Thread: Wootz

Very interesting. I wonder what defines wootz & sets it apart ? Are modern dendritic steels an improvement in some way?
I guess the job the knife is made for may be a deciding factor ?
Fascinating stuff.

Originally Posted by Bruno

The way it is forged out influences the pattern. If someone uses power tools, that will leave a much straighter pattern. Especially if the hammer or press has flat dies instead of drawing dies. And of course, if other alloys are in there, that changes things as well. One of the makers I talked with told me that just because it is dendritic and comes out of a crucible doesn't mean it is wootz.

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Very interesting. I wonder what defines wootz & sets it apart ? Are modern dendritic steels an improvement in some way?
I guess the job the knife is made for may be a deciding factor ?
Fascinating stuff.

I think realistically, if the alloys and the resulting pattern fall within the bell curve of what we have in terms of historic artefacts, it's wootz.

But for example, if people add manganese to change the heat treatment... or if people add chromium to make it stainless... I guess we can argue. I mean it is dendritic steel and has a dendritic pattern. It's a matter of how you define it.