Yes, Ric, as you can see from these posts, semantics & nomenclature are everything. I guess Nihonto is also a better word to use than the more generic daito; thank you for that idea. And if "forged folded steel" will get a better response (& fewer arguments), then I'm all for the change in my question!
I guess part of my problem is that I AM a metallurgist by training, & frankly don't see much difference at all between the forged folded steel of Nihonto & the Damascene processes of Spain & India. Lord knows there are literally dozens of different metals that are used today in all these processes, again depending on the area of the world, but the actual processing is awfully similar.
Thank you again for helping clarify what I was really asking, Ric.
Ken
Ken Goldstein
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Judo Kodansha/MJER Iaido Kodansha/Jodo Oku-iri
Fencing Master/NRA Instructor
"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it'll annoy enough people to be worth the effort."