I know that it is used for katanas and swords but what is it and is it good i am pretty sure that it is the process of the steel but can I have a little more information.
It's a special type of steel that was made in Syria. It is used to make swords or knives. It's mostly used in Middle East and South Asia.
Damascus or Wootz was a type of steel that appeared around 300BC It originated in India before spreading throughout Asia and the Middle East. It was considered a good steel, and for it's date of origin, exceptionally advanced for the level of technology in the ancient world. However the techniques to create the steel were lost forever after a decline in the swords manufacturing. The most popular theory is that the metal containing the required trace elements became less available over time due to unreliable trade routes. In the modern area, many scientists and metallurgists have studied the surviving blades, resulting in many discoveries such as evidence of carbon molecules fused in a crystalline structure. While the blades do provide some clues, it's only a small part of a much bigger picture as to the full process of the metal from raw to finished product. Now many have claimed to have recreated Damascus/Wootz steel, but none are recognised as being authentic. It has become a market ploy these days that draws people to purchasing the blades but all you are actually seeing is one of the many various forms of folded or patterned steel, which has varying degrees of quality, strength etc. We do know the steel was folded similar to the way the Japanese did in creation of old Katana, so often people will sell Damascus steel Katana that are nothing but folded steel swords like others. (Which is beautiful and traditional, but was a process designed to uniform impurities in the metal, something we no longer need to do with modern metals)
