How wootz blades were forged?

kai · 20th September 2019, 07:47 PM

Hello Ariel,

My condolences!

Thanks for the pic - could you try to get a macro shot, please? It seems to show 2 rather than a single cold shut from forging; I don’t think I’ve seen that before...

The folded structure of many wootz blades has been discussed here before. I agree with your general assumption that the wootz often got folded upon itself (despite having a tough time to imagine the forging work needed to end up with a neat elongated blade with intact internal configuration).

From what I’ seen of ingots, they seem to be clean steel also at the top. The dendrites seem to be better developed towards the lower part though. The folding may well be intended to expose this structure rather than hiding any impurities.

Since wootz needs to be forged at “low” temperatures, any cold shut after folding the ingot upon itself may well be from working at too low a temperature to achieve proper welding. It’s a thin line...

Regards,
Kai

20th September 2019, 07:47 PM	#7
kai Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 3,255	Hello Ariel, My condolences! Thanks for the pic - could you try to get a macro shot, please? It seems to show 2 rather than a single cold shut from forging; I don’t think I’ve seen that before... The folded structure of many wootz blades has been discussed here before. I agree with your general assumption that the wootz often got folded upon itself (despite having a tough time to imagine the forging work needed to end up with a neat elongated blade with intact internal configuration). From what I’ seen of ingots, they seem to be clean steel also at the top. The dendrites seem to be better developed towards the lower part though. The folding may well be intended to expose this structure rather than hiding any impurities. Since wootz needs to be forged at “low” temperatures, any cold shut after folding the ingot upon itself may well be from working at too low a temperature to achieve proper welding. It’s a thin line... Regards, Kai