Genuine Damascus?

E

ewaltne1

Joined
Jun 10, 2013
Messages
16
Picked up these knives the other day, and still unsure as to whether or not they are genuine Damascus steel. Experts, any ideas? If you need better pictures, let me know. Thanks, guys!

Here are the links, if you want to view them outside of the forum:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71636570/2013-06-13 17.02.36.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/71636570/2013-06-13 17.02.43.jpg


2013-06-13%2017.02.36.jpg


2013-06-13%2017.02.43.jpg
 
very hard to tell, but I will say that if you can see the pattern continued on the edge than most likely its real.
 
Well not necessarily. The only true way to tell is to apply acid on the edge and see if layers appear.

acid could be anything from warm vinegar (not boiling) lemon juice, anything acidic really, and it must be applied for a decent amount of time.

Im assuming the blades were bought off ebay?
 
wolf5391 said:
Is there any way to get a close up of just the edge. and maybe a spine shot?
Click to expand...

Wolf, here are a couple of shots. Hope they work well enough... also, they were a gift from a friend in Pakistan... Think he got them off someone there.

We're trying the lemon juice trick... Results to follow. :)

2013-06-13%2021.39.21.jpg

2013-06-13%2021.39.57.jpg
 
from the photos and information you have given me I will conclude that they are probably genuine damascus blades that are made from mild steels. not the best blade material but it works.

again the acid test will speak volumes on the authenticity .
 
Thanks, Wolf.

Why, when honed, would the edge not show the same patterns as the rest of the blade? (I'm a noob to Damascus)
 
Damascus is made from layering two steels, one of which takes on a petina or etch much easier and faster than the other. The natural color of both steels is the same, metallic. Thats why the edge is silver.

It is absolutely layered steel. The way the pattern changes direction on the primary bevel is a dead giveaway. Nobody is going to sit there and try to artistically etch a detailed pattern like that all over the blade. I don't see the need to fake dama steel. Just because it's layered steel doesn't mean it's expensive or highend steel. It's not really all that involved to forge a blank with random patterns like that. Looks cool though.
 
Thanks, Moxy!

The lemon juice thing worked well. Decidedly Damascus, no question about it. Thanks for all the info, guys, it certainly helped broaden my understanding!
 
Moxy said:
Damascus is made from layering two steels, one of which takes on a petina or etch much easier and faster than the other. The natural color of both steels is the same, metallic. Thats why the edge is silver.

It is absolutely layered steel. The way the pattern changes direction on the primary bevel is a dead giveaway. Nobody is going to sit there and try to artistically etch a detailed pattern like that all over the blade. I don't see the need to fake dama steel. Just because it's layered steel doesn't mean it's expensive or highend steel. It's not really all that involved to forge a blank with random patterns like that. Looks cool though.
Click to expand...


well people do it all the time... for example here's a guy who acid etched his opinel to make it look like damascus...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2x5roeqQUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeZX6pRwW5w

so to counter your statement yes people do it all the time and foreign makers do this to make there knives look like damascus so people are more interested in them.

cutlerylover received a damascus'ish spyderco native fake from china. Its only etched but it looks cool and that's why he bought it.

anyways Im glad the OP finally found out that his knives are damascus. Glad we could help.
 
How much did you pay for the knife? If it's less than $50 or so chances are good it's not real damascus.

I have a Boker damascus folder, the blade was made in Germany, that has 300 layers and took about 24 hours to make with a lot several steps repeated over and over.

I have a couple other damascus folders too that look different than your blade. Damascus can have lots of different patterns depending on the steels that were used to make the blade.

I think yours may be damascus.
 
wolf5391 said:
[/B][/U]

well people do it all the time... for example here's a guy who acid etched his opinel to make it look like damascus...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2x5roeqQUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeZX6pRwW5w

so to counter your statement yes people do it all the time and foreign makers do this to make there knives look like damascus so people are more interested in them.

cutlerylover received a damascus'ish spyderco native fake from china. Its only etched but it looks cool and that's why he bought it.

anyways Im glad the OP finally found out that his knives are damascus. Glad we could help.
Click to expand...

Point taken.

I never meant to imply they're aren't fakes out there. I'm only trying to make the point that just because it's real damascus doesn't mean it's expensive. Thats a common misconception. Mosts dama production knives are expensive and some dama kitchen knives are REALLY up there as well. But real (albeit low quality) layered steel blades and blanks are all over eBay for next to nix in comparison.
 
Moxy said:
Point taken.

I never meant to imply they're aren't fakes out there. I'm only trying to make the point that just because it's real damascus doesn't mean it's expensive. Thats a common misconception. Mosts dama production knives are expensive and some dama kitchen knives are REALLY up there as well. But real (albeit low quality) layered steel blades and blanks are all over eBay for next to nix in comparison.
Click to expand...

you are correct.:thumbup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top