Physicists have figured out the secret technology of Metalworking of the XVI century
Physicists from Imperial College London researched chivalry burnished glove of the XVI century with the help of the method used to study solar panels. The results of this work told about a rare method of metal. The details of the survey can be found on the website of the College.
Medieval masters to prevent corrosion of steel by various methods, some of which gave the metal a dark blue hue. To find out exactly how the masters were able to achieve this color, the researchers examined the knight’s gauntlet of the XVI century from the collection of Wallace.
Physicists used a technique called spectroscopic ellipsometry. With this method, experts are studying the light reflected from the surface of the material.
“Usually we use spectroscopic ellipsometry to investigate the film deposited on the surface of the solar panels. If the film helps the panel to reflect fewer wavelengths of light, so you can collect more light and have more energy. In this case, we were wondering how to react to the light a thin film of a blue color,” — said study author Alex Mellor.
Preliminary results of the study showed that the glove in the manufacturing process was heated up to 250 °C, which it acquired dark blue color.
In addition, this color was a side effect of gilding.
“The gilding process consists of chemical etching, followed by applying layers of copper and gold amalgam, which, when heated, attaches the gold to the surface, and toxic mercury disappears. During such heating the glove and could be painted in dark blue color,” explained Mellor.
A full set of armor that owns a glove, was made for Lord Backhurst in 1587 at the Royal Greenwich armories.