I am enjoying the scrutiny over this piece and it is proving to be extremely educational because wootz tends to be very safe because the old complex patterns really cannot be reproduced today and if this is a contemporary manipulation of a blade with complex pattern it is a first and worthy of discussion. However, I am not yet convinced this is the case but would love to continue to discuss the practicality of taking a blade with an existing, very complex wootz pattern, chiseling a zig zag pattern, reforging blade at low temperature and then regrind and polish without 1) losing any of the wootz pattern(albeit there is a bit of fading towards the spine) or 2) altering the complexities of the existing pattern. Please look at this close up of a section of blade. I am noticing a couple of interesting things. First, notice that there is a very narrow shadowy line that is zig-zagging. Right next to that, there is another, lighter line and in the middle are complex swirls on most "rungs" for a lack of a better word. But also notice in the middle of this picture there is a singular line running between the zig zags but also at the same angle. What created this effect? You would think if someone was chiseling zig zags they wouldn't start a line and go whoops better slide over a few centimeters. Since creating this pattern seems basically the same whether you do it at the original making of the blade, or post original blade manufacture, how can you tell the difference? Wootz is hard enough for contemporary smiths to forge I doubt anyone would be willing to experiment on a finished product that has already been forged, ground and polished, and there probably are not any of us that want to donate any wootz blade to experiment upon so I, for one, am excited to continue the debate to see if we can figure out if there is a way to tell if someone has the capability in these days and times to manipulate a very complex patterned wootz blade.
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