While no one knows of one person (or even one culture) that invented steel first, the “Father of Steel” is widely considered to be Sir Henry Bessemer. The first type of steel created was called blister steel, because the initial process caused carbon monoxide gas to form in the metal, which worked its way to the surface and created “blisters.” While most early steel was considered carbon steel (having no other alloying elements besides iron and carbon), carbon steel wasn’t reliably and consistently produced until 500 AD in Demascus steel and Japanese swords.
This brittleness can be reduced by tempering the steel, which is a form of heat treating that was used in Egypt as early as 900 BC.
Early steel had a wide range of how much carbon was in the metal, from less than 0.1% (low carbon steel) to 1% (high carbon steel), which could lead to the higher-carbon steel being very brittle. However, the earliest signs of true steel production is from the 13th century BC in modern-day Turkey. Going back to the beginning, we’ve found evidence of steel artifacts as far back as 1800 BC. This flexibility has allowed steel to continue to adapt and be refined over the centuries and maintain its spot as the most widely-used metal in the world. Different additives give the final metal desirable properties like increased hardness, corrosion resistance, and more. Depending on the grade and type of steel, it can also have other elements such as chromium, manganese, or nickel. Steel is an alloy that consists primarily of iron and a small amount (usually a few tenths of a percent) of carbon. But where did it come from, and how has it changed since its invention? Steel basicsįirst let’s cover what steel actually is. There are a number of reasons for this, from the variety of shapes that it can be formed into, to its strength and relatively low weight compared to other metals. Following the Iron Age, steel dates back several thousand years but has maintained its popularity as a building material.
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