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Old 30th November 2006, 02:00 AM   #218
RSWORD
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Greensboro, NC
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As a collector of wootz blades this has been an enlightening and quite enjoyable discussion. While I am not an experienced metalurgist to contribute to the discussion, I have made casual observations in the various wootz blades I have handled over the years or are in my collection. The first is that from a collectors point of view, the pattern of wootz is oftern associated with a particular region. For example, I would typically associate sham style wootz with Turkey or Syria. Low contrast wootz with a fine granular structure is most often associated with India. Very bold, high contrast wootz is often associated with Persia although you do find similar patterning in some Sosun Pata and Khanda that are almost certainly Indian. I even have an example of Russian forged wootz that has very little contrast but the pattern is tight and consistent throughout the blade. I have also noticed some other interesting features. One is heat treatment. I have a number of blades which exhibit a "hamon" of sorts, essentially a darkened zone along the edge due to the heat treatment. I have seen blades that seem only to be heat treated at the tip or in certain spots of the blade. One very interesting blade in my collection actually has a high carbon edge plate that has been inserted into wootz "cheeks". Now, imagine what potential cutting properties this sword might have. You have a high carbon edge plate which can be very hard and sharp with cheeks of wootz steel which can be quite pliable. I even have an "unknown" blade that is extremely thin, extremely pliable but is quite hard and tough throughout as an interesting variant.

You also see varying degrees of success in the overall controlling of heat of a blade. I have seen a few fine blades with really nice patterns that just melt away or disappear in areas where the heat was not controlled. I have an example of an Indian shamshir that broke in two in its life but was welded back together with practically no loss of the wootz pattern. In a day and time when controlling temperature must have been difficult, it seems the smiths had abilities to do some interesting things.

All this says is that wootz provides a fascinating variety of patterns, contrasts, colorations, heat treats, etc. that I think it is impossible to lump into one big broad category. It seems like one of those endeavors the more you learn about it, the more you realize is unknown. But isn't that the fun!
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