The blade maker
During my trip I decided to visit the blade maker who has been doing work for me. He lives and operates from his home in a town some 70kms from Udaipur.
As luck would have it, he was not forging any swords that day, although he had been working on some knives. I was hoping to stay with him the entire day and photograph the process for one and all to see. Unfortunately that was not to be.
However, he did have a couple of billets that he was planning to start work on in a couple of days time. These billets are basically pieces of steel that have been folded over and over after addidng 'pucca' steel to it. The forgers themselves do not have the slightest idea of modern metallurgy but rely heavily on their own experiences to achieve the right strength. In effect, the billets are basically laminated strips of steel. These laminates are also called 'reshas'.
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To achieve the damascus pattern, minor indentation are tapped or drilled over the surfaces to produce that circular and/ or wavy patterns so peculiar to damascus steels.
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Once the forger starts his work he will estimate the length and breadth of the blade that he wants to create, then heat it, shape it, cool it and file/ fuller it till the correct blade is created. The billets could be about 3 to 3.25 kgs when they start out and loose about 250 to 400 gms till they are fashioned into sword blades.
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This form is mechanical damascus.
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Justice alone is the mainstay of government and the source of prosperity to the governed, injustice is the most pernicious of things; it saps the foundations of the government and brings ruin upon the realm - Sher Shah Sur, Sultan-ul-Adil.
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