Damascus Good for EDC?

BigBrad75

BigBrad75

Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
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I have and have owned several sebenza's of all caliber, but I haven't pulled the trigger on any damascus sebs yet. There is one for sale that was born on my birthday, and I think that it would be cool to edc it. My question is, since I have no personal experience with damascus, does it work well for everyday use? How does it compare to S30V? Does it re-sharpen well? Will it hold an edge as long? Longer? The knife I am referring to has to stainless ladder damascus. Any input would help. Thanks. Brad
 
I carry mine in rotation with my other sebs and it holds an edge better than the S30V blade. Not to mention it's just prettier to look at.
 
Yes, damascus is fine for EDC... keep in mind that those pictures you see with the black and silver damascus are not made any more. The stainless damascus pattern is not nearly as contrasted... the dark part is grey, like the handle.

Here is what the older damascus looked like

largele2008mammothdamascuspic1.jpg


REEVEDAM4667.jpg


This is what the new damascus looks like

IMG_6980.jpg


You have to have the newer damascus right at the perfect angle to see the patterns.

Some of the stainless damascus had a clear coat over it that made the grey part much darker.. they stopped doing that.
 
My current EDC is a Sm.Sebe 21 w/ DT SS Raindrop. The edge holding is as good as my BG42 bladed regular, I've carried damascus sebes for several years, and the only 2 reservations that I have are citrus juice (I cut my orange with a leatherman), and salt water (extra cleaning). Both these tasks are delt with more comfortably with SV30/BG42 blade. Other then that, go go the Damascus. If you even think you want one, call Reeve and get on a waiting list for the blade, may be available. But I've waited for 18mo also for SS damascus.

Your milage may vary
Mike B

ps my EDC also just got a textured CF scale by Barry H, pretty with the raindrop damascus, and some grip for the thumb while drawing from pocket.
 
I would EDC it all day long. That to me is why I would have bought the knife for. To look at it and you can't do that if it's sitting in a drawer at home.
The carbon Damascus is beautiful but in my opinion isn't great for EDC. It will rust. The most recent stainless isn't as attractive but is worry free.
 
I wish they still used the older damascus. I don't understand why they'd opt to use a damascus that doesn't look as striking.
 
HistoricalMan said:
I wish they still used the older damascus. I don't understand why they'd opt to use a damascus that doesn't look as striking.
Click to expand...

If it's better for edc I completely understand why they made the change, after all the sebenza is meant to be a hard use folder. At the same time though, they should still offer it as an option at least.
 
Ya.... the newer damascus is definitely not even close to being as striking. You couldn't imagine my dissapointment when I took out the knife to find a dull gray blade.. I had to turn it at the perfect angle to see the damascus.

I looked through the internet a lot looking at sebenzas with SS damascus and they were still very contrasted... but I think this was because of the coating they put on them. The one I got was very dull gray and if it was not at the perfect angle you couldn't see the bubble wrap pattern. I actually liked the stonewash finish more then that.

Here is a stainless that has a nice contrast.. compare it to the one I used to have. I wonder why they are so different? They are both stainless damascus. The picture was borrowed from a member here.

DSC05417.jpg
 
Taken from the Chris Reeve Website

"As a general rule, we use damascus made by Devin Thomas Damascus. For more information about how the damascus is made and the materials used you can visit:
www.devinthomas.com "

He controls the contrast etc in the steel and that depends on numerous factors. Try and talk to a maker about it. It can become very difficult. I am still learning.

There was an old thread that discussed the differences between the Carbon and the Stainless Damascus. Cant find it.

As for EDC look at So-Los video

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8963408
 
marthinus said:
Taken from the Chris Reeve Website

"As a general rule, we use damascus made by Devin Thomas Damascus. For more information about how the damascus is made and the materials used you can visit:
www.devinthomas.com "

He controls the contrast etc in the steel and that depends on numerous factors. Try and talk to a maker about it. It can become very difficult. I am still learning.

There was an old thread that discussed the differences between the Carbon and the Stainless Damascus. Cant find it.

As for EDC look at So-Los video

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?p=8963408
Click to expand...

I have worked with damascus blades before, and have etched them. I also re-etched and polished the sebenza I had, but it still brought it no where near the contrast of the stainless that is represented above. Seems like all the newer damascus I have seen on the plain jane sebenzas (just titanium scales) have a much more dull damascus then the older ones.

The old stainless damascus that I have seen pictures of still have a lot of contrast, with the dark part looking black. These newer ones don't, from my own experience, with the darker part being only as gray as the handle. The only thing I can make out is that the Gun Cote that Sebenzas used to have make the duller part of the damascus darker (like it is when you cover it in water) and also makes it looked polished. The newer ones have no coating. I don't think Devin Thomas used any different stainless steel, from what I can tell.

If you look in the picture below.. you can see that the entire blade looks glossy, this is because of the clear cote which also makes the darker part of the blade much darker... Mine did not photograph like that at all, the only glossy part was the polished silver swirls of the raindrop damascus, the silver is elevated higher then the dark part, so you can mirror polish it, and the dark part stays dark. I hope I can find an older gun coted stainless or a high contrast damscus blade. I don't mind the extra care that goes into the carbon steel version.

