It is very difficult to tell from the pictures but I think Ian is right on the money in that this is some unusual crystallization from the heat treatment of the blade. Sometimes old pieces of metal that would be used for making blades, ie very old railroad track, from the years of use when forged out would have an unusually high amount of carbon. I once had a Japanese sword that had a blade that had been forged from railroad steel. The area around the hamon where it had been heat treated had a very wootz-like appearance to it but it was not forged from a wootz ingot but rather the railroad rails which due to age and heavy wear created a high carbon steel. What is wootz steel. A high carbon steel. Much of the steel the Japanese utilized late in the war was old railway rails, much of which was Sheffield steel. Good steel. I have heard of many smiths over the years adding old, well used horse shoes and handmade nails to their forging process which in effect increased the carbon content in the finished product. While it is hard to say for sure in this example, I would say it is very unlikely to have been forged from a wootz ingot or an old wootz blade and more likely has been forged from old steel(maybe some old railway lines if they existed at this time?) and once heat treated the higher carbon content, when polished and etched, will have a wootz like appearance.
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23rd August 2005, 01:10 AM
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