European Wootz?

Philip · 4th September 2017, 05:04 AM

Wootz blades dated throughout the 19th cent. are seen on Indian, Persian, and Ottoman weapons. Europeans wanted to find out the secret to making the stuff for centuries. A Frenchman succeeded early in the 19th cent, but it never went beyond a few prototype blades. More successful were the Russians -- an engineer named Anossov cracked the secret by the late 1830s and a limited number of saber blades were produced under his supervision at the imperial sword factory at Zlatoust in the early 1840s. Examples occasionally reach the market today but they are not common. Anossov's penchant for secrecy meant that the process pretty much stayed in his pocket, so it died with him. In Russian, wootz is referred to as "bulat", an obvious derivation from Farsi (Persian) "foulad", literally meaning steel but crystalline damask in particular.

Bryce · 4th April 2019, 01:16 AM

G'day Guys,

I recently came across a photo of an Indian tulwar with a pipe-back blade in the British style, which appears to be wootz. Perhaps my quill point could be some sort of wootz after all? Below is a photo of a British 1796 light cavalry officer sword made around 1815 to compare it to.

Cheers,
Bryce

mross · 12th April 2019, 07:01 PM

Looks to me like it could be shear steel. Here is a ling to a knife made with it.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?v...vt=0&eim=1,2,6

Bryce · 15th April 2019, 05:36 AM

Thanks mate. It could be shear steel. There are quite a few threads on this forum discussing blades with very similar patterns to mine. No body seems to be able to agree whether they are some sort of wootz or some sort of shear steel. Microscopic examination may be the only way to tell for sure.
Cheers,
Bryce

4th September 2017, 05:04 AM	#1
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	wootz in Eastern countries and Europe Wootz blades dated throughout the 19th cent. are seen on Indian, Persian, and Ottoman weapons. Europeans wanted to find out the secret to making the stuff for centuries. A Frenchman succeeded early in the 19th cent, but it never went beyond a few prototype blades. More successful were the Russians -- an engineer named Anossov cracked the secret by the late 1830s and a limited number of saber blades were produced under his supervision at the imperial sword factory at Zlatoust in the early 1840s. Examples occasionally reach the market today but they are not common. Anossov's penchant for secrecy meant that the process pretty much stayed in his pocket, so it died with him. In Russian, wootz is referred to as "bulat", an obvious derivation from Farsi (Persian) "foulad", literally meaning steel but crystalline damask in particular.

4th April 2019, 01:16 AM	#2
Bryce Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: North Queensland, Australia Posts: 188	G'day Guys, I recently came across a photo of an Indian tulwar with a pipe-back blade in the British style, which appears to be wootz. Perhaps my quill point could be some sort of wootz after all? Below is a photo of a British 1796 light cavalry officer sword made around 1815 to compare it to. Cheers, Bryce Attached Images

12th April 2019, 07:01 PM	#3
mross Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 478	Looks to me like it could be shear steel. Here is a ling to a knife made with it. https://www.bing.com/images/search?v...vt=0&eim=1,2,6

15th April 2019, 05:36 AM	#4
Bryce Member Join Date: Aug 2017 Location: North Queensland, Australia Posts: 188	Thanks mate. It could be shear steel. There are quite a few threads on this forum discussing blades with very similar patterns to mine. No body seems to be able to agree whether they are some sort of wootz or some sort of shear steel. Microscopic examination may be the only way to tell for sure. Cheers, Bryce