Albino horn hilted pira

[David]

Originally Posted by Ian

To address some of the points you raised. "Monosteel" is a term that needs defining. My working definition is a steel of uniform chemical composition. That does not necessarily mean steel from a single billet. It could be steel from several sources, but of the same composition. It does not exclude that the steel has been folded or layered during forging (i.e., laminated) or differentially hardened. Depending on the skills of the smith, laminated "monosteel" may show no evidence of lamination to the naked eye when etched.

There are examples of Moro weapons made from "monosteel" dating from the 19th C, and increasingly into the 20th C. I recently sold a 19th C barung with a Chinese-made blade that had no evidence of lamination and was likely a "monosteel" blade. A "monosteel" Moro blade can have significant age, and such a blade could have been made from materials fairly readily available in the 1920s.

There is no doubt that mono steel blades have been made for some time and i am sure there are quite a few examples of late 19th and early 20th century Moro blades out there. However, my understanding of mono steel is that it is indeed a single layer of steel that is not folded or layered.