Types of Damascus Pattern

ariel · 19th October 2011, 10:45 PM

The "wootz vs. european monosteel" argument is indeed exercise in futility from the contemporary practical point of view. The only relevant point is the still-promulgated insistence of some wootz enthusiasts that wootz as such is a kind of a wonder metal. It is not. Wootz is a heterogenous definition of an alloy used to manufacture blades of widely different compositions and forging. As a result, the final outcomes were also different. Some were excellent by their contemporary criteria, some were simply good, some were substandard. Against it, european monosteel was relatively uniform thanks to the Western insistence on scientific approach and quality control. That's it.
Do I like wootz blades? Of course. Do I wish to have more of them in my collection? Sure. Would I, with my current understanding of their quality, choose a random wootz sword or a random Solingen blade if my life depended on it? Let me think :-)

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19th October 2011, 10:45 PM	#14
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	The "wootz vs. european monosteel" argument is indeed exercise in futility from the contemporary practical point of view. The only relevant point is the still-promulgated insistence of some wootz enthusiasts that wootz as such is a kind of a wonder metal. It is not. Wootz is a heterogenous definition of an alloy used to manufacture blades of widely different compositions and forging. As a result, the final outcomes were also different. Some were excellent by their contemporary criteria, some were simply good, some were substandard. Against it, european monosteel was relatively uniform thanks to the Western insistence on scientific approach and quality control. That's it. Do I like wootz blades? Of course. Do I wish to have more of them in my collection? Sure. Would I, with my current understanding of their quality, choose a random wootz sword or a random Solingen blade if my life depended on it? Let me think :-)