Is this Sham Wootz?? On a Wahabi Jambiya??

[Lew]

Archer

The only way to be sure is putting it under the microscope so without it in hand we really can't be sure . I studied the making of pattern welded steel for quite a number of years before I went rogue and started collecting antique pieces and your dagger does remind me of simple case hardened wrought iron if not the surface was just acid etched .

[AJ1356]

Archer, the word shamshir شمشیر just meants sword in Farsi, to my knowledge it is not a combination of sham and shir, shir شیر however by itself mean lion. Sham شم by itself does not mean anything, Shaam شام on the other hand besides the anciant name for Syria, is also referred to the time right after sunset, or also when darkness covers the sky. I know for sure Damascuss pattern swords were called شمشیر دمشق swords from Damascuss. Yeah I am deployed in Afghanistan right now.

[A.alnakkas]

Interesting information, AJ. I think the term "Sham" for the Sham pattern is refering to what is now Syria indeed.

(off-topic: I always thought AJ is Afghan!)

[ALEX]

Originally Posted by AJ1356

Archer, the word shamshir شمشیر just meants sword in Farsi, to my knowledge it is not a combination of sham and shir, shir شیر however by itself mean lion. Sham شم by itself does not mean anything, Shaam شام on the other hand besides the anciant name for Syria, is also referred to the time right after sunset, or also when darkness covers the sky. I know for sure Damascuss pattern swords were called شمشیر دمشق swords from Damascuss. Yeah I am deployed in Afghanistan right now.

here's complete reference:-) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scimitar
then click on Shamshir link.

Persian/Farsi and Arabic are different languages:-) Shamsheer means "lion's tale" in Farsi. Another reference - a possible origin from the Persian shim- or shamshir. This, in turn, is said to be derived from Middle Persian "shafshēr" meaning; "lion's claw" (sham = claw, shir = lion), in reference to the sword's curve. However, this is likely a folk etymology, as the word is already attested in Middle persian with the meaning "sword".
Now, back to the Sham discussion:-)

[spiral]

Originally Posted by Lew

Archer

The only way to be sure is putting it under the microscope so without it in hand we really can't be sure . I studied the making of pattern welded steel for quite a number of years before I went rogue and started collecting antique pieces and your dagger does remind me of simple case hardened wrought iron if not the surface was just acid etched .

must say my intial reaction is also case hardend, heavily forged old wrought iron, {pre. mass production.} seen the same linear appearence before in such material..

Of course that doesnt mean other iron,steel,alloy mixes couldnt have the same appearence.

Spiral

[Lew]

Ric

I saw your YouTube video on shear steel if you could please provide us with some finished examples etched of course It may clarify things a bit more.

Thanks

Lew

[archer]

Again I thank you all for your incite and information I book marked the links for future reference. AJ, thanks for your service, hoping you all catch freedom real birds soon.
I'm so far over my head with this etch on the second Dharia and haven't a clue what kind of steel this is. dilute Phosphoric allows me to see some sort of pattern. When I try very diluted Ferric chloride I quickly get dark staining on most of inner and outer edges, hardening? It is all low definition and weird spider web to all most palm print like. Here are a few photos , after a bit more polishing I think this blade likely didn't have the polish needed to etch well. The opaque and cloudy areas are disappearing. another light etch should bring out a more stable pattern.