Hi Doc Drew, just an observation, could you check which Rockwell scale was used for those numbers. Sometimes the C scale is used for steels and that might make those numbers seem high.

Back when you ran the metallurgy studies, I think you came up with an average carbon content of around/under .1%. Just a guess, but that might put the hardness numbers of 1010, or up to 1020, very close to the hardness number for wrought iron.

Based on the analysis that you had done for overall carbon percentage, and reasonably counting on carbon migration, chances are that nothing near 1030 or 1040 was widely used in the damascus that you had tested. Just wondering out loud is all. Thanks again.