Drew:
I see that Greener refers to it as "Stub Twist Iron" for the reason I alluded to above i.e. It's from horseshoe nails. I also remember that the reason they felt this material was superior was that the stress the nails were under in their original use somehow "tempered" the metal. I had the pleasure of actually watching damascus steel for knife blades being forged at a Renaissance craft exhibit around a year ago. They started out with "billets" of scrap band saw blades alternated with layers of the barrel banding materials you generaly see used in shipping. This made a very pleasing looking damascus when finished up.
Jim

The 2nd Amendment IS an unalienable right.