Wootz

Ran across this article recently and thought it would be of interest to the forum members that forge.

https://craftsmanship.net/the-wootz-hunter/

What a character! Invited the king of Jordan to visit anytime :roflmao

Bruno gets / got his wootz from him.

That was interesting video, glad that they made it and published it.

As far as razors (and knives) made from his steel I think he has been pretty selective to whom he has sold it.
I believe that a decade ago one of our members, Joe Chandler, was able to obtain a small amount and made 3 razors out of it. Later Bruno was able to also obtain a small amount and I think I saw somewhere that he used it in may be a razor or two.

Unfortunately, Al Pendray has now passed away but there are still a number of people who make wootz and that's where the current supplies come from. May be there is still a piece of Pendray-made wootz here and there though I doubt it's a meaningful amount.

Thanks for posting this, Richard. I'll remember this remarkable man every time I see a wootz razor.

Yes, thank you for sharing that link. I found some other interesting article on that site as well. The one about the founder of Above the tie razors was also very interesting

Al was a good friend, and is sorely missed.

I may be mistaken but I think Mike Blue was the one that got the last of the Wootz that was made by Al Pendray before the last fire burned his operation down. I believe Mike Blue also did make a few Wootz razors before selling the last of it to Bruno (Snailforge). I am lucky enough to have had Bruno make me a custom fixed blade razor out of Al Pendrays Wootz and another hybryid razor made from Alfred Pendray wootz butt welded to a damascus body.

Mike Lindo

After watching the video, I wanted more info on wootz and found this longer version of a documentary. I’m sure the knife makers and forge artisans are already aware of it, but it was new to me and I wanted to share it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP8PCkcBZU4

Would be good to see the cosmetic difference between Indian , Persian & Damascus Wootz, if any.

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Originally Posted by gugi

That was interesting video, glad that they made it and published it.

As far as razors (and knives) made from his steel I think he has been pretty selective to whom he has sold it.
I believe that a decade ago one of our members, Joe Chandler, was able to obtain a small amount and made 3 razors out of it. Later Bruno was able to also obtain a small amount and I think I saw somewhere that he used it in may be a razor or two.

Unfortunately, Al Pendray has now passed away but there are still a number of people who make wootz and that's where the current supplies come from. May be there is still a piece of Pendray-made wootz here and there though I doubt it's a meaningful amount.

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I made a fixed handle one in Pendray wootz, as well as one with a damascus body and a Pendray wootz edge. Those are Michael's.
I have 3d one in progress.

And I have 3 pieces left that came from Alfred.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

Would be good to see the cosmetic difference between Indian , Persian & Damascus Wootz, if any.

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I have a couple of wootz razors in progress with wootz from a Polish friend, that I can provide pictures of to compare side by side.
I also have a good bar from Ric Furrer that I still need to make some razors out of.

I can already compare with the wootz I get from Evrahim baran, but that has a lot of manganese so the etching pattern is very different and doesn't really look similar to Pendray's wootz.

Thanks for sharing.

That would be good Bruno.
I wondered if all wootz had to have the water pattern but see a few current makers have very straight tight patterns eg. Jeremy Spake & there is also Heimo Roselli with his version that comes from the Karhula foundry.

Fascinating video, one Mans persistence finally paid off he discovered after many years of trial and error the recipe to make Wootz steel.

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Originally Posted by onimaru55

That would be good Bruno.
I wondered if all wootz had to have the water pattern but see a few current makers have very straight tight patterns eg. Jeremy Spake & there is also Heimo Roselli with his version that comes from the Karhula foundry.

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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.

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.

Quote:

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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.

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Quote:

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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.

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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.