This is a cool article on the properties of authentic Damascus blades: http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/9809/verhoeven-9809.html Not surprisingly, Verhoeven is one of the authors.
Wikipedia has a little more history about the origin of Wootz steel: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wootz_steel
Very nice Clay! I’m going to read this soon. And anything Verhoeven was involved is is interesting… Thanks!