Hunting Tulwar (Tulwar Shikargah)

[kronckew]

Originally Posted by mariusgmioc

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For a blade to have good edge retention, it is very important to have an optimized mix between hardness and toughness. Hardness and toughness are inversely dependent. As hardness goes up, toughness goes down. If hardness is too high, the edge is prone to chipping. If toughness is too high, the edge is prone to bending.

Hardness is generally achieved through heat treatment, as raw blade steels tend to be rather soft (but tough)....

True, but blades can be differentially heat treated with tougher spines and harder edge. A hard edge steel can be inserted into tougher steel in the main part of the weapon too. Both done historically. A bent blade can be straightened in the field. A broken one cannot.

Carving pre-treatment would make that treatment rather difficult, as you note. Especially if the carvings come very close to the edge.