Damascus Blade Question

J

jwelborn

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Sep 4, 2016
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Hello Everyone:

My first post. I want to buy a nice damascus blade knife. I have seen them in the thousands, high hundreds, mid-hundreds and for less than $100. My question is what determines value for a good damascus blade? I'm pretty sure you get what you pay for until you're just spending more $'s for uniqueness or decoration. What is a good price for a durable damascus blade? I ordered a set of damascus steak knives in from Turkey and while they look great, you have to oil each blade after cleaning or they rust.

Thanks,
James Welborn
 
Most of the cheaper Damascus knives are carbon steel. Not that they are not any good though. I have a couple that were under 100 and they get extremely sharp, hold a great edge, and easy to sharpen. The Kershaw Damascus folders are good, but they do loose their etched pattern quickly, but still perform very well. On the other hand I have a high end stainless Damascus that has lost its pattern quickly, a high end carbon that has held up for many years and still going strong, and a cheap carbon Damascus fixed blade that has performed very well. The cheap carbon fixed blade is from ebay, a cheapo from overseas, and it is real Damascus(pattern weld) and works good for the cost, which was under 50.
Really just depends. Where did you purchase the Damascus steak knives?
 
Thanks for the reply. I got the steak knives off of eBay. Eight of them were around $250. If it is allowed here, perhaps some knowledgeable people can recommend a manufacturer or several. My budget is in the lower to mid hundreds, but less would be better. I'm thinking of a skinner, folder or auto.
 
What kind of knife do you want? Fixed or folder? I'm very happy with my carter made knife.


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I also have a case sod buster Jr. in Damascus that does good takes a great edge.


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Well I assume that this will not be the only Damascus knife you ever buy. Why not jump in with something that is visually pleasing to you from the low-cost end of the spectrum on e_bay . . .something from Turkey or Pakistan. Over time you will find out what you like about it and what its limitations are.

Next time you buy a Damascus knife, you will be able to make a more informed decision.

As Nike used to advertise: JUST DO IT.
 
Yeah why not buy a knife from Pakistan made from old oil drums and beer cans? Of course that assumes that the pattern is not just "painted" onto the blade. :D For me, Alabama Damascus is about as low as anyone should ever go.
 
well, pattern, condition, material and whether a dark spot is on the cutting edge, I'm pretty sure that dark spots are the low-carbon steels in the mix and bright spots are high carbon, probably. just do some youtube research on damascus, I have heard either color can be high carbon and likewise for low carbon.
 
If you have damascus with low carbon steel in the mix, then it is likely junk. Typical carbon damascus has been made with high carbon steel with difference alloy content for decades. the "broth spots" are typically nickel bearing steels like 15N20, L6 or 203E, which is not really a high carbon steel, but not a low carbon one either. I you go the old hihg/low mix, you end up with a dull gray blade with a carbon content about like 1045-1050 if you are lucky.
phantomknives said:
well, pattern, condition, material and whether a dark spot is on the cutting edge, I'm pretty sure that dark spots are the low-carbon steels in the mix and bright spots are high carbon, probably. just do some youtube research on damascus, I have heard either color can be high carbon and likewise for low carbon.
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i didnt know that, but i guess some sort of stainless alloy like chromium wouldnt etch dark. But hey, thanks
 
The original purpose of fog welding was to actually make the steel and drive out the impurities in the process. They better smiths just figured out ways to make it pretty in the process. Ancient doesn't mean anything today. Damascus is all about being pretty today and that is why I have problems with stuff like the low layer count steel they use as cladding on Japanese kitchen knives. it is ugly and cheap looking and as such, does not save its intended purpose IMO. ;)
phantomknives said:
well, the original purpose for folding steel was to equally spread the carbon, so im talkin ancient, you're talkin modern
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I would find a knife I liked and then look for a version of it in Damascus. On the cheap end, say you like the Kershaw skyline and then decided that knife in a Damascus blade would be a good fit. Or if you liked something mid-upper end like say a Sebenza with Damascus. Really, get the knife you want first and then I'd look for it with the blade you like. Many/most of the major brands have run their popular models in a Damascus pattern at some point. Certainly not every knife but if you get a look/feel/style in mind you can then start the search for a model with the blade you want.

Functionally, Damascus can be bad to great and anywhere in between. It won't be better than the super steels. From a function point of view they win out in multiple specific areas. In looks, we'll pick the one that looks good and if it's from a decent company it should be a quality blend.
 
Damascus, or the process to, is far more ubiquitous today then the days of yonder. The secrets to making damascus are now part of the craft knowledge base, damascus today largely depends on who is making it and for what purpose, which is aesthetics mostly these days.

From my understanding, the same type of steel using different HTs can be used together to make damascus, reason some of lines, or distinction, between the two metals, becomes less clear, going deeper in its core. While steels with larger differences and a better meld, will have the lines intact to the core. A lot of damascus today is the former, where less effort is used.

I've read good things of Damasteel, damascus that has been used by Spyderco and SAKs.
 
Check out Bill Akers of Backwoods Customs, he makes some fine, and very usable damascus blades, most of his pieces range from about $200 and up.
 
jwelborn said:
I'm leaning toward a light weight folder or small fixed blade.
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I had a small custom Damascus fixed blade made by Alan Davis a couple years ago for under $200. So you should be able to find someone to make you one in a similar price range.
 
if you want a good durable blade go with the Kershaw Damascus, they make several and Kershaw does use Alabama steel Damascus according to Dave the Kershaw guy. he has a listing on each knife and all I have saw were steel from Alabama Damascus. I have a pair of the shallot's ,a skyline a blur and a leek. I like the leek,the skyline is second and the shallots are the best pattern knife for my use.
 
Damascus is something I put into 4 categories:

There is what is forged by small custom makers (like on the exchange here)
How useful it is as a knife steel is debatable, but for the most part I trust these guys are putting together a decent quality blade.
There are also some top notch makers out there who make very high end customs that forge their own.

#2: There is Damascus from people like Devin Thomas/Mike Norris/Chad Nichols/forgetting someone, that is the high end for many custom, and high end "mid-tech" knives.
I have found it to be a very useable steel.

There is Alabama Damascus, which is actually the name of a company that makes a ton of decent quality Damascus that goes into your more affordable production blades.

Then there is mystery Damascus, (lot's of it on our favourite auction site) I can't speak to the quality as I would never buy it because....well, it's a mystery!

At the end of the day, Damascus is, in my opinion, no longer relevant as a user steel.
It is easily outperformed by today's even not-so-super steels.

It is beautiful however, and my advice to the OP for a beautiful Damascus blade that works as a user, would be to find a knife using layered steel made by category #2.
 
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