SOME two years ago, I found myself on an extended trip toSt Petersburg, Russia. It was winter, so I could not go out and view as many of the sights as I would have liked. Consequently, I decided to explore Russian knifemaking steels and to purchase a number of knives in different steels and from different bladesmiths.
While making extensive use of Google Translate (there is practically no good information on English sites about Russian knifemaking steels), I came across the use of Damask and Damascus in the translations and on checking the difference, realised that Damask/Bulat/Round Steel (Булат derived from the Persian ‘polad’) is the Russian equivalent of Wootz (an anglicised Tamil word ukku/uruku) steel, and Damascus (Дамасская) is Damascus as we know it.
On further investigation, I became enthralled by the mystique of this steel –
