'bout 'mascus

[hank_rearden]

know any books or links about the origin of damascus? i always get ganged up on by the 'syria' crowd who insist i aught to play it by name (damascus city). the thing is, i have not read anything conclusive that proves the steel was invented in the syrian city.

what i often come across are quotes that read something like, "the watery pattern reminds one of damask, the fine, wavy-patterned cloth of the near-east."

a more telling quote would be, "...a watery or damascend pattern..." that will probably confirm that the name is purely descriptive, rather than genetically derived.

my pet theory is that damascus was invented in the real power centers during the dark- resnaissance periods which also formed centers of sword-making. places like persia, constantinople, milan, rome, toledo, solingen or luticia (paris).

anything? thanks in advance.

 

[Knifeclerk]

I think that it was originally a natural occurance when oar would merge with veins of vanadium. It was discovered that this made a very strong steel and such a method was developed to fold steel something something something.
India?
I really shouldn't be posting so late in the evening.
-KC

 

[Greg]

G'day,
Now I can't find the web address, but I recently read an article in Scientific American (January 2001 issue) that gave the actual production steps to produce true Damascus. The patterned steel made of different alloys was mentioned as a 'look-alike' but not the same thing.
A blacksmith/forger was able to duplicate the classic Damascus steel patterns using only one alloy. I found it a fascinating read.
If you are really interested send my your email and I can forward you the .pdf file (536k)
Greg

 

[Ripper]

Here are some links I've found informative (the first one is sort of a links page with narrative and is from this
site):

http://www.tf.uni-kiel.de/matwis/amat/def_en/kap_5/advanced/l5_1_1.html

http://home.att.net/~moltenmuse/

http://www.gabarin.com/ayh/steel.htm

Regards,
Greg

 

[Larrin]

What I've always heard is that it was called damascus steel because a lot of the steel was traded through Damascus, which was some kind of trade center; of course, this story could be wrong.

 

[FullerH]

There are two types of blades called "Damascus", the true "Damascus" blade and the pattern-welded blade. The true "Damascus" is also called Wootz and it originated in India, AFAIK. This is the blade that may be folded and so on, but is starts with a very special ore and is smelted in a retort, at least traditonally.

Pattern-welded is what we usually see as "Damascus". This is where the smith takes a varying number of rods of hard and soft iron or steel and proceeds to heat them and forge weld them together. He then heats and folds the blade blank however many times he feels is necessary to obtain the desired result. This gives it the distinctive patterning.

Some years ago, a friend showed me his true Damascus sword that dated fromm the 8th Century CE. He was wearing gloves and took the blade in one hand and the hilt in the other and flexed the blade around so that the tip touched the pommel. He then gently released the tenson and the blade went back to true. This on a 1200-1300 year old blade. I am still in awe.

 

[madcap_magician]

AFAIK, "Damascus" was independently developed in several areas at roughly the same time. Nordic smiths made it by pattern-welding steel, though I don't believe they had real wootz. And of course, in the Middle East.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

Here is another interesting link.

http://damascus.free.fr/f_damas/hist.htm