[Spridgets] Dung Forged Steel revisitied...

[Dean Hedin]

I was investigating TIG welders and I came across this interesting pdf on Miller's website...

http://www.millerwelds.com/pdf/WorldofMetals.pdf

"The hardening methods used for these steel swords of Damascus were not carried down 
to us through history from antiquity.  However, one method used for hardening this steel
that has come down to us is this: the blades were heated to a red heat and, after they were 
shaped, were placed in camel dung much as modern steel is heated in an ammonia 
atmosphere to form a thin layer of nitrogen bearing surface steel.  Today we call it 
nitriding of steel."

Unbelievable...