Is this Norris or Nichols Damascus?

[ewantit]

Picked up an Allen Elishewitz flipper. Allen used or uses Norris and Nichols brands per my research. Anyone know which blade steel supplier was used on this one (see photo)? I’m not the original buyer, and no details were available in the listing. Not sure if maker or pattern can be easily ascertained through a picture, and I haven’t been able to do so with any certainty. Thank you for your help!

 

[LimpCroissant]

Yeah, you can usually tell from pictures. Nichols and Norris both have their own distinguishable style normally. It looks like Nichols Raindrop damascus to me. The same that CRK uses.

Edit: Nice Elishewitz by the way! I used to have an Anubis, and it was a hell of a knife.

 

[ewantit]

Yeah, you can usually tell from pictures. Nichols and Norris both have their own distinguishable style normally. It looks like Nichols Raindrop damascus to me. The same that CRK uses.

Edit: Nice Elishewitz by the way! I used to have an Anubis, and it was a hell of a knife.

Thank you for the verification. My suspicions were the same.

 

[BluegrassBrian]

Semi off topic (sorry), but does it strike anyone else as peculiar and frustrating how often websites that specialize in pre-owned customs lack blade steel info?

Like, was that not important to them when purchasing the knife to list in their site?
Are there knife consumers out there who aren't interested in knowing the steel composition of a knife they may spend hundred to thousands on.

 

[LimpCroissant]

Semi off topic (sorry), but does it strike anyone else as peculiar and frustrating how often websites that specialize in pre-owned customs lack blade steel info?

Like, was that not important to them when purchasing the knife to list in their site?
Are there knife consumers out there who aren't interested in knowing the steel composition of a knife they may spend hundred to thousands on.

Yeah, that is frustrating. Even websites that specialize in new knives often leave out a lot of the good details that we all want to know. I use BladeHQ as a "constant" when I'm looking up knives that I don't already know all the details of. Besides 1, maybe 2 others that I know of, they're the only ones who really get into the nitty gritty about blade stock thickness, blade length, handle length, materials etc.

 

[Locutus D'Borg]

This is Mike Norris raindrop and it looks similar to yours.

 

[Larrin]

That’s not Norris or raindrop.

The bright layers are in groups of five and lacking the thick dark lines characteristic of Norris, all looking like Nichols. The circles are too big for raindrop and have an appearance more like the “circles” were expanded out of the steel rather than pressed in like raindrop. It is either blackeye or virus pattern but those two look identical to me.

Stainless BlackEye

Stainless Steel BlackEye Damascus The exotic stainless bars are composed of AEB-L, 440c, pure nickel, and 304. After the bars have been forged they are annealed. Then the bars are Blanchard ground precision to the listed thickness.

nicholsdamascus.com

Stainless Virus

Stainless Steel Virus Damascus The exotic stainless bars are composed of AEB-L, 440c, pure nickel, and 304. After the bars have been forged they are annealed. Then the bars are Blanchard ground precision to the listed thickness.

nicholsdamascus.com

 

[LimpCroissant]

Good call Larrin . I knew that it looked like Nichols, I thought it looked like Raindrop on quick inspection, however you're damascus and steel knowledge in general is far, far superior to mine.

 

[ewantit]

That’s not Norris or raindrop.

The bright layers are in groups of five and lacking the thick dark lines characteristic of Norris, all looking like Nichols. The circles are too big for raindrop and have an appearance more like the “circles” were expanded out of the steel rather than pressed in like raindrop. It is either blackeye or virus pattern but those two look identical to me.

Stainless BlackEye

Stainless Steel BlackEye Damascus The exotic stainless bars are composed of AEB-L, 440c, pure nickel, and 304. After the bars have been forged they are annealed. Then the bars are Blanchard ground precision to the listed thickness.

nicholsdamascus.com

Stainless Virus

Stainless Steel Virus Damascus The exotic stainless bars are composed of AEB-L, 440c, pure nickel, and 304. After the bars have been forged they are annealed. Then the bars are Blanchard ground precision to the listed thickness.

nicholsdamascus.com

Thank you. Excellent observation.