Russian Wootz

ariel · 26th March 2007, 10:14 PM

Anosov was a state employee, a director of Zlatoust Factories. He was not supposed to become rich; famous, yes. he was rewarded with major postings.
Not long ago Rick showed here a Zlatoust shashka, dated Anosov's tenure there: real wootz!
http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=anosov
There must have been several reasons why wootz did not become a choice material for the Russian army, beside firepower.
It was too damn expensive to make and too finicky in production; the cold weather is not good for it ( this is Russia we are talking about!) and, finally, European swordplay emphasized blade-to-blade contact. Might have been too much for wootz to handle if it was as brittle as the unfortunate experience of some Forumites suggests.

26th March 2007, 10:14 PM	#8
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	Anosov was a state employee, a director of Zlatoust Factories. He was not supposed to become rich; famous, yes. he was rewarded with major postings. Not long ago Rick showed here a Zlatoust shashka, dated Anosov's tenure there: real wootz! http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...ghlight=anosov There must have been several reasons why wootz did not become a choice material for the Russian army, beside firepower. It was too damn expensive to make and too finicky in production; the cold weather is not good for it ( this is Russia we are talking about!) and, finally, European swordplay emphasized blade-to-blade contact. Might have been too much for wootz to handle if it was as brittle as the unfortunate experience of some Forumites suggests. Last edited by ariel; 26th March 2007 at 10:40 PM.