Crucible Damascus vs. Pattern Welded: which is superior?
 

Just curious, with the discussions of different types of Damascus steel one encounters, which was preferred by the ones to whom it really mattered, the fighters? Which is preferred by collectors? And is there an easy way to tell them apart? Is there a difference that is readily apparent to the naked eye, or is it something that only a mellaurgical examination could determine?

Crucible steel is sometimes called "true damascus" "wootz" "palud" and pattern welded sometimes is called mechanical damascus. If the blade is etched the patterns are easy to see and tell the difference from. Some unetched blades that are reported to be wootz I do not see patterns in particularly in pictures. I think they both have appeal I would love to have a kris with mechanical damascus center, or a twist core doa, I would also like to have a wootz persian blade. So personally I think the skill of the maker and how well the blade was heat treated is more important than if it is mechanical or true damascus. But, there are many here who know more on this than I do and I look forward to their responses

you may want to look here http://www.vikingsword.com/ethsword/patterns.html

Hi Fenris,
You missed the long True Combat Value of Wootz thread. Have a look.

Emanuel