Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
Monday--Wickedly hot already
An overseas acquaintance of mine was surprised recently when he happened by an auction/sale where among similar items there was very spirited bidding for some newly found WWII military ship anchors. Why would old WWII era anchors be so desirable? What nation's anchors were involved?
Re: Monday--Wickedly hot already
In the "land of the rising sun", well-aged ship anchors are considered prime raw material by master blade-makers.
Perfect!!!! Wrought...
iron of old chain and anchors of pre and WWII Japan contains slag which, it turns out is perfect for use by the blade, chisel, and plane masters. Sort of like finding a great tree, storing it and parceling it out for special work. I'm told that this metal is no longer available and as a result the prices were way, way, way above what one would expect to pay for scrap, "historical" anchors, or any relatively common metal item. The sale was public, but the bidders were agents, again I'm told, for very secretive folk. Two thousand years of skill, oneupmansship and trade secrets are hard to change. Not only did the anchor's metal content stay secret to most observers of the sale but so did the buyers who could use it for better tools.
