Forged damascus or powder damascus

S

scud99

Joined
Jan 13, 2014
Messages
43
Hi,folks.

I have 1 art folder whose blade and bolsters are in damascus.To be honest, I could't tell the damascus for the blade is powder steel or not.

Here're 3 fotos of the blade.Can you tell if it is forged by the look?

IMG_5381.jpg


IMG_5401.jpg


IMG_5388.jpg


Please share your opinions.
 
Scud99, Unable to view photos but your question is confusing. Forged Damascus or Powder Damascus? Powdered steel can be forged to make Damascus. Flat or round stock steel can also be forged into Damascus. Or a combination of powdered steel, bearings, rods, etc can be forged into patterns. I am certainly not the best person to answer this but I read the question a few times and got confused by it. Perhaps you are trying to ask if the blade was actual forged Damascus (from any form of steel) vs a simple acid etched pattern made to look like Damascus, as can be the case with cheap knives.
 
mwschilling said:
Scud99, Unable to view photos but your question is confusing. Forged Damascus or Powder Damascus? Powdered steel can be forged to make Damascus. Flat or round stock steel can also be forged into Damascus. Or a combination of powdered steel, bearings, rods, etc can be forged into patterns. I am certainly not the best person to answer this but I read the question a few times and got confused by it. Perhaps you are trying to ask if the blade was actual forged Damascus (from any form of steel) vs a simple acid etched pattern made to look like Damascus, as can be the case with cheap knives.
Click to expand...

Sorry for my poor expression.As far as I know,steel components(billets,chains,etc.) can be forged into damascus patterns,and there are other ways to form damascus-like patterns,not only by acid etching.I believe modern powder metallurgy technique can produce vivid damascus-like patterns without acid etching,or maybe this is incorrect?Thank you for replying.
 
That does look like Damas Steel made in Sweden using powder steel.

All damascus is forged at some point and all of it needs to be etched to show the pattern.
 
Damascus hammered or powdered? Guess that depends on what kind of bombs get dropped, Scud99!

Sorry, couldn't resist. :D
 
Don Hanson III said:
That does look like Damas Steel made in Sweden using powder steel.

All damascus is forged at some point and all of it needs to be etched to show the pattern.
Click to expand...

You are a master knife maker,perhaps you have see some powder steel blades with similar vivid damascus-like pattern?

BTW,I suppose all forged damascus steel blades already have patterns,acid etching just makes the patterns more obvious;however,for some "fake damascus",they don't have any pattern at all,acid etching is the only way to add damascus-like pattern on the surface.

And for some powder damascus-like blades,they already have damascus-like pattern before etching despite the mechanism of pattern forming is completely different from forging/wielding?
 
The blade you are showing is not fake damascus. It's the real deal...

Real damascus (pattern welded steel) does have a damascus pattern, but is very difficult to see without an acid etch.
 
I don't think Ken forges ANY steel. He uses available billets provided by others. I"d like to be wrong, but I've not seen or heard otherwise.

This said, not sure who the source of the OP's question will be to answer.

Coop
 
SharpByCoop said:
I don't think Ken forges ANY steel. He uses available billets provided by others. I"d like to be wrong, but I've not seen or heard otherwise.

This said, not sure who the source of the OP's question will be to answer.

Coop
Click to expand...

Indeed. And Ken has a history of using powder damascus blades,this is one reason why I have doubts about this blade.
 
Are you implying that the use of powdered steel is inferior to using bar steel ?


What is is that you are doubting ?

I'm not understanding something in your communications.
 
scud99 said:
Indeed. And Ken has a history of using powder damascus blades,this is one reason why I have doubts about this blade.
Click to expand...

I feel like you have been trying to make a point since your first post however after reading the entire thread I'm still wondering what it is?
To my knowledge Ken Steigerwalt has always used steel from the more accomplished and well know Damascus makers and he makes a fine knife overall.
I've owned a couple of his Auto-Folders and I believed they had Robert Eggerling Damascus blades and Thomas bolsters.
 
12345678910 said:
Are you implying that the use of powdered steel is inferior to using bar steel ?


What is is that you are doubting ?

I'm not understanding something in your communications.
Click to expand...

Excuse my poor English. I do prefer forged damascus blades to powder steel blades with damascus-like pattern,and I don't think powdered steel is inferior to bar steel.This is just my preference.

I asked merely out of curiosity.
 
Kevin Jones said:
I feel like you have been trying to make a point since your first post however after reading the entire thread I'm still wondering what it is?
To my knowledge Ken Steigerwalt has always used steel from the more accomplished and well know Damascus makers and he makes a fine knife overall.
I've owned a couple of his Auto-Folders and I believed they had Robert Eggerling Damascus blades and Thomas bolsters.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.
I just want to confirm the blade in my post was hand-forged.
 
scud99, damascus is damascus.

Some commercial makers use etching techniques to put a phony damascus-looking pattern onto their otherwise homogenous knives (kind of like how makers apply their maker's marks). This can be done on any type of steel including bar steel and powdered steel.

REAL damascus is layered metal, where the entire thing is etched in order to show contrast between the two metals. Again, you can use bar steel or powder steel to make REAL damascus.
 
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