Skip to main content

What is Damascus Steel?

First and foremost, some definitions are required. Ancient Damascus blades were not made from Damascus steel, they were made from Wootz steel that was produced in India and exported to Damascus where the blades were made, so really, Damascus STEEL isn't a thing, but Damascus BLADES are. Modern "Damascus Steel" is not produced in the same way that the ancient Wootz steel was (it's still a mystery, but the microstructure found in the ancient blades shows a significant difference in elemental composition and microstructure found in modern blades), and it uses a process called Pattern Welding. Pattern Welding is, essentially, a process where different types of steel (see this post about steel phases) are welded together and heated, folded, and stretched (kind of like kneading dough ingredients together) repeatedly to create a visible pattern of the different steels and work-harden the steel (I guess I'll have to do a post about work-hardening) to improve its mechanical properties. Usually, the pattern isn't really visible until the blades are acid etched, which preferentially removes different phases of the steel, allowing the pattern of the steel to shine through. So, unless you're looking at buying antique Damascus Blades, chances are that you're looking at a pattern welded steel blade (which are still beautiful, but just misnamed).

Now even with these modern "Damascus Steel" knives and blades, there are vendors selling poor quality "Damascus Steel" blades at a large markup. These should be avoided. How can you tell if you're looking a poor quality blade? I think the easiest way is to look to see if the pattern extends all the way to the edge of the blade. If it does not, (see pic below) then the steel hasn't been sufficiently work-hardened through the pattern welding process, and any waviness is probably from additives that just weaken the steel. Or the steel had just been laminated together and ground in such a way to make a pattern on the surface. Generally, the smaller the width of the lines in the pattern, the more the steel has been worked, and the more expensive the blade will be.

Damascus steel blade
"Damascus Steel Blade" Notice the pattern doesn't lead right up to the cutting edge on this low quality blade.

In all honesty, I bought one of these cheapo blades thinking it looks cool, but was pretty disappointed with the way the pattern stopped so far from the edge and the width of the lines. Oh well, I probably would have never looked into this topic (or ever heard of Wootz steel) if I hadn't made this impulse buy.  For oogling sake, see these blades. Since those are thousands of dollars, it puts the $30 I spent on this knockoff into perspective.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Morakniv 120 Carving Knife Review

I've only recently gotten into woodworking, and even more recently into wood carving, so it took me a while to pick my first wood carving knife. I heard good things about Morakniv in the bushcraft community, mostly that they make good quality, relatively inexpensive knives (though many of them are not full tang). And they're Swedish. Everybody loves Swedish knives and axes. So, I bought this Morakniv 120 wood carving knife, and I have to say, it's a wonderful tool. Even the little things, like the smell of the wood handle though I'm sure it will start to smell like my hands pretty quickly. Anyway, the handle is super comfortable in just about any position and the blade is sharp and quickly makes shavings from holly tree wood. I'm planning to make a kuksa, so I also need a curved blade to clear out the cup - definitely getting another Morakniv. 
1 comment
Read more

Crossing an Axe with a Circular Saw Blade

I've seen some people make axes from circular saw blades, but none of them have a spinning blade! So, I made one that spins. It's hung on a hickory sledgehammer handle, so I had to lengthen the slot so that it was longer than half the diameter of the circular saw blade. It's got a 1/2" diameter bolt for the axel and a 5/8" brass bushing to spin around. Currently, it has zero practical value, but I'm going to shorten the handle and see if it's any good for throwing. Edit - If you like kind of offbeat things that are actually kind of cool, check out my latest business that is a website for electric vehicle charger real estate and real estate for other small machinery and hardware like vending machines and shipping container farms. 
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mechanical Properties of Wood - Application to Axe Handles

From the title of this post, you should suspect that I'm going to focus on wood handles, and I will save composite handles for another post. There is some overlap between the two, like how in a wood handle a continuous straight grain makes the handle stronger than a discontinuous grain, and similarly in a composite handle, straight continuous fibers (usually fiberglass) will be stronger than discontinuous (short/chopped) fibers. An axe handle should be split from a stave (a narrow piece of “raw” wood) instead of cut out of a board. The grain of the wood should be continuous from end to end, or the shock from use will cause the handle to break apart (think baseball bat). Long, straight-grained woods such as hickory or ash are traditionally chosen for axe handles because they are strong and produce long, straight staves, and they have good mechanical material properties, like many other hardwoods. An axe handle should be from a log that is straight, without twists, branches, or bur...
Post a Comment
Read more