This research continues today, with modern blacksmiths and metallurgists now able to recreate some of the properties found in antique blades.

The Process

The process of making wootz starts with iron ore, which is iron oxide and whatever natural impurities have come to be mixed with it. This ore is crushed into smaller pieces and heated to remove the impurities and moisture, leaving behind the pure iron oxide. Removing the oxide part from the iron is then achieved in a bloomery (or furnace) by heating it with charcoal—the charcoal producing carbon monoxide which clings to the oxygen in the iron oxide and extracts it, escaping as carbon dioxide. This leaves only ‘blooms’ of low carbon iron remaining.

These blooms are then crushed into smaller pieces and fully melted in a crucible, where any remaining impurities float to the top for later removal. Green leaves are added to the crucible for their hydrogen content (this helps the iron to melt at a lower temperature than normal) as is crushed glass which quickly melts and forms an airtight seal across the mixture’s top. The crucible is then carefully sealed and the heating process begun. Completion of this stage results in a ‘cake’ that is then heated with more iron oxide (and then air-cooled and reheated multiple times) giving it a low carbon shell that prevents it shattering during the next stage: forging into a blade.

After forging, polishing and then etching with an acid the smith should be able to see a pattern within the surface of the steel. This is made by the carbides that not only create the grains and swirls vital to wootz steel but also impart their toughness to it. These patterns are key to identifying the type of wootz a blade is classified as having and they can be difficult to discern and categorise. Of course, debate continues regarding this classification and the terms used but I present below the four most well known, as described by Lord Egerton of Tatton way back in 1896.