Damascus questions

S

Skunkworkz

Joined
Mar 3, 2022
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Hello,

I would like to add a damascus knive to my collection but I have a few questions about it.

All (95%) of my knives are workers, they get used on a regular base, opening boxes, cutting hoses and cardboard, zipties, fruits and sometimes a bit of wood, and so on,no real heavy usage.

I am eyeballing the böker Sherman m4 or the tiger one because that one is a flipper and, o man i do love flippers. I do believe they are both forged by Chad Nichols.

It will be my weekend knive so it will see less usage unless I forget to switch and end up with that knive on my job. But it will be used.

How many extra maintenance does ( Damascus) need? Which maintenance What to avoid in use, can it be used? How about climate, I am from the Netherlands, where it is mostly moist, rainy.. it is a pocket knive so it sits in a pocket, how about sweat and such things..All those things are questions.

My normal knives getting a wipedown with some brakecleaner, and once I a wile I do oil the blade with ballistol, especially if the knive is not going to be used in a while.

I hope someone can give some answers and take away some concerns.

Thanks in advance!
 
WARNING: I am not a metallurgist but I have owned many Damascus knives over the years. I just posted on 4 of them under the forum General Knives.

The most important thing IMO to know about Damascus is: carbon or SS? If it is carbon Damascus (I only have one of these and it is brand new), it can corrode or rust so it should be kept dry and maybe a coat of oil every so often.

SS Damascus is stain-resistant and requires little care. As far as edge retention, it depends on the steels used; Damasteel (a brand of Damascus) for example is made of powder metallurgy steels and thus has a higher edge retention than regular Damascus. I don't know anything about Sherman tank steel.
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
WARNING: I am not a metallurgist but I have owned many Damascus knives over the years. I just posted on 4 of them under the forum General Knives.

The most important thing IMO to know about Damascus is: carbon or SS? If it is carbon Damascus (I only have one of these and it is brand new), it can corrode or rust so it should be kept dry and maybe a coat of oil every so often.

SS Damascus is stain-resistant and requires little care. As far as edge retention, it depends on the steels used; Damasteel (a brand of Damascus) for example is made of powder metallurgy steels and thus has a higher edge retention than regular Damascus. I don't know anything about Sherman tank steel.
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Me neither but it looks like the tank steel is mixed in the blade, going to ask böker for some more detail. But that same story makes the knive a little more interesting imo
 
The boker ones are carbon steel, now a little more maintenance shouldn’t be a problem, I wipe my stainless steel knives also with oil, only cleaning with brakecleaner wouldn’t be the best thing for carbon steel knives I think?

How does a carbon steel handle cutting/peeling an apple tomato or cumcumber? Does it stain immediately? Or if I rinse and wipe it in the next 5 minutes, will it be ok? Never had a carbon knife before, so I don’t know what to expect..
 
No, it does not stain immediately. Some like 1095, M4, etc will discolor almost immediately. If juice is left on, it will develope patina/rust.

I run water on it, shake/blow it clean, then oil it. If you dont want the patina.

Part of the Damascus is usually more stainless. If you dont want the less stainless part to patina/rust, then just do the above. Carbon steel doesnt rust as much as people think...it usually takes some time.
 
Dergyll said:
Carbon steel doesnt rust as much as people think...it usually takes some time.
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Agreed.

However OP, brakecleaner is definitely NOT what you want to be using on damascus (or any knife, for that matter). Brakeclean is a solvent and will remove any oil on the blade. And you definitely want to wipe down your damascus once in a while with a light coat of oil - and keep it there.
 
Damascus is no different than anything else when it comes to maintenance. Carbon steel is prone to corrosion, stainless is not. The only real difference is the patterns on carbon based damascus can fade much more easily with use and cleaning. If you are OCD about corrosion or having a shiny new blade, probably not for you.....
Dergyll said:
Carbon steel doesnt rust as much as people think...it usually takes some time.
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Rust, no, but one single use can turn the blade, or the carbon steel parts of it, blue in minutes as the patina starts to form.
 
Brakecleaner does clean the knife from all the residue of tape and other stuff quite well, after that I do oil with balistol on my stainless knives, just to take care.. but I don’t have to worry to much about carbon damascus, as long as cleaning and a bit of oil is used? What to avoid with carbon damascus? Lemon, and orange for sure, how about onions? And maybe other stuf?
 
pholder said:
Crazy as it sounds, coat it with Mayonnaise, leave it for a while wash off, it really works well to further protect it.
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I would NOT use mayonnaise, as it contains vinegar. Vinegar is used to force a patina in some cases, but the results are often very random and inconsistent. If you use vinegar on damascus, you may bugger up your pattern, and make it blotchy. Or you may enhance it - but you are taking a risk doing so.
 
Arathol said:
Damascus is no different than anything else when it comes to maintenance. Carbon steel is prone to corrosion, stainless is not. The only real difference is the patterns on carbon based damascus can fade much more easily with use and cleaning. If you are OCD about corrosion or having a shiny new blade, probably not for you.....

Rust, no, but one single use can turn the blade, or the carbon steel parts of it, blue in minutes as the patina starts to form.
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If I buy a knife I will use it, a bit of wear makes character so I doesn’t have to stay new, but I also don’t want to ruin it.. just want to know where to be cautious of
 
That one is just a small Sebbie.
"Sweetness" is a Bogger, and carries S35VN steel.
But I do have Box Elder full-on lefty version on order...
 
I would tell you that wherever you get the knife from, see if the maker will re etch the blade. The etching on Damascus will fade in time in the areas that are handled often. I’ve got several CRK’s and around the thumb lugs and toward the tip are fading. CRK will re etch the blade one time. Personally, it adds character to the knife. Mine are stainless and they are treated like any other knife I use. If it’s good quality Damascus, you shouldn’t have to worry about it getting wet or dirty. Any knife seeing long periods of being wet isn’t good for it. Remember, it’s stainless not stain resistant.
 
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