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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.

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