I don't know what the proper way to ask this but what is the deal with 'Damascus' style blade? Is it just for looks or does it do anything special for the metal?
I'm new to the whole knife thing and am trying to learn.
Thanks

Original Damascus blades were made of a steel with natural patterns called waterings. There were high carbon and were reputed to have excellent edge-holding capability. Some have recreated the steel with "wootz" blades but they are rare.

Most "Damascus" blades are pattern-welded, combinations of different types of steel layered and welded together. They are etched with an acid to show the pattern caused by the layers of different types of steel.

Mete is probably the steel expert who can tell you if there are any metallurgical benefits.

Example of patterns in a Wootz blade I have:

Charles,
I'm going to start referring to you as the 'Renaissance Man'. Your varied knowledge and experiences in so many areas is quite unique. Thanks for the info and hope you and your family are doing well up in Big D.

quote:

Originally posted by bluefin:
Charles,
I'm going to start referring to you as the 'Renaissance Man'. Your varied knowledge and experiences in so many areas is quite unique. Thanks for the info and hope you and your family are doing well up in Big D.

I know a little, enough to be dangerous. There are some knifemakers on here and as I said Mete is the metal guy. Bladeforums and Swordforum are a couple of places for more information if you get into knives and/or swords.

We are doing fine. Still waiting for you to figure out how to post some pictures of your trips!

The terminology is sometimes confusing especially as 'damascus' is now sometimes a marketing term like 'tactical. I would never call Wootz damascus as it is a very different steel from pattern welded.Yes there are people who make real Wootz but it is a very labour intensive ,expensive material.The more common folded steel damascus uses two or more steels that etch differently to give a nice pattern.Depending on the steels used it can be just decoration or and excellent blade.Sometimes the blade is laminated with a core of very good steel and covered on each side with decorative damascus.My present kitchen knives are of the later type .Often called 'Shun' blades [Shun is a Kershaw trademark].These have excellent VG-10 stainless core covered with a 'damascus' made from two powdered steels .These look great and I always get comments about them and work very well.Check the Kershaw website .Mine are from www.agrussell.com
With the various definitions of damascus , decide what you want decoration or practical.If practical ask what steels are used.

Wootz is believed to be the first damascus steel. Seems to have been lost when the ore deposit from which it was originally made was worked out. Took many years and some very high technology to understand what the mix had to be and what was happening in the mix to reproduce the properties of Wootz. Wootz has been pattern welded too. Usually as a composite of pieces having had some shaping or patterning during forging. Expect to pay a small fortune for a pattern welded Wootz blade.

San Mai is the general name for the laminate described by Mete though it need not be with a pattern welded material on the outside.

Modern pattern welded steels are often something like L-6 or 15N20 and 1084-1095 carbon steel. It is possible to HT L6/Carbon steel mixes to bainite ... which is highly desirable because it is both flexible and very, very hard taking extraordinary edges. Bainite pattern welded blades are heroically expensive!

Some folks also make stainless pattern welded materials (forging done in anaerobic and/or sealed conditions) but these usually do not have the best edge holding properties.

Some folks also make composite pattern welded blades using a high carbon steel band around the outside from which the edge is made.

Pattern welded blades can be very, very pretty and quite time consuming. It is theorized that some of the Norse pattern welded blades may have taken 1000-2000 hours of forge time to produce ... and as a result affordable only by royalty!

Some really interesting books available on the subject. Pattern welding can become a genuine obsession.

There is a write up in the current issue of Safari Magazine by Steve Comnus on Carlton Evans knives. Functional pieces of art.

Here is one of Carlton's functional pieces, as owned by me:

Use Enough, that knife is gorgeous. Who is the maker?

I'd buy one like it in a heartbeat!

Thanks for the share--Don

That's Carlton Evans. He's a master. Check out his website at crevanscustomknives.com

Thanks for the feedback, I'm heading to his website now!

Another great damascus craftsman is Raymond Coon at damascusknives.com
ND

Damascus knife makers can be found and their works seen on websites such as www.knifenetwork.com and dealers who specialize in fine custom knives such as www.knifeart.com There are some very fine craftsmen out there !!