Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

ALEX · 11th October 2009, 10:17 AM

Ariel,
It is common, especially on older blades with low contrast sham wootz, to see "patches" of wootz. Many reasons - wear, corrosion, re-polishing, heat exposure/experiments/vandalism, original under/over-development, etc. I think it's later, and the heat was not properly controlled when the blade was made, hence wootz was not developed on entire surface. This would also explain the need of strong etchant and the resultant mix of grey-coloured and low-contrast wootz segments.
The FeCl solution will expire, so it's better to discard it after use, and use new solution.
I would re-mount with Ottoman fittings as first choice, and Persian/Syrian as a second.
This is very,very nice blade, Ariel, and especially being wootz!

11th October 2009, 10:17 AM	#11
ALEX Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 936	Ariel, It is common, especially on older blades with low contrast sham wootz, to see "patches" of wootz. Many reasons - wear, corrosion, re-polishing, heat exposure/experiments/vandalism, original under/over-development, etc. I think it's later, and the heat was not properly controlled when the blade was made, hence wootz was not developed on entire surface. This would also explain the need of strong etchant and the resultant mix of grey-coloured and low-contrast wootz segments. The FeCl solution will expire, so it's better to discard it after use, and use new solution. I would re-mount with Ottoman fittings as first choice, and Persian/Syrian as a second. This is very,very nice blade, Ariel, and especially being wootz! Last edited by ALEX; 11th October 2009 at 10:33 AM.