New to Damascus steel

[Jack Henry]

Hey guys, so I want to make a few Damascus steel blades but I'm clueless as how to heat treat it or anything about how to work with it, does it work any differnt than other steels. So anyways please post some tips about it and how to work it. Also something about how to go about heat treating. Thanks in advance

 

[Salem Straub]

That's a huge subject. My advice would be to read all the tutorials here, and just search here, and at other knife sites, as well as youtube etc., about the process and just absorb all you can find. There are also books and videos that can be found at maker's supply stores, or libraries. Or, find a local smith to maybe show you some things.
Blithely asking such a question may not yield the results you wish...
Good luck to you!

 

[timgunn1962]

Assuming you are thinking about buying Damascus as bars and grinding it, then broadly speaking it works much like bars of the steels from which it was made.

The HT is pretty similar to the HT of the steels from which it was made as well. If it's a quality product, HT instructions will be available from the maker (primarily because they know what the component steels are). If you buy Damascus made from mystery steel, HT will be a mystery too.

Others will know far more than I do, but I'd not expect a Damascus, even one containing 1084, to be as easy to HT as 1084. There is usually a Nickel content for the bright and a Manganese content for the dark. The HT for the combination generally looks something like the HT for the more cussed of the component steels, so some sort of soak at Austenitizing temperature seems likely to be needed. Bear this in mind if you are intending to do your own HT.

If you are thinking of making Damascus yourself, you have a lot of reading and experimenting to do.

 

[Greenberg Woods]

The advice I got from Stacy was to heat treat for the steel that will do the cutting. In a 1085/n20 or 1095/n20 that would be the carbon steel. Heat treat it the same way you would the normal, harder steel in the mix

 

[mete]

An important advantage of using 1085/15N20 is that those two steels have very similar HT proceedures .That eliminates any compromise !! The mix makes a very practical blade .

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Modern commercial damascus made by a competent maker has pretty much the same HT as a knife made from the main steel of the billet. If it is a high carbon steel billet with 52100, 1095, 1084....use those steels for the HT specs. The normal HT range for these steels is 1475-1500F.

If it is a stainless billet, then the HT is pretty much as any stainless steel would be. Again, the main ingredient is the deciding factor. Almost all stainless damascus comes wit HT specs. The normal HT range for stainless steels is 1900-1950F.

The other considerations for damascus blades are to normalize carbon steel blades to remove any stresses, and to do a full soak. Avoid things that will cause problems by using a good quality quenchant of the proper type for the steel, and a full straight in quench. Doing an edge quench or clay coating for a hamon are just not going to work well.