[Sakalord364]

Here is an Afghan private purchase sword from the early 1900s that was posted here before, the Handguard/Hilt is made entirely of Wootz, and the perforated openwork design on the guard resembles the the steel gothic hilted swords of the British.

I was curious because the openwork designs/perforations (such as the triangles etc.) on the Afghan hilt are rather rough and asymmetrical when compared to the British examples.

Was this because the British hilts were mass produced according to a set pattern, and perforated with specialized tools, thus the decorative perforations on the hilt would be neater and more uniform, as opposed to the Afghan example which was a unique one off piece made by hand?

Or perhaps was this because Wootz steel is harder to work with and perforate and thus cracked and was much harder to pierce when compared to the sheet steel I’m assuming the British makers used for their hilts?