How wootz blades were forged?

ariel · 21st September 2019, 12:16 AM

The break area on my example was not polished and etched.
There is a similar example ( polished and etched) in a Russian book by Kamil Khaidakov: much better resolution of the junky area.
Folding was not intended to hide anything: it just assured that the important parts of the blade used the best part of the ingot.
Quite possible the junky part was squeezed out through the crack in the spine. Just a thought.

21st September 2019, 12:16 AM	#8
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	The break area on my example was not polished and etched. There is a similar example ( polished and etched) in a Russian book by Kamil Khaidakov: much better resolution of the junky area. Folding was not intended to hide anything: it just assured that the important parts of the blade used the best part of the ingot. Quite possible the junky part was squeezed out through the crack in the spine. Just a thought.