What IS damascus??

[Brad Greulich]

Hello,

I realise that this is a stupied question, and it's more than likely in the wrong fourm (sorry but i couldn't decide where to put it) but the other day my girlfriend commented on a picture of a damascus knife and asked how they make the steel look like it does.

I couldn't give her a 'for sure' answer because I didn't know.

But it got me wondering: what is damascus steel? (more along the lines of how it gets its unique patterns as a-posed to it's quality).

thanks for baring with me

 

[nozh2002]

Hello,

I realise that this is a stupied question, and it's more than likely in the wrong fourm (sorry but i couldn't decide where to put it) but the other day my girlfriend commented on a picture of a damascus knife and asked how they make the steel look like it does.

I couldn't give her a 'for sure' answer because I didn't know.

But it got me wondering: what is damascus steel? (more along the lines of how it gets its unique patterns as a-posed to it's quality).

thanks for baring with me

This days it is layers of different production steel welded together (or steel and nickel). By etching this layers made visible, because one steel comes darker then other depends on chemical composition. Depends on way it was deformed before grinding it may form different pattern - ladder damascus, raindropdamascus etc..

Damasteel making thoslayers using powder metallurgy,

by David Brodziac

mastersmithes make mosaic damascus with charlike pattern:

by Barry Galakher

Unfortunately it does not really improve cutting property of the knives. Japanese use suminogashi which has good steel core layer and pattern welded steel on the sides of the blade (like W&H Legacy Damascus+ZDP+Damascus).

In ancient time when there was no production steel bladethmith had to repeatedly fold steel to manage purity and homogenization of blade and because surface gain some carbon from coal they have that damascus pattern which now imitated by different steel layers.

Also by true damascus now many means wootz or bulat

which is totally different story.

Thanks, Vassili.

 

[flameboy]

So, Im still a little confused.
Is Damascus a STEEL, or just a method of mixing steels? Can any steel be made into Damascus?

 

[Ken C.]

Damascus is a mix of 2 types of steel or other metal. Different patterns are created by heating, twisting, and hammering the steel a number of times. The pattern usually cannot be seen until the knife is etched. Each steel in the blade reacts differently to the etching solution which brings out the pattern.

Devin Thomas is a maker of some of the finest damascus on the market.

http://www.devinthomas.com/

 

[Cliff Stamp]

So, Im still a little confused.
Is Damascus a STEEL, or just a method of mixing steels?

As Vassili noted it used to be a particular type of steel, specifically very high carbon with small amounts of elements like vanadium. The pattern came from bands of carbide. Recently, trying to create a similar pattern, makers have combined steels and get similar patterns often through nickel contrast which is why L6 is popular. Some people oppose calling the combined steels damascus or note they are pattern damascus as opposed to true or wootz damacus.

-Cliff