Damasteel Question

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rprocter

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courtesy of ebay i have just "won" a fine Tom Krein knife: Mini-8/Damasteel/Ironwood/P. Long sheath.
the pattern of the Damasteel is horizontal lines.
i am not at all familiar with Damasteel products and would like to know what the properties of this blade might be when put to use.
is a knife with this steel more intended for a collector, compared with say the same knife in D2, being meant primarily for the user ?
thanks, it's my first T.K. knife.
roland
 
Thanks Chuck; i had already spent some time at the Damasteel site but did not see any examples of this Damascus horizontal line pattern.
nor could i tell if their product is more intended for "show" or user knives.
also i assume after grinding there is heat treat ? so how Tom does this might make the properties different from another maker ?
roland
 
OOPS, just clicked on 2nd link. perhaps i have Random pattern. seems like it can be ground fairly thin and still hold the edge ? if so, then it could be a superior cutter.
any experience with Damasteel blade from Tom ?
maybe this is the wrong forum ? "real collectors don't use their knives"
roland
 
rprocter....tom is a member of the forums here...why not send him an email....i'm sure he can ell u anything he remembers about the knife in question....ryan
 
I don't have any experience with Tom Kreins knives. I do have a Damasteel companion XJ made by Greg Lightfoot. I've used it for going on two years now for general utility tasks, no real hard use. It holds an edge reasonably well, is easy to sharpen and has kept it's good looks. Greg told me that mine was RC 58 and that the Damasteel was from Sweden. It looks to be the Rose pattern:

DSC01746r.jpg

DSC01747.jpg


Based on my experience I think you'd be happy with Damasteel as a user.
 
Damasteel is a very good quality steel for user purposes. RWL34 is very similar to CPM154 and PMC27 is high quality mid carbon content powder metallurgy steel. You can be assured that Damasteel will make a very high quality user as long as it is properly heat treated, and that isn't going to be a problem coming from Tom.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Tom has Paul Bos heat treat his stainless steel blades -so the heat treat would be spot on. Just for interest, you might want to e-mail Tom to see what his damasteel blades are hardened to (I'm guessing HRC 60-61).

CPM 154 is very similar to RWL34. It is an excellent steel. From my experience, Damasteel (at HRC 61-63) gets initially sharper than D2, holds an edge almost as long and is much more attractive.

Plus, since Tom ground and sharpened it, it should be a freakin razor!

It will work very well as a user. :thumbup:
 
Thanks everybody for your knowledgeable help.
i emailed Tom a little while ago regarding another knife but have not heard back. he's possibly overwhelmed making all the knives people want from him, so i thought posting here was the more considerate thing to do.
would a Damasteel blade be considered "higher end" than an identical knife in D2 ? or is value approximately the same and it is more a matter of personal preference ?
this past weekend i came across 4 of Tom's knives for sale and had to make a choice, which was difficult as i liked them all, but decided on the Damasteel one.
roland
 
Thanks FG, that's what i was hoping to hear.
checked around at sites that sell T.K. knives, with archive pics, and haven't seen another in Damasteel.
so i think i have a bit of a "special" Krein knife coming, plus with "high contrast" (??) Ironwood scales and Paul Long sheath.
feelin' good about that !
roland
 
i'll post a pic when i have it. but USA P.O. i use is 8 hr. 'round trip drive from home here in B.C. so it may be a little while.
roland
 
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