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Originally Posted by Blacksmith
Hello all and sorry about the delayd answer. I have been a member for a long time but haven`t introduce myself. So, my name is Timo and Im a blacksmith from Finland. I collect indo-persian weapons and I have travelled in India quite a many times, visiting museums and antique stores and collecting information.
Im sorry, but on that day I saw the pile of the swords (it was really a pile, a dozens of tulwars lying on the floor on the back of the antique dealers room) I didn`t have a camera with me. Otherwise I would not regret that so much but I was offered a real rarity and that was something I`l like to have a picture now.
It was a Rajasthani style hilted tulwar with one side of the blade been damascus and other side a nice, clear pattern wootz. Have any ideas how that kind of blade have been made? I have make damascus myself and I know that the welding temperature to make damascus or forge welding is so high that in that temperature you will loose the hardness and the pattern from the wootz.
The dealer asked 6000 euros, but that was way over my travelling budget,though now I think that I should have bought the sword and take a credit card for use..
So, a normal looking tulwar with nice gold koftgari handle and a blade with other side of mechanical damascus and other wootz. Any ideas?
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Hi 'Blacksmith'
Thanks for coming in on this discussion.
Do you still have the similar sword to mine that you bought? If so I'd like to see pictures of that one.
As for the dual sided blade you saw, that sounds familiar. Have blades of that type been discussed here before?
We see fine wootz blades with joins and even repairs in the blades where the pattern is retained.
As a total novice I would assume that to join the two sides of the blade, the pattern welded side would be formed first and introduced to the wootz side as a final part of the wootz sides forming process.
I must say though that there is a lot of difference between the hardness of wootz from blade to blade.
This Indian wootz Tulwar of mine for example is quite hard and inflexible, while the examples of persian wootz that I have seems to be a lot more flexible and comparitively 'softer'.