DSC05417.jpg



This was mine.. notice the blade is not glossy at all and also are not nearly as dark.. so just to let everyone know the damascus on the newer sebenzas will look like the one below. I asked a representative and they said they no longer clear coat any of the damascus blades. It is still damascus and it does look good under certain conditions, but not nearly as good as the older models.


IMG_6980.jpg
 
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My two main EDC's are both Damascus. One is a William Henry B-15 with a layered blade. The center is ZDP-189, and the sides are stainless Damascus. The other is a Benchmade 943Ti with a stainless Damascus blade. The SS Damascus does not hold an edge a well as S30V in my experience, but it works well enough to monkey with.
 
I can only comment about the Devin Thomas SS damascus - It takes a fine edge, holds it well, and sharpens up nicely.
 
tiguy7 said:
The SS Damascus does not hold an edge a well as S30V in my experience, but it works well enough to monkey with.
Click to expand...

Oh, and though I am not enamoured with the newer stainless steel damascus put out by Mr. Reeves, I can say that it takes an unreal edge... very, very sharp and the edge polishes up easily.
 
Incahiker said:
I have seen on the plain jane sebenzas (just titanium scales) have a much more dull damascus then the older ones.

The old stainless damascus that I have seen pictures of still have a lot of contrast, with the dark part looking black. These newer ones don't, from my own experience, with the darker part being only as gray as the handle. The only thing I can make out is that the Gun Cote that Sebenzas used to have make the duller part of the damascus darker (like it is when you cover it in water) and also makes it looked polished. The newer ones have no coating. I don't think Devin Thomas used any different stainless steel, from what I can tell.

If you look in the picture below.. you can see that the entire blade looks glossy, this is because of the clear cote which also makes the darker part of the blade much darker... Mine did not photograph like that at all, the only glossy part was the polished silver swirls of the raindrop damascus, the silver is elevated higher then the dark part, so you can mirror polish it, and the dark part stays dark. I hope I can find an older gun coted stainless or a high contrast damscus blade. I don't mind the extra care that goes into the carbon steel version.

This was mine.....
Click to expand...

I remember your sebenza (http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=785051&highlight=damascus) I believe you sold it? Or I thought I saw it in the for sale area?

Would have been interesting to hear how it is holding up.

As for the gloss....I found the thread where I saw the pictures of coated and non coated.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=691358

As for the contrast I still think that is up to the maker (Devin) and how he wants to do his damascus. Maybe he felt to start doing something else?

I can understand ones dissapointment in recieving somethin and it is not as one thought it would be. (note I wont care as I would still have a Devin Thomas blade and that is what I am after)

Here are some other nice contrast pictures of SS damascus

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=761524&highlight=damascus+sebenza+21
 
Ya.... I did trade it. I made it look a little better by re-etching it and making the thumb lug and back spacer silver. Looked better after that, but I didn't even come close to getting the super contrast that I originally thought I was going to get. I was only dissapointed in the contrast of the steels, the knife, overall, was as high as quality you could possibly get as usual and the blade took an unreal edge.
 
I like the non coated Much better :)

With a little elbow grease it can shine with the best of them. :D

IMG_3956.jpg


IMG_3966.jpg
 
IMG_3966.jpg


IMG_6980.jpg





Even what you have is much more contrasted then the one I had with a deep etch I gave it, which was much darker then how it originally came from the manufacturer. That is a stainless one right? I think there might be a different batch of stainless or something.

You can't really make the "darker parts" shine or gloss because they will only turn silver, like some of the spots on your blade. The more you polish or buff the darker parts, the more "lighter" or silver they will become, until you can no longer see the patterns of the damascus because both will be blended into a mirror polished. You know, the way the steel looks where the washers go, or the edge of the blade.. you can't really see the pattern on the edge because both steels are mirror polished.

If you take a look at mine, its the same gray as the titanium handles. If you look at the other guys plain jane sebenza.. his blade is much darker then the bead blasted titanium handles. I guess it has something to do with the batch of steel... cause I tried to re etch it, and while it got darker, it never approached that almost black color.

I am going to hold off purchasing another damascus until I can find the high contrast..... those are INCREDIBLE!!..

But back to the OPs question.. the stainless is absolutely made to be used. I think someone posted a link to So-Los great video about it.
 
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Incahiker said:
IMG_3966.jpg


IMG_6980.jpg





Even what you have is much more contrasted then the one I had with a deep etch I gave it, which was much darker then how it originally came from the manufacturer. That is a stainless one right? I think there might be a different batch of stainless or something.

You can't really make the "darker parts" shine or gloss because they will only turn silver, like some of the spots on your blade. The more you polish or buff the darker parts, the more "lighter" or silver they will become, until you can no longer see the patterns of the damascus because both will be blended into a mirror polished. You know, the way the steel looks where the washers go, or the edge of the blade.. you can't really see the pattern on the edge because both steels are mirror polished.
Click to expand...

Yes, but you can buff the top layer with 2000 grit :D
 
Well it looks like this info might not even matter anymore. There were two I was deciding between, and before I knew it one was sold and the other was traded. Now I guess my question is, where's a good damascus large sebenza for a good price? I should be kicked for letting those two get away. One was the older style and one was the newer style stainless Damascus.
 
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