Bear and Son Damascus Knives

Confederate · Mar 13, 2006

I've bought a number of Bear & Son Damascus bladed knives (one fixed and two folders). They look nice and are advertised as having 512 layers, but they aren't nearly as expensive as other Damascus blades. Can anyone tell me about Bear Damascus -- whether it's stainless or not? I know nothing.

--Confed

RubberJohnny · Mar 13, 2006

Bear Damascus is produced by forging layers of high and low carbon steels. (taken from their site other than this I can't comment)

unfortunatley this could mean that it is a combination of stainless and carbon steel

Nick Hyle · Mar 14, 2006

We're talking about Bear MGC?

No stainless. It is, if I recall, 1018 (ie mild steel) and a spring steel - 5160 or 1095, something like that. If I have the right story, the Bear damascus is the same as the old Parker Edwards damascus - it's less expensive because a while back they built a production line for it, and the capitalization (tooling, etc) is all paid for.

But don't take that as gospel. I'm sure someone here knows for sure. I imagine Bernard Levine does, you could ask over in his forum section here.

ROBB · Mar 14, 2006

I think Nick got it right.Bear MGC took over the old Parker-Edwards plant.I believe its kind of like factory made damascus.It can be made a lot cheaper cost wise but the quality is a big difference.

Danbo · Mar 14, 2006

It's not that good. They list it as a combination of high and low carbon steels, but it's actually low and medium carbon. 1018(almost no carbon) and 5160(medium carbon spring steel) mixed together makes for not a lot of total carbon content. This combo makes for a mediocre, at best, end result. It's pretty and should be tough and easy to sharpen, but don't expect much edge holding.

Confederate · Mar 14, 2006

Yes, everyone says "high carbon" as if there's any such thing as "low carbon" that's advertised as such. Most folks I know who have Damascus blades don't use them anyway and I can't imagine myself using mine. Reckon I don't have to worry about these rusting then....

--Confed

the possum · Mar 15, 2006

Danbo said:
They list it as a combination of high and low carbon steels, but it's actually low and medium carbon. 1018(almost no carbon) and 5160(medium carbon spring steel) mixed together makes for not a lot of total carbon content. This combo makes for a mediocre, at best, end result. It's pretty and should be tough and easy to sharpen, but don't expect much edge holding.

Greetings, Danbo. Where did you hear that it is 1018 and 5160? I've always wanted to know for sure, myself.
I've used some of this stuff in my miniatures for a long time, and it sparks on the grinder like it has adequate carbon. Not as much as O-1, but well above "low carbon". It hardens very easily. A file won't even touch it as quenched. Theoretically, I would not compare it's edge holding against some of the better steels, but it seems to have more potential than the average Wal-Mart special.

The damascus blades from Parker-Edwards I have were tempered back waaay down- they could be filed easily. Perhaps poor heat treatment is giving the material a bad rap?

Confederate · Mar 15, 2006

As an aside, the very makeup of Damascus is supposed to add to its edge retention properties. As it wears, I understand there's a "peeling" process that keeps it from going totally blunt. On my small Bowie, there was one embedded spot that looked like rust caused during the manufacturing process. I actually dug it out and polished it until no one can tell it was there. In the process, I brightened the entire blade which brought out the layers and highlighted the patterns.

Since I can't afford, neither would I be inclined to purchase, quality Damascus, neither would I ever really use it -- the Bear and Son is something I can show people about how Damascus is made. It is beautiful, too.

The Bear 582D Damascus Invincible Skinner is small and goes for about $100, so they're not really inexpensive. Fortunately, I didn't pay that much for my larger models.

.....

--Confed