What damascus is everyone using?

milkbaby said:
You can shave with an axe that's not HT to high hardness; there's like 3 million YouTube videos of people doing that. ;) Maybe you're forming a wire edge when sharpening your Alabama Damascus knives? Must be something different about how your sharpening process works on their steel?
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Never ever had a problem sharpening any blade....I’m pretty decent at it. Just Alabama Damascus. I’m pretty sure my ht process is not working with their steel. I’m experimenting with different approaches since 52100 is involved. That steel can be a little tricky for me at times.
 
godogs57 said:
Never ever had a problem sharpening any blade....I’m pretty decent at it. Just Alabama Damascus. I’m pretty sure my ht process is not working with their steel. I’m experimenting with different approaches since 52100 is involved. That steel can be a little tricky for me at times.
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That's weird, I wonder if there's something about the layers at the edge that is making it tougher for you to sharpen. Is your HT in a forge or forced air charcoal? How thin do you take the edge before HT? I'm wondering because maybe the edge is being overheated so the grain grows too large to support a good edge? Just brainstorming out loud here...
 
I think in my forge, taking it slowly up to non-magnetic. I take care not to overheat. Once it hits non-magnetic I quench. After cool down, I file test it like I do all my forged blades. They always turn out hardened just fine, with a 2x @ 2 hour temper. I initially take my blade edges down to about the thickness of a dime when forging or working with Damascus...then on to ht. It’s a pretty standard procedure that’s worked well for me every time.
 
kmf600 said:
Does anyone know of a place to buy a san mai billet?
Thank you
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In the United States, USA Knifemaker sells the Takefu prelaminated steels. Blade Gallery has a little better selection of sizes of the Takefu laminated billets, brought in by Bill Burke I think. Maker Material Supply usually has some Japanese san mai billets. Aldo, New Jersey Steel Baron I believe has 52100 core with like 410(?) cladding. If you go overseas, Dictum has a really nice selection.
 
milkbaby said:
In the United States, USA Knifemaker sells the Takefu prelaminated steels. Blade Gallery has a little better selection of sizes of the Takefu laminated billets, brought in by Bill Burke I think. Maker Material Supply usually has some Japanese san mai billets. Aldo, New Jersey Steel Baron I believe has 52100 core with like 410(?) cladding. If you go overseas, Dictum has a really nice selection.
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Thank you, I just ordered some from Maker Material Supply.
 
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