Beauty of the Damascus pattern not considered, do some patterns cut better than others?

Are some patterns more durable,tougher than others?

N E, go ahead and get some popcorn as this might take a bit of time.

This is from my experience so opinions might vary.

There are two different ways to make patterns in the steel. One is you weld the pattern in a type of mosaic, the other method is where you weld up a random pattern and manipulate it. For instance with twist you might weld up anywhere from 20 layers to as much as 80, depending upon twist etc, some pattern layer count could go to 900, it would depend upon the effect that you are wanting to make.

First, in the field, if the smith knows what he is doing the Damascus will hold the same edge as a well done carbon steel, no better nor no worse. Again, if the smith knows what he is doing. For most smiths starting out they do more harm than good till they learn how to proper forge. Now, saying that, Damascus is not only prettier but it will go much further toward holding his value. I have also seen over the years that Damascus gives a unique pride of ownership, which is good. Because if the hunting is no good for the day you can always pull your knife out and see again how pretty it is.

Technical parts....
When the smith is welding up the Damascus, by the end of the second weld you get a complete carbon migration from one of the steels to the other steel type. This means the smith can judge how much carbon [this is the part that makes the knife harden] the finished Damascus knife will have.

When you have that migration science says that the two steels are now equal basically. So there should not be a difference.

In field use there does seem to me to be a small difference but it is marginal. Kinda like double tempering instead of tempering just one time, not a big difference but I want every advantage in the field I can get.

Now, to answer part of your question
Mosaic patterns are very nice to look at but are the weakest in both strength and chopping. They slice as well they just do not take quite as much abuse.

Patterns such as proper done ladder patterns [and its variants such as Dog Stag and Wolf tooth] are good patterns that take as much abuse as any carbon steel. I have found that multi bar twist Damascus cuts great.

War story time.......
Mike Williams, JR Cook and myself set up and managed the cutting contest that are now done world wide, for years. Few times did we see anyone in competition use a Damascus knife. However the three of us developed the cuts that they did in competition with Damascus knives.
When or if they were unable to do the cuts in competition we had to show them how the cut was made or how it could be done. It all came down to the smith testing his own work in his shop. If he tested enough he would have confidence in his Damascus.
I have let the guys at my Micro show cut with Damascus knives that had ivory handles on. We chopped wood 2x4's, cut cans all types of cuts. We even banged the engraving and gold inlay on a 2x4 just to show that engraving will hold up under normal useage.

Background of cutting with Damascus......
To get to be a recognized Mastersmith you have the first be a Journeyman smith for at least two years. In order to do the first part you have to make a carbon steel blade that will chop at least 2 wood 2x4's in half, cut one inch rope, bend 90 degrees and not break in half. At that point you take 5 knives to be judged for workmanship and if they say it is good you get to be a JS.
You wait at least two years and then for your Masters you make a Damascus knife with at least 300 layers that cuts the same amount of 2x4's, cut the one inch rope in half in one swing and again, bend 90 degrees and not break more than 30% up the blade width. At that point you take 5 finished knives to be judged. that is a tough room. We have several people that said it was much easier to get their PHD than their Master's rating.

Again, to answer your question, a proper forged pattern should be able to chop at least 20 wood 2x4's and still cut slivers off of a single hair [that is laid on your finger nail for a backing type rest]

The wind up....
Saying all of that about Damascus and its patterns, layer counts and all really comes down to most patterns will hold up just fine. I have personal preferences { W patterns, ladder, wolf tooth, dog star, tears of the wounded] as do other makers.
The main thing is the forging, the heat treating, tempering and the actual grind of the blade.
The grind is most likely the single most important thing on any knife. I can make a Campbells soup can cut once, or I can take a really good steel and it will not cut well at all by the simple grind of the blade.

My friend in Brazil, Ricardo Vilar, in order for his knives to be accepted by the Military his knives had to chop 3/4 inch steel water pipe in half. The edge was acceptable to be damaged but the knife had to still be able to perform. The edge is put on for abuse. To do fine skinning chores it was not good at all. If you put a good shaving type hunting edge on it then it could not cut the pipe.

So it really comes down to how well the smith made the knife. Ask them do they test, if so how do they test. What should their knife be expected to do, for instance chopping boards [this relates to chopping around a stand or a path in the brush] etc.

You asked what time it was and I tried to tell you how make a watch but I hoped you were able to learn something. Any other questions and I will try not to ramble as I am prone to do.

Jerry, thanks a bunch for the info.

Wonderful tutorial. Thanks for taking the time.

Dutch

Live and learn.
Good stuff, right there!
Zeke

Jerry , I don't know which steels you use but a popular one is 15N20 and 1084. They have the same HT procedure which I think is important ,so there is no compromise.
You talk about diffusion of carbon .What happens to the Boron ?? I've never found an answer to that !

Mete, when you find out let me know.

Those are the two steels that I most commonly use, though I have used 5160 carbon steel and the 15n20. I water quenched a couple of those, that was a booger.

Where might i find pics of various "latter patterns"?

Kim, most bladesmiths can whup you one up.
Some do 180 or so latyers, some do 900, they will work the same if done right.
There are variations such as Texas Wind too as well as though mentioned above.
The Ladder pattern is an ancient pattern as that was the ladder upon which the faithful could Ascended to heaven.

There may be a few folks on here that can make you one, such as Mike Williams, Lee, Rick or you can go to the www.americanbladesmith.com site and find smiths most likely some fair close to you. There is a regular nest of Master and Journeyman smiths in TX, LA, AR and OK, as well as smiths who not go for ratings.

Thanks,Jerry.Just wanted some idea of how the named variations appear when completed&etched for my son.Hes just getting interested in Damascus blades.

DUH!!Just Googled Damascus latter patterns.More than i need to know.Thanks again.