Damascus-ing anyone else find it awful?

cricketdave said:
I love damascus and would argue that the cr raindrop is not a simple one to produce, I don't care for the zebra but thats just asthetics. I do love the damascus bowie i have made by stek, 360layers of folded forged steels. beautiful and a terrific performer in the field as well.

also just a fyi, but it would only be common curtesy to ask the owner of the photos before posting them in your thread.

take it easy
cricket
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You are correct, I should have asked first =[ too late now.

unit said:
Never gave this much thought....

I will...

OK, I have decided I like to have options. Even options that I do not currently like, because other people (including my future self) might.

FWIW I own no Damascus, and do not plan on getting any. But judging from the knife pictures I see posted, there are people that like both kinds, and if they are happy...it is not a bad thing.
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Yeah I am not really doing a either or thread just wanting to get everyones opinion on either method of finishing/designing damascus knives.
 
I'm not a fan of damascus. I prefer either the layered look, clean, or my favorite a natural patina.
 
I am not understanding "hate" as applied to a knife material. "I don't care for it" makes sense. "not for me" makes sense. "Hate"? Oh my. Panties in a wad?
 
I have 2 Boker 300 layer damascus knives. The damascus was made in Germany. The process takes 18-24 hours. They are in a different class than a lot of the pics on this thread.

I can feel the pattern of the damascus on my Bokers something you can't do with a lot of other knives that are called 'damascus'. Some of the steel used in Boker damascus

is from German tank barrels from WW II.

The steel is folded over and over to make 300 layers unlike a lot of the other damascus out there with thinner blades.
 
Mannlicher said:
I am not understanding "hate" as applied to a knife material. "I don't care for it" makes sense. "not for me" makes sense. "Hate"? Oh my. Panties in a wad?
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Never said I hated it, unless you meant another poster whom did use hate.
 
Horses for courses . I got hooked on damascus when I was looking at older viking sword blades , where it was as much for the strength of the metal as the look of the pattern .
I shy away from damascus that is for pretty looks only , tho I recognise the skill it takes to do this kind of work and I do not make little of that . It just doesnt turn me on .
I prefer a pattern that flows along the blade as opposed to one that looks like its been cut across the grain

Its my experience tho that just from using a damascus knife the initial etch it comes with eventually wears off from use , cutting stuff that is acidic ( strawberries included ) and just rubbing around in the pocket .

THEN you begin to get that "natural" patina look with its subtle colors that the older blades have .
 
Some of you should speak to chad nichols, mike norris or devin thomas, just for starters, and learn something
 
Luis G. said:
? I am not saying I hate damascus just the damascus look in the OP in the pictures I posted.
I understand it's my opinion, and I fully am aware some people love the look. I was simply stating my opinion, and unlike most posting my basis for my dislike.
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True, you didn't say you hate it. My mistake.

But you did start a thread, saying that it's awful. To do that, you referred to a thread, posted in another subforum, by somebody who is happy and proud with his new knives. You used pictures from that thread.

Anyway, never mind, carry on.

clockman said:
I have 2 Boker 300 layer damascus knives. The damascus was made in Germany. The process takes 18-24 hours. They are in a different class than a lot of the pics on this thread.

I can feel the pattern of the damascus on my Bokers something you can't do with a lot of other knives that are called 'damascus'. Some of the steel used in Boker damascus

is from German tank barrels from WW II.

The steel is folded over and over to make 300 layers unlike a lot of the other damascus out there with thinner blades.
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You seem to be a bit "misinformed".

The Boker damascus you refer to does not contain steel from WWII German tank barrels...

It contains the same steel as the steel used to make the barrels for the main gun of German Leopard tanks. No actual tank barrels were used.

There is also Boker "Tirpitz" damascus, which contains steel from the famous battle ship Tirpitz.

And there's "Eurofighter" damascus, which contains steel from barrels of Mauser BK-27 aircraft cannon. In this case I do not know if actual barrels were used or not.

Boker damascus is forged by Marcus Balbach, amongst others. Saying that it's "in a different class" is going a bit far. It is very nice damascus though!;)

Kind regards,

Jos
 
Perhaps it would be helpful to look up the origin of the definition of "damascus steel". It seems that the OP is simply not enamored by pattern welding, finding it relatively vulgar.
 
