WHAT IS WOOTZ?
The knives we offer are made of unique steel – hard matrix Wootz. Perhaps, you haven’t heard of it before or you think it’s the same as damascus steel. But it is not. They are two different steel types each manufactured in a different way.
Wootz steel is not forge-welded.
It is a type of steel obtained in a long process of smelting followed by a very slow cooling. Those two stages are extremely important for the properties of blade. The adequate temperature is necessary for the crystallization – the process where carbides precipitate from the structure of steel turning the blade into an aggressive-cut and micro-serrating the edge. Both the matrix and the carbides are key ingredients for the quality of Wootz steel.
The best Wootz knives have the aggressive cut, do not crumble, are resistant and hard while staying flexible at the same time.
Soft or hard matrix Wootz – what’s that?
Wootz blades may vary slightly. The final very much effect depends on the maker. Since Wootz is hand-made, you can come accross steel of different looks and quality. The search for the best one took us several years but today, with full confidence, we offer knives made of hard matrix Wootz steel.
You might wonder what distinguishes our knives from other Wootz knives. The answer is: the matrix. Ours is hard to the point of 65-67 HRC, while in most other knives the matrix is relatively soft. Being hard as it is, our matrix is still elastic enough to make a flexible and crumble resistant knife. Hardness, flexibility and resistance – the three qualities that do not coexist in other types of hard steel but in Wootz.
Hard matrix Wootz is forged by only a few people around a world. Our product comes from Russia and – in our opinion – is manufactured by one of the most talented man in a metallurgy community.
The quality of his steel is like no other. What is interesting he has perfected his skills to the point where the very characteristic pattern of Wootz surface is barely visible on the blade. Why?
The pattern is a result of carbide precipitation. Carbides create a regular web, usually visible to the naked eye, resembling a mixture of salt and pepper. The more visible/beautiful the pattern, the lesser the quality of Wootz. The finer pattern, the better.
In hard matrix Wootz the pattern might even disappear completely. Skilled handling the steel fractures carbides into tiny pieces and spreeds them out evenly throughout the matrix. The process requires great experience combined with talent and that is why no pattern on our knives proves their premium quality.
