Damascus...method, but what base steels?

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stog75

Joined
Feb 24, 2003
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Everyone discusses steel alloy's composition to gauge its mechanical properties such as toughness, edge retention, corrosion resistance, etc... to determine its capabilities against the blade's intended use. To my understanding, Damascus is a method of producing a stock of which a blade is then fabricated. The different patterns reflect the different manufacturing processes to reach a desired aesthetic effect.

What I hardly ever see discussed are the base alloys used to produce the Damascus. I'd figure alloy elements would play an integral part of deciding if a certain damascus blade would meet performance expectations of the user. Or am I missing the point of a damascus blade being more a work of art? I'd love to delve into Damascus but have no idea what it's made of and whether or not it would perform as an everyday user. Sure it would be pretty, but would it hold an edge, and if so for how long? Hard to gauge without knowing what steels were used in the damascus. Just me thinking out loud, any input from you all who have and use damascus?
 
Robert Eggerling uses a mix of 1095 and 15N20, gets crazy sharp and hold an edge beautifully.
 
Like you said. It'll all depend on the component steels of the damascus and the heat treatment.

Quite a difference when you're comparing 1095/15N20 versus Vanadis10/Elmax damascus.

Most of the time...damascus is used for looks. Not for functionality. However with the right methods you can have both.

A 1095/15N20 damascus blade will hold edge about as well as a 1095 or 15N20 monosteel blade. (Always provided heat treatment and geometry are spot on)

There's no functional advantage to using damascus. Only Aesthetic.
 
Damascus made by reputable bulk manufacturers is usually selected for a combination of performance and dark/light color contrast when acid etched.

I've seen 1095/15N20, O1/L6, 5160/203E/52100/15N20, etc. Sometimes people use a band of pure nickel as well for the high contrast. I've also seen stainless 440C/302, 19C27/302/D2, AEB-L/ATS-34, etc.
 
Can Damascus work? Oh heck yeah.

This was my EDC for almost four years.

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I call this a Vaquero Ultralite, its 5.25" in oal. As a working cattle rancher and a knife maker I use an EDC pretty hard, always opening packages of supplies, hay bales, grain sacks, castrating calves etc. Never found it wanting.

Another of my damascus knives at a branding.

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And another.

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These three were from a high carbon damascus by Alabama Damascus and I've used Damascus from Devin Thomas in stainless.

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As well as high carbon.

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I've also used a lot of Damasteel.

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They work. But to me the biggest advantage of dammy is it's wow factor. Quality Damascus and heat treat is the key, just like any knife out of any steel.
 
Here are some links to very informative articles on Damascus. There are actually 2 forms of Damascus, the layered form that pretty much everyone is familiar with, and another form that was made out of a single Wootz steel from India that had just the slightest amounts of certain impurities in it. Those impurities when coupled with up to 50 temp controlled forge cycles caused the steel to form Iron Carbide in the steel resulting in phenomenal blades. That steel would have a far different look to it than the more familiar layered blades. BTW, the layered Damascus seemed to be based on the idea where if you have layers of hard and soft steel, you get an uneven wear to the steels and you essentially are creating a micro-serrated blade for improved cutting performance.


https://imgur.com/a/3GRkr
http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/JOM/9809/Verhoeven-9809.html
http://dtrinkle.matse.illinois.edu/MatSE584/articles/wootz_advanced_material/wootz_steel.html
 
How interesting,.... you guys are awesome! Thank you for the input and showing damascus can be a performer -work in the field, and it can be beautiful. Horsewright Horsewright --- spectacular knives doing real work..outstanding! On with the research!
 
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