago.
Beep boop are you a bot?
Me, nope, just bored.
You only need iron and carbon the rest is already alloyed steel. You can definitely make a good blade out of only iron and carbon, it won’t be stainless, it might be difficult to harden just right, but it will be flexible and hold a keen edge if forged right. The smiths of ole dealt with nastier steels containing all kinds of things making it worse, not better (such as excessive amounts of sulphur and phosphorus) so I’d say they’d manage.
Well, the non-metals and Manganese are way more available than iron anyway (probably molybdenum too). But it will be really difficult to create high-quality steel.
You could also get a big sword-shaped ice cube mold, a chest freezer and probably not even a whole enemy.
You would have to do battle in freezing climates too though in order for it to remain physically effective
Though I imagine the psychological effectiveness might persist a bit longer
I’d suggest a warhammer mold, just for stability.
But then you’d have to paint it.
So about 3150 pints of blood (10.5 being average for an adult).
Sounds doable XD
Edit: New ethical dilemma just dropped - kill 300 to forge the sword, or deny 3150 people blood in an emergency to forge the sword…
New ethical dilemma just dropped - kill 300 to forge the sword, or deny 3150 people blood in an emergency to forge the sword…
My very rough calculations using 85kg as an average adult weight, results in 153gr of iron
My problem is, that i dont have any expectations as to how heavy a longsword is but i’d assume it to be a lot heavier!
After further research it looks like the more appropriate number of humans needed to make an average longsword would be closer to 25.000
Males of average height have about 4 grams of iron in their body, females about 3.5 grams; children will usually have 3 grams or less
300 * 3g = 900g.
300 * 4,5g = 1350g
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longsword
and weighing approximately 1 to 1.5 kg
It’s close enough, I’d say. OP’s maths that is.
You know there’s a writer reading this meme somewhere: here; where ever it came from; where ever it will be reposted; and adding it to the story they are working on. Wonder where we’ll come across it first?
Glory.
