Afghan Jezail in York, UK

[Jens Nordlunde]

Hi RDGAC,

Watering or wootz you can see on the blade at the right side of the picture, the blade to the left is mechanical damask, but very skilfully done, it can be seen much cruder.

A steel blade keeps the edge very well, but it can be brittle and break, an iron blade is soft, bends easily but seldom breaks, and to this comes that it does not keep an edge very well – so to get a mixture of these two metals was important.

The last picture is from a Khyber knife, here the wootz is clear and you can even see how the koftgari was made.

[RDGAC]

Ahh, I see. Yet another term to add to my collection... I'm 99% certain this piece isn't damascus steel, though until I do remove the barrel and de-rust it, obviously I can't be completely sure. Having removed the foremost two barrel bands, however, I have had chance to look at an area of the gun that is largely corrosion-free, and cannot spot any obvious Damascus pattern. I note you say, Ward, that acid is used to bring out the pattern; I'm going to go out on a limb here, and guess that this is not something one should try at home?

And Jim... aw shucks, thanks I do try to keep an open mind... besides which, I committed the cardinal sin, only a few months ago, of polishing the fittings on a Japanese sword; fortunately, they were standard, mass-produced, Type 94 Shin-gunto fittings, but still. Only when someone patiently explained to me that Japanese craft objects tend to make extensive use of patination did it suddenly dawn on me that, but for blind luck, I could have destroyed the work of some forgotten craftsman. Since then I've become supremely cautious about doing anything with anything outside of my direct areas of study, and very eager indeed to get hold of as much knowledge as I can about them. One can't care for something of which one knows nothing as well as one could if one knew, no?