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Damascus  Blade


Buckshot Bear

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There are three kinds of "Damascus" Steel.

 

The original came from a type of crucible steel that when correctly smelted naturally forms an intricate pattern in the metal and is more correctly known as Wootz steel. Wootz Steel is some of the toughest metal a blade can be forged out of. It picked up the name Damascus because the markets in Damascus Syria was one of the places it was widely traded. True Wootz steel blades are hundreds of years old and are highly prized. If you have to ask how much you probably can't afford them.

The pattern in Wootz Steel is natural and not created by folding the metal over and over. There are a handful of highly skilled bladesmiths that are attempting to recreate Wootz Steel. However it is believed that it was a specific set of impurities in the ore that are critical to the creation of true Wootz Steel. 

 

Then you have pattern welded steel. This first gained the Damascus Steel name in the 1800s. Likely because the patterns resemble those in Wootz steel. While pattern welded steel can be very tough I have seen some that is actually not all that good. It all depends on the alloy used

 

Lastly you have a faux Damascus where the pattern is etched into the surface using acid and a mask. This is what you have to watch for as there are a lot of blades sold whose pattern is artificially created vice coming from being pattern welded. Yet they are sold as Damascus Steel.

 

 

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Most pattern weld uses an etching compound to 'bring out' the differences in the 2 steels. Its similar to bluing, the different metals take acid and discolor differently. If you polish it you can make it look like monosteel.

 The pattern welds I have are usually some form of high carbon steel and another tool steel. Not stainless so I have to care for them as I would a 1030 high carbon blade.

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I have a knife that was custom made by a long gone SASS shooter.  He used Otis elevator cable and hand hammer forged it into a blade.  It's very attractive and holds an edge through all the random cutting I've used it for.  This is my favorite knife,

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The fake/faux Damascus steel knives are all over the place, including the SASS classifieds and definitely on the SASS FB groups. Those that don't understand the difference get suckered in thinking they are getting a quality blade for a cheap price. There are videos on YouTube showing how these fake Damascus knives are printed. Like GI Joe always said, knowing is half the battle.

1 hour ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I have a knife that was custom made by a long gone SASS shooter.  He used Otis elevator cable and hand hammer forged it into a blade.  It's very attractive and holds an edge through all the random cutting I've used it for.  This is my favorite knife,

I bet that looks amazing.

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I have a Damascus bladed knife that I bought from The Sportsmans Guide, so pretty sure it is etched. I use it for SASS, it looks good and it picks brass out of a chamber as well as anything else, would never use it as a serious knife.

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2 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said:

I have a knife that was custom made by a long gone SASS shooter.  He used Otis elevator cable and hand hammer forged it into a blade.  It's very attractive and holds an edge through all the random cutting I've used it for.  This is my favorite knife,

Re: Feeler: UPS Magnum — Moped Army

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No such thing as a cheap Damascus blade for sure. Unless somebody at a garage sale didn’t know what they had. ;)

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4 hours ago, Cholla said:

The fake/faux Damascus steel knives are all over the place, including the SASS classifieds and definitely on the SASS FB groups. Those that don't understand the difference get suckered in thinking they are getting a quality blade for a cheap price. There are videos on YouTube showing how these fake Damascus knives are printed. Like GI Joe always said, knowing is half the battle.

I bet that looks amazing.

LOL I was that guy. Bought one , or thought I was buying one off of ebay. Looks good but not sure its very good quality. Holds a decent enough edge and does look good.

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If you watch Pawn Stars when they get a Samurai sword, they often talk about the way the blade is formed. The steel is folded over and over countless times. There is nothing fast or cheap about the process. A true Damascus steel knife is an heirloom.

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The show on Discovery called Forged in Fire has shown examples of how to make Damascus steel. I watch the show pretty regularly and on many of them the have done Damascus blades and other steel cutting tools. Really interesting and looks pretty difficult.

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1 hour ago, Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life said:

The show on Discovery called Forged in Fire has shown examples of how to make Damascus steel. I watch the show pretty regularly and on many of them the have done Damascus blades and other steel cutting tools. Really interesting and looks pretty difficult.

I think painstaking is the proper word. It is painstaking work to fold, hammer, fold, hammer, fold, hammer. I have read that they fold the steel up to 16 times which creates over 32,000 layers.

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