Jos said:
But you did start a thread, saying that it's awful. To do that, you referred to a thread, posted in another subforum, by somebody who is happy and proud with his new knives. You used pictures from that thread
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Thanks^^

Luis G.
I was in a rush getting ready for work earlier and didn't give this thread much thought, but I really don't appreciate you jacking pics from my thread started to share

snapshots of Damascus steel used on our CRKs , to start a hey this Damascus is ugly thread.

I kindly ask you to re-move my pics from your thread.Its up to you if you do it or not, but out of courtesy please...
 
ThievesLikeUs said:
Thanks^^

Luis G.
I was in a rush getting ready for work earlier and didn't give this thread much thought, but I really don't appreciate you jacking pics from my thread started to share

snapshots of Damascus steel used on our CRKs , to start a hey this Damascus is ugly thread.

I kindly ask you to re-move my pics from your thread.Its up to you if you do it or not, but out of courtesy please...
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Agreed. My first impression reading this thread was that it was pretty rude to grab someone's picture of their knives and say you hate it for whatever reason. You could have at least grabbed a stock photo from a manufacturer's website.
 
DallasSTB said:
damascus is 99% for visual appeal anyway. Do you agree?
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I disagree.


I believe it is now 100% about visual appeal :p

I can appreciate the craftsmanship to get the different patterns, but as far as a user knife, it makes no sense to me. I would bet money that the damascus in the sebenzas does not perform as well as the s30v on most sebenzas. Anything that DECREASES performance while increasing price, simply for aesthetic gain, I can't really get behind.

That said, if I could get any custom knife, my first choice would probably be a Murray Carter.
 
goodeyesniper said:
I disagree.


I believe it is now 100% about visual appeal :p

I can appreciate the craftsmanship to get the different patterns, but as far as a user knife, it makes no sense to me. I would bet money that the damascus in the sebenzas does not perform as well as the s30v on most sebenzas. Anything that DECREASES performance while increasing price, simply for aesthetic gain, I can't really get behind.

That said, if I could get any custom knife, my first choice would probably be a Murray Carter.
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I've carried and used quite a few modern custom and production damascus-bladed knives (both stainless and carbon) over the years and, more often than not, found them to actually maintain a usable toothy edge longer than their plain-bladed counterparts.
 
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ThievesLikeUs said:
Thanks^^

Luis G.
I was in a rush getting ready for work earlier and didn't give this thread much thought, but I really don't appreciate you jacking pics from my thread started to share

snapshots of Damascus steel used on our CRKs , to start a hey this Damascus is ugly thread.

I kindly ask you to re-move my pics from your thread.Its up to you if you do it or not, but out of courtesy please...
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Done.

Wharn I don't hate them, wow what is with people and not properly reading.

Doesn't seem many people read now a days.
I like pattern welding, and I like folding of steel, what I do not like is etchings and coatings applied to the damascus, as well as some damascus designs which have ridiculously loose grain. Lastly some damacus steel produce in knives, typically non custom look very much like pieces of shaped steel forged or machined together almost like a collage.
 
JAB said:
I've carried and used quite a few modern custom and production damascus-bladed knives (both stainless and carbon) over the years and, more often than not, found them to actually maintain a usable toothy edge longer than their plain-bladed counterparts.
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Odd, structurally there are no differences between the two if done properly. May be difference in heat treat, or steel use. (some damascus is outsourced to custom knive makers it appears).
 
I typically don't care for the look of damascus. The problem is that too often damascus is used purely for the sake of using damascus. IMO, the patterns (random or otherwise) in damascus should be as much a consideration as any other part of the artistic design of the knife. Blade shape, grind, handles, etc. Too often I see a knife with a damascus blade and bark mammoth ivory, and it looks like a piece of poop. I know it's a highly crafted, well made piece of cutlery, but it still likes a piece of poop (highly crafted poop).

And then you see something like this.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/834556-Slip-joint-number-023
 
Planterz said:
I typically don't care for the look of damascus. The problem is that too often damascus is used purely for the sake of using damascus. IMO, the patterns (random or otherwise) in damascus should be as much a consideration as any other part of the artistic design of the knife(...)
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I would certainly agree with Planterz. On its own, I think damascus steel presents a very interesting visual, but I've seen some designs that go overboard with their embellishments and end up looking too... 'busy.'
 
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