Damascus San Mai?

SpartanSaint · Dec 17, 2011

I REALLY enjoy the look of damascus, but often find myself desiring the performance of higher end-ish steels. one thing i haven't seen, is a pattern folded San Mai; you can have whatever flavor of steel you prefer for the cutting edge and the beauty of the damascus

Nebulae · Dec 17, 2011

Some people do it, but not allot in production. its really expensive. Mcusta does allot of Damascus san mai with vg10

somber · Dec 17, 2011

Murray Carter of Carter Cutlery:

Dorito Monk · Dec 17, 2011

Mcusta does that on quite a few knives. So does Shun.

The_Guide · Dec 17, 2011

William henry knives too... they use damascus with ZDP-189 core.

Fallkniven has a couple models too.. with damascus and Cowry X core... though they are super expensive.

SpartanSaint · Dec 17, 2011

I didn't even think of Mcusta! i guess i have seen it. i was just thinking; i saw a gorgeous feather Damascus fb on the exchange and couldn't help but wonder

SpartanSaint · Dec 17, 2011

somber said:
Murray Carter of Carter Cutlery:

i can't help but chuckle at your bias. but the man is an artist, and i admire his work. i just haven't been able to afford it; trade a seb for one of his pieces?! haha. or hell, last i saw i coulda swore you were making a few of your own under his supervision, no?

SPNKr · Dec 17, 2011

A damascus San Mai doesn't look nearly as good as the real thing, IMO. From all accounts I've read stainless damascus blades by Devin Thomas and Mike Norris perform very well, sharpening easily and holding an edge longer than steels like S30V. I've never used it myself, my damascus mnandi is still on the way.

The performance of a damascus steel depends on what you put in it after all. If you make one with ZDP-189 and S90V, it's gonna hold a hell of an edge, though the visual contrast between the two steels may not be much.

res1cue · Dec 17, 2011

Yeah true damascus does similar things as san mai, blending the characteristics of two steels.. Did you mean damascus on the outside for looks with a hardcore steel (pun intended)? Or damascus on inside with softer steel on outside?

SpartanSaint · Dec 17, 2011

res1cue said:
Yeah true damascus does similar things as san mai, blending the characteristics of two steels.. Did you mean damascus on the outside for looks with a hardcore steel (pun intended)? Or damascus on inside with softer steel on outside?

damascus on the outside for aesthetics, and hardcore performance core steel

somber · Dec 17, 2011

SpartanSaint said:
i can't help but chuckle at your bias. but the man is an artist, and i admire his work. i just haven't been able to afford it; trade a seb for one of his pieces?! haha. or hell, last i saw i coulda swore you were making a few of your own under his supervision, no?

I admit it, I'm biased towards Murray Carter -- I only like the best.

[I had the opportunity to take one of his classes, I'm not making knives under his supervision]

SpartanSaint said:
damascus on the outside for aesthetics, and hardcore performance core steel

This is practically Murray's mission statement.