Middle Eastern blacksmiths used wootz ingots from the Indian subcontinent to produce extraordinary steel weaponry throughout the middle ages, known as Damascus steel. Sometime in the 1800s, long after the Persians had beaten back the Crusaders, the technique for making the mighty swords that won those battles was mysteriously lost. Al co-wrote (with materials scientist JD Verhoeven) the seminal work on the chemical and physical properties of wootz steel, “The Key Role of Impurities in Ancient Damascus Blades“. Unlike pattern-welded steel, whose pattern arises from the deliberate combination of different metals (iron alloys) during the making of a blade, wootz is a single type of steel … The art of making wootz was lost in the 19th century and research as to how it was exactly made continues up to this day. A nice example of a north Indian pesh kabz dagger with all-steel handle. The Wootz Hunter. This site covers the use of patterned steel to make knives and information about the history of wootz and crucible steel, related web resources and my personal experience with pictures of my hand made damascus / wootz … Wootz steel is the name given to an exceptional grade of iron ore steel first made in southern and south-central India and Sri Lanka perhaps as early as 400 BCE. The all-steel … Both wootz steel and pattern-welded steel are called "Damascus steel", but despite the superficial decorative features they are quite different. This type of steel, also known as Wootz steel… The steel is a very fine-grained wootz. Site about Damascus steel, and Wootz steel to share information with other amatuers. In it they examine the trace elements in historic pieces, and document how important these were, when combined with secret forging techniques, in producing a superior steel … Then, in the 1980s, a lone horseshoer in Florida named Al Pendray started tinkering with steel … It is curious to see that it was lap welded and that the wootz pattern is intact at the weld, as it is generally thought that wootz will lose its pattern if it is heated to … Its designs are of the most unique for custom knives and sword making. Damascus steel is made of several steel types as well as slices of iron that are welded together to form a billet or bar stock. Description.