Damascus care?

Monofletch

Monofletch

Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
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I am not new to knives, but I am new to damascus. I just bought my first one. It is 500 layers of 1095 and 15N20 ladder damascus with a rockwell of 59. Is there anything special I need to do with this blade? I intend to use it like all my knives. I am open to all advice. Well.....:foot:
 
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Yes, just reat it like any carbon steel knife. Wipe it off when your done cutting anything like food, and at night just a wipe down with a dry bandana will do. That's all I do with my Case that is Devon Thomas Damascus. It's been in stready use now for three years, and the pattern is a little darker that it was new, but not bad. That's all I do, wipe down with a dry bandana in the morning, and at night when it gets put on the dresser with the rest of my pocket stuff. Being retired, I do a lot of fishing, boating some of which is on the Chesapeake Bay. No rust so far. And this little pocket knife has ben used for everything in both edc and fishing.

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No, nothing special. It's only as vulnerable to rust as the steel used with the least corrosion resistance(which should be 1095 in this case).

The exception being cheap eBay "damascus" in which case it'll rust from simply sitting out in the air overnight.
 
One test good for almost any steel to get a good idea of corrosion resistance is to try a bit of cold blueing solution in a hidden, or at least non obvious, spot on the blade. If the metal turns blue or even darkens noticeably when the blueing is applied then the blade material is NOT stainless steel and can rust. Benchmades D2 for example darkens noticeably.
 
tatfiend said:
One test good for almost any steel to get a good idea of corrosion resistance is to try a bit of cold blueing solution in a hidden, or at least non obvious, spot on the blade. If the metal turns blue or even darkens noticeably when the blueing is applied then the blade material is NOT stainless steel and can rust. Benchmades D2 for example darkens noticeably.
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I would recommend never buying damascus without knowing what the steel used is beforehand. There's typically little need to know what the layers are. The steel in the cutting edge should be either carbon or stainless, and the layers should match that category but with more or less carbon or chromium content to affect the stain resistance. I haven't really heard of a stainless cutting edge with carbon steel layers, so that should be of little concern.
 
What is considered "good or bad" damascus? Is the 1095 and 15N20 ladder damascus good? :o
 
jackknife said:
Yes, just reat it like any carbon steel knife. Wipe it off when your done cutting anything like food, and at night just a wipe down with a dry bandana will do.
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the 1st three times i read this part in my head, "wipe it down with a dry banana, dry banana, dry banana.... until i googled dry banana on google and realized i need some sleep
 
jwblack911 said:
the 1st three times i read this part in my head, "wipe it down with a dry banana, dry banana, dry banana.... until i googled dry banana on google and realized i need some sleep
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Funny, I also thought, "what the hell will a dry banana do"...then I read it again......a little S L O W E R! I was just too embarrased to admit it in a post.
 
For what it's worth, I found that leftover water from boiling artechokes brings back great contrast after some wear from use or from getting carried away with polishing compound - worked wonders on a damascus Scallion I decide to tinker with. It beat the heck out of the more aggressive chemicals I've read about and looked pretty good.
 
I use Tuf Cloth on my blades, especially the non-stainless variety. Just wipe it on and let it dry - the thin film protects the steel from corrosion for a few days to a few weeks, depending on your usage.

TedP
 
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