Who realy USES damascus ?

Myal

Myal

Joined
Jun 7, 2003
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I have seen some beautiful damascus knives , including a marbles one on ebay at the moment , nothing to do with me , just its lack of sharpened edge got me thinking , who owns and actually uses a damascus blade ?

I do , my EDC now is kinda two extremes , an Okapi and a damascus folder , I was so impresssed with the way mine performed , I sent one to my bro , he is a tow truck driver , I asked him last night if he like his knife , he was happy as with it , several times now he has attended crashes and the batteries in the cars were "smokin up" or violently steaming because the cables were crushed and shorted out in the smash and the battery is discharging so fast that its boiling , he is really impressed with the way his folder severs the battery cables . Its also sliced a whole bunch of seat belts to help get folk out of their vehicles ... its his daily user and abuser .

I was a bit spun out to hear of such things being done to a knife as nice as the one I sent him , but his reasoning was I always give him bomb proof blades , this should be just like the ones I make ...

his holds up well and I have to say I am impressed with the stuff .

OTOH , when I buy my own knives , I always buy double or more what I want and sell the surplus to cover my costs .. ( makes knife collecting affordable that way , hell even profitable at times !)

the vast majority of folk who bought the rest have them sitting in their collection and thats about it , no using , no cutting hacking stabbing slicing etc , just siting there doing nothing ...

so this leads me to want to know

who if anyone besides my bro and me , USES their pretty blades ?
 
good question!

the only real damascus i have, is the one on a standard on my telly with a mammoth bark handle

i allmost never use it


jest sometimes, when i cooked something special :)
like this cool roasted pig heart:
DSCN1721.jpg


hehehe
 
I've been using Damasteel stainless damascus in the field and in the kitchen. The "cuttin'est" steel I've ever used. Holds an edge very well.
 
I have only made three pattern weld blades and it's way too much work involved to run the risk of srewing them up. So they sit on the shelf. If they get even a small amount of surface rust cleaning it off would requre re-etching and polishing to restore the pattern.
 
I EDC a production damascus folder from Case. They temper it too soft for my liking, though. I have a small damascus hunter from a local maker that I carried for a while. I paid $75 for it; this stuff doesn't necessarily have to be super expensive. Likewise the Case above probably cost me around $40-50 ten or eleven years ago. Though rust may require refinishing, I find that general use doesn't really detract from the aesthetics. It's already stained dark, so no worries about the dark patina that would normally develop with carbon steels. Use just polishes the high layers while leaving the valleys, so it actually can get more contrast in the pattern with time.

As for performance, that would depend on far more things than what we probably want to get into here. There naturally should be a huge difference between things such as Damasteel vs. something made from a mixture of old files and mild steel.
 
I bought my dad a damascus hunting knife from an italian maker, whose name escapes me at the moment, a few years ago and it gets used every deer season. I probably would have put it on a shelf and looked at it. I'm glad that I bought it as a father's day gift for him instead.
 
My girl uses a damascus knife with a antler handle for camp chores and small game and she likes it just fine. I dont think its soft but I also dont think its over 59 on the rockwell from my use of it. I have alot of damascus blades, most dont get used as I got them with expensive handle materials and ornate sheaths as more of a pleasing to look at blade.
 
i've never even touch a damascus before. :P i've only recently taken an interest in them but my current economic status tells me i'd better save the cash i have. i do own some other pretty expansive knives tho, most of them are Cold Steel. and i use them all the time. my philosophy is-i bought the good knives because they are sharp, if i wanted a piece of ornament i might just get something made from crap steel and they might look just as shinny. and those may sit on the shelves forever 'cause... well, they're made of crap steel... but i use my good blades. :)
 
I have a couple knives made out of damascus , and while some is purely ornamental stuff , they are not all purely ornaments , they are seriously good blade steels .

this is some of my users :)

100_3900.jpg


I like them , they are not just pretty but they take a deadly sharp edge and hold it .

Its that quality about the stuff that is why I asked , how many folk are thinking of it as purely ornamental vs how many found it to be usable , maybe better than normal .. if there is such things normal .
 
I've got a Mcusta damascus folder that's currently my EDC. I really like this knife. It's a good looking knife with a lot of style and it's sharp as can be. I also have Phillip Patton fixed blade damascus that never leaves the drawer. I like that knife too. Maybe too much to use it.
 
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