Japanese iron sand is pretty shitty raw material by itself. It is the carbon in the tree charcoal that changes the properties of the iron sand. Transforming the metal, fusing it with carbon, and other minerals in the tree charcoal(charcoal is activated carbon). Notice how much time they spend purging the impurities from the metal, this is all part of the forging process.
Japanese iron sand is pretty shitty raw material by itself. It is the carbon in the tree charcoal that changes the properties of the iron sand. Transforming the metal, fusing it with carbon, and other minerals in the tree charcoal(charcoal is activated carbon). Notice how much time they spend purging the impurities from the metal, this is all part of the forging process.
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