This post from some weeks back was great if you like reading about blades: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25010280 It has a great write-up of how wootz steel was made. It also disputes the commonly seen claim (including in the submitted article) that the production process for damascus was lost.

> Nor did wootz production mysteriously vanish either – there is evidence for extensive production of crucible steel in Hyderabad in the 17th century; early 19th century accounts by British and Russian writers also describe the process It was never lost! D. Mushet patented what was, as Craddock notes, “clearly a copy of the Indian process” in 1800 (Craddock, op. cit. 283) in Britain. My impression, though none of my sources quite say this directly, is that the remaining Indian steelmaking industry subsequently withered away due to competition with British steel and (perhaps more decisively) a British desire to keep steel production (with its obvious implications for weapon production) in Britain and not in the (potentially rebellious) colonies.

It seems like the process was lost only relatively briefly, or simply unknown. maybe this is just a terminology question.