Hi everyone,I wanted to follow up on my previous thread and give a huge thank you to Ian for his excellent technical suggestions. I followed his advice, took the blade down to bare metal, and performed an overnight coffee etch to reveal the underlying structure of the steel.I believe The results completely confirmed the theory that this is a repurposed piece of an old sword, and the etch uncovered an exceptional piece of crucible steel. The Results of the EtchTrue Wootz Structure: The coffee etch successfully revealed a highly organic, misty, and swirling crystallization pattern. This is an authentic, natural crucible Wootz steel structure (Sham pattern), completely free of the rhythmic geometric layers seen in modern folded Damascus.The Forging Footprint: Near the cutting edge, the crystalline carbide bands are compressed and distorted. This provides a clear visual map of where a blacksmith hammered a new, sharp bevel onto the salvaged sword tip.First picture is blade taken down to bare metal the rest are after pics.
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