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In before the Monty Python and the Holy Frail references.
Europeans used higher stock iron than Japanese smiths did. That’s why Japanese metal smiths had to fold their metal repeatedly to get the iron they wanted.
It’s not evidence that Japanese metal smiths were better.
I just thought I would throw that in there.
Do the backyard smiths, who use weighted mallets to bang their product out rather than by hand, create better products?
More like a modern interpretation of a gladius that doesn’t match any known historical pattern. The flared tip indicates a Mainz style but lacks the “waist”. The handle is certainly not true to period.
Cast Damascus Steel
“No one has replicated the original method of making Damascus steel because it was cast from wootz, a type of steel originally made in India over two thousand years ago. India began producing wootz well before the birth of Christ, but the weapons and other items made from wootz became truly popular in the 3rd and 4th century as trade items sold in the city of Damascus, in what is modern Syria”
https://www.thoughtco.com/damascus-steel-facts-608458
Just buy one at Cal Ranch. They’re not expensive.
I prefer polymer battle swords, they are invisible to the metal detectors at airport security.
Why go to the trouble when you can pick up one from a Farm and Ranch store like Atwoods. Only 44 dollars.
A pizza joint where I worked circa 1970 had giant knife for cutting pies. Some local guy used to make them out of leaf spring stock and shop them around to restaurants.
That knife held a great edge and was easy to sharpen. It also would have made an excellent weapon of war.
