Mediterranean knife?

kronckew · 2nd February 2008, 04:08 PM

well, it arrived today, needed a bit of a clean as it had a layer of black grease on it, a bit of soap and water (plus a light going over with some FeCl followed by a baking soda bath) and a good oiling later.
starboard side

port side: the dark areas were where active rust was before cleaning. the light areas were not rusted.

katana asked i not tell him if it was wootz or not. i thus leave it up for question.

blade is in reasonable shape for 100+years, but of denting on the spine where it had been batonned, there is a slight wiggle in the blade where it likely was bent and straigtened in the past.

final shot of right side from another angle. there does seem to be a bit of a dendritic patterning.....

for comparison, a homogeneous steel blade i treated earlier

2nd February 2008, 04:08 PM	#9
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,216	well, it arrived today, needed a bit of a clean as it had a layer of black grease on it, a bit of soap and water (plus a light going over with some FeCl followed by a baking soda bath) and a good oiling later. starboard side port side: the dark areas were where active rust was before cleaning. the light areas were not rusted. katana asked i not tell him if it was wootz or not. i thus leave it up for question. blade is in reasonable shape for 100+years, but of denting on the spine where it had been batonned, there is a slight wiggle in the blade where it likely was bent and straigtened in the past. final shot of right side from another angle. there does seem to be a bit of a dendritic patterning..... for comparison, a homogeneous steel blade i treated earlier