{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Like that stuff about how katanas are made by highly trained masters folding steel into a thousand layers and how even then so...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/89333250298/", "html": "<p>Like that stuff about how katanas are made by highly trained masters folding steel into a thousand layers and how even then so many attempts failed and had to start over again from step one?<br/><br/>That\u2019s true\u2026ish\u2026 enough, but overenthusiasts tend to read that backwards as a sign of the supreme awesomeness of the end product when it\u2019s more a matter of the supreme crappiness of the inputs. <br/><br/>The Japanese islands are notoriously lacking in extractable minerals, which means that traditional metalworking not only used very low quality iron sands as a ferrous source, but had to make do with charcoal rather than bituminous coke (and even that very expensive and thus used as little as possible) as a fuel source and reducing agent for smelting. Applying extensive and elaborate high-skilled labor to these shitty materials wasn\u2019t just a matter of pridefully insisting on a quality product but more a necessity for making something acceptably functional.</p>"}