Military Dao, casted steel?

[Roland_M]

Originally Posted by Timo Nieminen

I guess that Roland refers to traditional Chinese steel made by decarburising cast iron. Old process, became widely used during the Han dynasty, and was used into the 20th century.

Hi Timo,

thank you very much for your interesting explanation!
I have no idea about steel making in ancient China, it is pretty difficult for me, to gather informations about this interesting topic. It is easier to find informations about steel making in Borneo than in China. Do you have any links for me?

One reason for my guess that it is made from crucible steel (smelted in a pot and later forged out to a blade) is that the material behaviour is very similar compared to my Kilij and the reaction to the etchant is more like wootz than mechanical damascus.

I am sure, that this is high quality steel because despite of the very deep cut and other heavy notches, the blade is not bended or skewed.


Roland