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7/10/2025, 6:05:01 PM
>>63963933
From what I recall, 17-18th century Ottoman wootz was generally polished plain. I suppose it comes down to wootz as a means to an end, the same way Japanese folding or shear steel all approach the same convergence point of "methods used to try and make the steel as homogenous as possible" or deliberately contrasted for art. Supposedly the Ottomans did this for maintenance which makes sense. With most of the wootz you see in museums, a bit of survivorship bias towards finer and more presentation/display-based swords is impossible to avoid. The nicer swords get nicer maintenance and less battlefield wear, which means you can have a stronger etch. Of course mid-late 19th century damask fashion in Europe wrt officer blades is much the same. The Italians later on in the 1890s and 1900s were fond of long flexible blades not unlike sport blades in nice patterned damask. Given the legitimate issue of the Radaelli derived officer fencing + the hot temper of young italian officers, a blade that is designed to flex more easily might actually have been the better choice to avoid their officer corps killing each other before they even get to the Isonzo.
>Here is an unused example I won last year, meant for the 1873 pattern cavalry officer sabre but a non regulation form that approaches a Patton sabre blade except about 300 grams. WOuld consider this a Binary pattern which the Germans are the best at, alongside the Rose damask which I'm not much of a fan of desu.
https://ncc.academia.edu/AnnFeuerbach here is a good resource and academic on wootz and blade metallurgy in general. She also has a youtube channel with good videos.
http://web.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/ and here is an unsecured college course page as far as I can tell from the University of Kiel. Lots and lots of stuff to download here before it gets deleted.
From what I recall, 17-18th century Ottoman wootz was generally polished plain. I suppose it comes down to wootz as a means to an end, the same way Japanese folding or shear steel all approach the same convergence point of "methods used to try and make the steel as homogenous as possible" or deliberately contrasted for art. Supposedly the Ottomans did this for maintenance which makes sense. With most of the wootz you see in museums, a bit of survivorship bias towards finer and more presentation/display-based swords is impossible to avoid. The nicer swords get nicer maintenance and less battlefield wear, which means you can have a stronger etch. Of course mid-late 19th century damask fashion in Europe wrt officer blades is much the same. The Italians later on in the 1890s and 1900s were fond of long flexible blades not unlike sport blades in nice patterned damask. Given the legitimate issue of the Radaelli derived officer fencing + the hot temper of young italian officers, a blade that is designed to flex more easily might actually have been the better choice to avoid their officer corps killing each other before they even get to the Isonzo.
>Here is an unused example I won last year, meant for the 1873 pattern cavalry officer sabre but a non regulation form that approaches a Patton sabre blade except about 300 grams. WOuld consider this a Binary pattern which the Germans are the best at, alongside the Rose damask which I'm not much of a fan of desu.
https://ncc.academia.edu/AnnFeuerbach here is a good resource and academic on wootz and blade metallurgy in general. She also has a youtube channel with good videos.
http://web.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/iss/ and here is an unsecured college course page as far as I can tell from the University of Kiel. Lots and lots of stuff to download here before it gets deleted.
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