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Originally Posted by sailaway21
An excellent point, Windy. We couldn't begin to build a clipper ship today that would equal one of the originals in quality of construction, even using modern tools. That is, build one as an exact replica that worked. The skill set is lost and the knowledge of why certain things were done "just so" is lost as well.
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Good example, the one that came to mind for me was
damascus steel, a beautiful steel legendary for its sharpness, used in making swords and other weapons - the technology was lost and nobody knows how it was made. Today we use pattern welding to make a similar looking metal, but true Damascus steel isn't pattern welded, the ability to make the real metal is simply gone. We used to know how to do it, now we don't.