I have to say I am over "damascus" blades...

As a maker I like the challenge of damascus. As a user give me D2 or 1095. As an investment give me the one that holds its value.
I made this for myself earlier this year.

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Damascus is for more sophisticated tastes. That is why it appeals to collectors. For those who prefer pure, unadorned functionality, perhaps damascus is not the way to go.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
As a maker I like the challenge of damascus. As a user give me D2 or 1095. As an investment give me the one that holds its value.
I made this for myself earlier this year.

DSC02017.JPG
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Well done. Gorgeous knife.
 
Fred.Rowe said:
As a maker I like the challenge of damascus. As a user give me D2 or 1095. As an investment give me the one that holds its value.
I made this for myself earlier this year.
Click to expand...



I like some and others not so much, the one above Fred posted looks pretty good. - :thumbup:

Also I look - did the guy making the knife? Make the damascus? Or did he buy it?

Just my thoughts.....:)
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
Damascus is for more sophisticated tastes. That is why it appeals to collectors. For those who prefer pure, unadorned functionality, perhaps damascus is not the way to go.
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I would question your use of "sophisticated". Damascus in a cluttered, busy, overdone piece is anything but; in fact more toward blingy and gauche. It can be sophisticated if done in good taste (see Mr. Rowe's piece above) but that is not usually the case.
 
I think there are plenty of classy damascus knives but there's just as many if not more that are really cheeses looking. Its got more to do with whose making the knife. That's just my opinion of course.
 
Chad Nichols SS damascus...

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I have 1 damascus folder that I bought almost 20 years ago. It's pretty, to be sure, but I find the price of new purchases usually outweighs any beauty, and I prefer to spend more towards functionality and robustness, rather than beauty.

Having said that, I do own 2 KAI Shun kitchen knives that have a muted damascus that is just spectacular without being gaudy (see sweet hitch-hiker's pics above for similar), and I would buy more of them, if not for the high price. The center of the steel sandwhich on those knives is VG-10 at a rather high Rc value for kitchen knives, and I can appreciate that.

FYI, the knife I do carry is an A. G. Russell lockback with Quince burl handles. The first quality knife I bought for myself.
 
jdm61 said:
Ummm, damascus is and always has been "decorative" claims about any "cutting effect' notwithstanding.
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That's not entirely true. Damascus had a functional purpose/advantage over regular steel a long time ago, but due to modern metallurgy it's advantage is gone.

It's purpose was to have a tough, shatter resistant blade, with good edge retention, by sandwiching steels with different characteristics together. Or at least, that's what I've been told.
 
No. What we for the most part call damascus today is pattern welded steel.. It existed back in the old days because there was no such thing as "regular" steel. Pattern welding was one way of producing blade steel. Doing it in a crucible (wootz, bulat, etc) was the other.
TotalDbag said:
That's not entirely true. Damascus had a functional purpose/advantage over regular steel a long time ago, but due to modern metallurgy it's advantage is gone.

It's purpose was to have a tough, shatter resistant blade, with good edge retention, by sandwiching steels with different characteristics together. Or at least, that's what I've been told.
Click to expand...
 
jdm61 said:
No. What we for the most part call damascus today is pattern welded steel.. It existed back in the old days because there was no such thing as "regular" steel. Pattern welding was one way of producing blade steel. Doing it in a crucible (wootz, bulat, etc) was the other.
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Yeah, but you said damascus has never served a purpose, ever. It's always been for decoration only.
I said that was not entirely true, because true damascus had a purpose. Had you said MODERN damascus is decoration only, I would've agreed with you.
 
I think damascus is just really a cosmetic thing with all the steels available. My favorite car is a 1988 buick grand national.
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
Damascus is for more sophisticated tastes. That is why it appeals to collectors. For those who prefer pure, unadorned functionality, perhaps damascus is not the way to go.
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OF course I agree with Locutus. We've seen his folders before; we know that that he has a collection of extraordinary folders. I do enjoy Damascus, but I don't ever plan to use them. Damascus (particularly in fixed blades with nice wood grips) is an artistic thing, containing color and design in a pleasing combination. It's not for everyone. In today's knives, it often isn't designed to be practical. It's a bit like a Browning Superposed with gold inlaid hunting dogs; pretty, but not often used in the rough.
 
I guess I will play.

We really need to clarify that this discussion is pertaining to pattern welded steels/alloys. I doubt many participants here have used the real McCoy;)

That said, it's a lot like carbon fiber scales, some might try and boast that it is a fantastic material, but in the capacity of modern cutlery, it is largely a visual preference thing.

Given the huge influx of very poor quality PW blades from Pakistan, I often completely overlook the stuff when I'm out and about.
 
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I like (pattern welded) damascus if properly executed. I usually EDC a damascus sebenza, and can't tell any discernible difference between it and S35VN or S90V or any of the more modern "super steels", at least with what I use it for. That said, there's an awful lot of poorly executed blades that just shouldn't be, and the crappy damascus ruins the lines of what would have been a very nice knife.

 
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