Malibility of damascus blades???

R

revmic

Joined
Oct 30, 1999
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I own two damascus bladed knives, both folders, one a production slip joint and the other a custom liner lock. I've noticed that both blades, which do have "pointy" tips, seem to be EXCEEDINGLY vulnerable to bending at the tips. No, I've not been using them as pry-bars!!!
In both cases the blade tips have bent (howbebeit slightly) and taken a set under very light and basically proper usage. Returning the blades to their proper condition was/is a simple effort using padded pliers. Is this normal behavior for damascus or am I an exception? Your comments please
 
The properties of damascus steel will depend entirely on the constituent steel alloys and the heat treating. It is possible to have damascus perform at almost the same level as solid alloys. We would need to know more about the knives in question to say more.

Was the custom blade nitre-blued? That would be a cause of an under-hardened blade that often shows up in high-end folders.
 
Malleable means able to be hammered out without breaking - ductile.
Phillip explains well the why and how of damascus performance .
 
Thank you Phil...the custom is indeed "blued". The production peanut is not.
I understand "malleable" to mean "plastic" or simply "bendable without breaking" which of course is a requirement if the material can be reshaped by beating with a hammer.
 
Here's a recent quote about hot bluing I read on a different forum:

"Another method is nitre bluing. It can be a lovely purple blue, but, it requires temps in the 575f and higher and will damage the temper on a knife to the point that it would not make a very good user."

Phillip
 
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