Zlatouszt (1827)

Hidegfegyverek tesztelése.

(A Bojarisnikov testvérek képalbumából, 1827)

A képen az orosz zlatouszti gyár kardpenge MEO-ja látható. Zlatousztban a fegyvergyárat 1815-ben alapították és kezdetben csak szálfegyvereket gyártottak, az első mesterek Solingenből érkeztek. A város Aranyszájú Szent János (~345-407) prédikátor, teológus, egyházatya, egyháztanító után kapta a nevét.

a) egy vízszintes fatömböt csapkod a munkás a pengével, két kézzel fogja a szablyapengét (természetesen még nincs rajtuk markolat),

b) fogoval tarja a penge erősét, a közepe rögzítve és hajlítgatja a gyengéjénél fogva,
c) függőleges hajlítgatás, a hegy a földön van megtámasztva,
d) földön fekvő hatalmas rönk csapkodása (a földön törött pengék),
e) függőleges rönk csapkodás (a földön törött pengék),
f) valami utolsó vizsgálat egy asztalnál (a földön két db hibásnak ítélt, de egész penge),
g) beütik a mesterjegyet.

Később az angolok már gépekben végezték a pengék minőségellenőrzését.

"I have to disagree with a few people here. I have been to the Wilkinson Sword Factory in London and seen the British Proof Testing machine for swords. A full explanation of the test is mentioned in the book 'British Military Swords' by John Wilkinson-Latham. The reason for proof testing came about as during the Crimea war, swords were found to break or bend in battle. This was termed by the government as the 'Crimean Sword Scandal'. The Government decided something must be done to guarantee the performance of a British 'working' sword. It has to be said that German swords made in Solingen were found to be far superior. Imagine a cavalry soldier on his horse stabbing at a foot soldier to find that the blade bent at 90 degrees instead of penetrating! He is stuck on his horse with nothing to fight with. If he was lucky, the tip broke of completely and are least he had something that was a bit rough and sharp! The Proof Test was devised. First the blade is put into the machine and it is subjected to a load for a period of time. This load causes the sword to bend dramatically. The sword must spring back to true with no deviation. Another test is to apply a drop hammer blow, ( a certain weight from a certain height) to the back of the sword, with the blade edge on a hardened steel face. The back of the blade must not bend, and the edge must not chip. There are other tests too, but my book is in storage. After passing the tests, the blade is polished and finish sharpened. A gold pellet was inserted into a milled depression in the blade and stamped with a symbol. IIRC Wilkinson Sword is a star. I have one of these just like this one."

"I have only seen the test mentioned in the book British Military Swords, which was written by one of the Wilkinson family. I found this online, which describes the test.

When tempered and set before polishing it is fixed in a machine and caused to strike an oak block with a blow of 120 lb with both its edge and back, and with similar blows, but with a force of 60 lb, with both flats. These tests detect flaws, and over or under tempering, by the breakage or distortion of the blade, the blows by the flat being particularly searching tests. If the blade passes the above tests, it is then placed vertically in a machine and shortened 5 in. by bending towards each flat, and must recover perfect straightness; it is then shortened 1 in., and must recover itself when supporting a weight of 35 lb bearing on its tang. This tests the elasticity of the blade. After polishing it is again tested for stiffness as above, and must recover perfect straightness, but only under 32 lb, and for elasticity by a further shortening of 5 in., but towards one flat only."

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/415473-What-is-the-quot-British-Proof-Test-quot-per-Cold-Steel/page2

A géppel végzett teszt leírása szerepel a Britannica 1911-es kiadásában is (F. Po.)