Help needed with a Mamluk kilij

Roland_M · 17th October 2014, 03:01 PM

Dear forum members,

Back with an new computer and here is one of my last acquisitions.

It is a Mamluk sword of nice quality, I think it was made between the 16th and 18th century.
The steel is high quality, it is very sharp wootz but not soft and also not brittle. I have an Indian wootz-tulwar, which is much softer than this blade.
The kilij is differential hardened, with a weak hamon. The tip seems to be separately hardened.
The steel is very tough, it took more than 80 hours to polish the blade up to a grit of 5.000. The tulwar took only 20-25 hours to reach the same level of polish. The starting condition was almost similar.
I used Seno 3207 Fine-Etch-Crystal (Sodium persulfate) for etching the blade, which brings out the finest details but no color-contrast. Normally all the blades treated with Seno 3207 have a grey to black finish after etching, but only this one have a golden glimmer. I read, that this was the most desired type of wootz in the old days. It is hard to see, maybe the sword have the Kirk Narduban pattern.

My questions are the following:
1: Can anybody explain the grey lines, which i highlighted?

2: What ist the best way to etch this blade? I plan to make a solution with 5% Nitric acid and 5% Fecl3 in ethanol. I will fill the solution in a pipe and dive the blade into the solution for ~5 seconds. But i am quite anxious, because the blade is so rare and valuable. The polishing was finished in early september, but i am to fearful to etch the blade. The first attempt was to weak und nonuniform.

The Pictures:
Kilidsch_0 is the whole blade directly after etching
Kilidsch polished and unpolished should be clear
Kilidsch1 is the front area with the hardening pattern
Klidsch3a shows clearly the grey lines i mentioned
Kilidsch4 is the blade after cleaning with Autosol Metal-Polish

I am very sorry for the bad pictures. Originally they were made only for my personal documentation.

Measurements:
Length of sword without the handle: 82 cm or 32,3 inches
Balance point: ~25 cm or 9,8 inches from crossguard
Weight: 965g or ~34 oz.

Best wishes
Roland

17th October 2014, 03:01 PM	#1
Roland_M Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Germany Posts: 525	Help needed with a Mamluk kilij Dear forum members, Back with an new computer and here is one of my last acquisitions. It is a Mamluk sword of nice quality, I think it was made between the 16th and 18th century. The steel is high quality, it is very sharp wootz but not soft and also not brittle. I have an Indian wootz-tulwar, which is much softer than this blade. The kilij is differential hardened, with a weak hamon. The tip seems to be separately hardened. The steel is very tough, it took more than 80 hours to polish the blade up to a grit of 5.000. The tulwar took only 20-25 hours to reach the same level of polish. The starting condition was almost similar. I used Seno 3207 Fine-Etch-Crystal (Sodium persulfate) for etching the blade, which brings out the finest details but no color-contrast. Normally all the blades treated with Seno 3207 have a grey to black finish after etching, but only this one have a golden glimmer. I read, that this was the most desired type of wootz in the old days. It is hard to see, maybe the sword have the Kirk Narduban pattern. My questions are the following: 1: Can anybody explain the grey lines, which i highlighted? 2: What ist the best way to etch this blade? I plan to make a solution with 5% Nitric acid and 5% Fecl3 in ethanol. I will fill the solution in a pipe and dive the blade into the solution for ~5 seconds. But i am quite anxious, because the blade is so rare and valuable. The polishing was finished in early september, but i am to fearful to etch the blade. The first attempt was to weak und nonuniform. The Pictures: Kilidsch_0 is the whole blade directly after etching Kilidsch polished and unpolished should be clear Kilidsch1 is the front area with the hardening pattern Klidsch3a shows clearly the grey lines i mentioned Kilidsch4 is the blade after cleaning with Autosol Metal-Polish I am very sorry for the bad pictures. Originally they were made only for my personal documentation. Measurements: Length of sword without the handle: 82 cm or 32,3 inches Balance point: ~25 cm or 9,8 inches from crossguard Weight: 965g or ~34 oz. Best wishes Roland Attached Images