How to heat treat wootz?

t_c · 5th February 2010, 08:08 PM

There was also an article in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts that you might find usefull as well:

Volume 17 Number 1

ariel · 5th February 2010, 11:54 PM

I am not a bladesmith, and know next to nothing about metallurgy. Perhaps, you are. However, having read some stuff on wootz blade making, I am awed by the complexity of the process, the degree of our current ignorance and the multitude of technicalities that can go wrong: from heating, to quenching, to just hammering, to...

Are you sure you are willing to risk this valuable material? Perhaps, just buying 2 old persian or indian blades might be cheaper in the long run.
Just an opinion...

kisak · 7th February 2010, 02:26 PM

From what I can recall, wootz needs a heat cycling treatment for the pattern to fully develop. Forging could put it through this as a side effect, but for stock removal I would then guess your friend might have to do a dedicated heat cycling process. I'm not sure quite what temperature you'd aim for, but since the idea is to get carbides to shrink/grow without changing the overall structure, it would seem to me that the target temperature for each cycle would be just below A1.

For austenisation, given the high carbon content we most likely have here, I would guess that it's important not to go any higher above A1 than absolutely necessary, to keep the carbon content of the austenite in the "reasonable" region, and to preserve the pattern.

5th February 2010, 08:08 PM	#1
t_c Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: ca, usa Posts: 92	There was also an article in the Journal of Asian Martial Arts that you might find usefull as well: Volume 17 Number 1

5th February 2010, 11:54 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I am not a bladesmith, and know next to nothing about metallurgy. Perhaps, you are. However, having read some stuff on wootz blade making, I am awed by the complexity of the process, the degree of our current ignorance and the multitude of technicalities that can go wrong: from heating, to quenching, to just hammering, to... Are you sure you are willing to risk this valuable material? Perhaps, just buying 2 old persian or indian blades might be cheaper in the long run. Just an opinion...

7th February 2010, 02:26 PM	#3
kisak Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Stockholm Posts: 182	From what I can recall, wootz needs a heat cycling treatment for the pattern to fully develop. Forging could put it through this as a side effect, but for stock removal I would then guess your friend might have to do a dedicated heat cycling process. I'm not sure quite what temperature you'd aim for, but since the idea is to get carbides to shrink/grow without changing the overall structure, it would seem to me that the target temperature for each cycle would be just below A1. For austenisation, given the high carbon content we most likely have here, I would guess that it's important not to go any higher above A1 than absolutely necessary, to keep the carbon content of the austenite in the "reasonable" region, and to preserve the pattern.