Newbie in need of ID help...

[ariel]

I join: modern Indian work thru and thru.
They make wootz ingots in quantities and would have no problem forging one into a blade.
But the devil is in the details: they do not know how to forge it right and that is the reason for a pitiful and patchy pattern. The rest is obviously virginally fresh.

It is obviously well above their mass-produced daggers, but it ain’t no antique.

[ALEX]

[QUOTE=They make wootz ingots in quantities and would have no problem forging one into a blade.[/QUOTE]

Ariel,
I do not think this is the case nor real wootz ingots are being made The subject blade is likely antique wootz blade, heavily grinded from larger blade, likely tulwar, into smaller one, which resulted in discoloration and losses of pattern. The modern "wootz" daggers made in India that look like wootz are not real wootz, just like "wootz" ingots they sell on eBay.

[mariusgmioc]

Originally Posted by ALEX

Ariel,
I do not think this is the case nor real wootz ingots are being made The subject blade is likely antique wootz blade, heavily grinded from larger blade, likely tulwar, into smaller one, which resulted in discoloration and losses of pattern. The modern "wootz" daggers made in India that look like wootz are not real wootz, just like "wootz" ingots they sell on eBay.

It is possible but in my oppinion unlikely.

Antique wootz, reworked, will retain the watering pattern, or loose it but will not transform into crystalline wootz. And from what I can discern in the photos, the blade displays some crystalline wootz patterns.


After looking more at the photos, I believe I can discern some watering pattern...
If this is the case, then it is a blade reworked and the partial loss of pattern may be due to reheating locally the blade.