wootz blade welded back together

Philip · 21st December 2006, 06:39 AM

Greg,
What a pleasure to hear from someone on this thread with hands-on experience in actually making blades! Having done only basic blade forging myself (my focus is on polishing), I can't comment on the type of flux that smiths used in working in wootz. There are two occasional contributors to this forum who are well-versed in these crystalline damascus steels, Ann Feuerbach and Ric Furrer. Ann, as you might know from previous threads, has done extensive field research into wootz manufacture from the historical standpoint, and Ric is one of the few smiths who are actually making their own wootz, and doing it damn well. I hope that either of these experts will notice your comment and chime in here.

Borax (initially brought from Europe) came into widespread use in the Far East from the 18th cent. onwards, although the cultures in this area did pattern-weld, not wootz. Prior to that, rice straw ash was commonly used. This info was passed along to me by Francis Boyd, an accomplished smith working in Berkeley, CA. Perhaps you guys are acquainted?

Gt Obach · 21st December 2006, 05:12 PM

both Ann and Ric are great people

the sand fluxs i've tried work well but at a very high heat... for wrought and bloom steel.. .. at least these fluxs were very thick and goobery at an orange heat.. it would be very hard to squeeze this out of the weld boundary during hammering...
-- not sure on the rice ash... ( impossible to find around here... )

it maybe that something was added to the borax to lower its melting point... if borax wasn't there.... then i'm not sure at all

maybe flurospar... .. never worked it and don't want too either... bad fumes
-- but its a very aggressive flux agent

Greg

Jens Nordlunde · 21st December 2006, 06:16 PM

Would the blade have a different 'sound' to it, after it had been put together?

pbinns · 21st December 2006, 06:44 PM

Hello Im new here, very interesting reading, I have no experience with eastern wootz type material, but would surmise a great deal of material loss at high welding heats, especially with thin broad sections like you would find on a ground and already formed blade, you would be very apt to burn off the sides especially the thin cutting edge. I would think silica sand would need too high a heat to do this sort of repair on a thin and high carbon workpiece.
The fire would need to be deep and of a reducing nature (ie charcoal) a slow and steady blast. The back edge of the blade would face the tue iron (air input) and the thin delicate edge face away from the air input to minimise burn off. I would think , but I have never tried this.. I think I would end up cutting it all up re stacking and re welding the entire billet !!!

21st December 2006, 06:39 AM	#1
Philip Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: California Posts: 1,036	flux Greg, What a pleasure to hear from someone on this thread with hands-on experience in actually making blades! Having done only basic blade forging myself (my focus is on polishing), I can't comment on the type of flux that smiths used in working in wootz. There are two occasional contributors to this forum who are well-versed in these crystalline damascus steels, Ann Feuerbach and Ric Furrer. Ann, as you might know from previous threads, has done extensive field research into wootz manufacture from the historical standpoint, and Ric is one of the few smiths who are actually making their own wootz, and doing it damn well. I hope that either of these experts will notice your comment and chime in here. Borax (initially brought from Europe) came into widespread use in the Far East from the 18th cent. onwards, although the cultures in this area did pattern-weld, not wootz. Prior to that, rice straw ash was commonly used. This info was passed along to me by Francis Boyd, an accomplished smith working in Berkeley, CA. Perhaps you guys are acquainted?

21st December 2006, 05:12 PM	#2
Gt Obach Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 116	both Ann and Ric are great people the sand fluxs i've tried work well but at a very high heat... for wrought and bloom steel.. .. at least these fluxs were very thick and goobery at an orange heat.. it would be very hard to squeeze this out of the weld boundary during hammering... -- not sure on the rice ash... ( impossible to find around here... ) it maybe that something was added to the borax to lower its melting point... if borax wasn't there.... then i'm not sure at all maybe flurospar... .. never worked it and don't want too either... bad fumes -- but its a very aggressive flux agent Greg

21st December 2006, 06:16 PM	#3
Jens Nordlunde Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Europe Posts: 2,718	Would the blade have a different 'sound' to it, after it had been put together?

21st December 2006, 06:44 PM	#4
pbinns Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 10	Hello Im new here, very interesting reading, I have no experience with eastern wootz type material, but would surmise a great deal of material loss at high welding heats, especially with thin broad sections like you would find on a ground and already formed blade, you would be very apt to burn off the sides especially the thin cutting edge. I would think silica sand would need too high a heat to do this sort of repair on a thin and high carbon workpiece. The fire would need to be deep and of a reducing nature (ie charcoal) a slow and steady blast. The back edge of the blade would face the tue iron (air input) and the thin delicate edge face away from the air input to minimise burn off. I would think , but I have never tried this.. I think I would end up cutting it all up re stacking and re welding the entire billet !!!