
What are Damascus steel Blade knives and how are these made?
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Have you seen knives with different black-and-white patterns or random lines or dots crossing each other and giving a knife a whole look? These types of blades are known as Damascus steel Knives. Imagine using a blade so sharp that it can cut an entire silk scarf in mid-air or in ancient times you needed a weapon so trustworthy that it could last more battles than you like. This is the real legacy of Damascus steel knives but the point is that what it checks is Damascus steel, its history, characteristics, and the modern world use case.
What is Damascus steel?
Damascus steel is generally steel made up of a combination of 2 sheets of steel. In modern times, the most common combination of Damascus is 1084 steel with 15n20 steel. 15n20 has a small percentage of nickel in it approx 2% which creates contrast on the steel when combined with 1084 steel.
After mixing these two steels, a distinctive yet beautiful pattern appears on the blade. The most common patterns are twist, mosaic, ladder, fire, and other customized patterns made by different world artisans. Each pattern has its distinctive look and value in the market.
A brief history of Ancient Damascus Steel?
The history of Damascus steel is like a mystery but according to some sources, it all started in Syria around 300-500 CE (AD). The word Damascus steel also comes from its city Damascus which was a historic trade center of that time in the production of weapons.
The steel became very famous due to its unique properties like sharpness, edge retention (The capacity of the blade to hold its edge for a long time), and hardness which were very effective for crafting swords.
Manufacturing Of Traditional Damascus In Old Times
The manufacturing process of Damascus steel involves several steps.
Raw material for Damascus steel was wootz steel from the Indian subcontinent, typically modern and Sri Lanka. Wootz steel was high-carbon steel made by smelting the ore with plant material, leaving it with high-carbon steel with a visible pattern.
Then it was exported to the Middle East. In the region of Damascus, it was used to create Damascus steel. The hammered fooled steel by bladesmiths allowed to mix of low carbon and high carbon being separate and create a distinctive pattern known as Damascus steel. Which could appear in several different wavy patterns. Then again these blades were heat treated with oil or water to increase their hardness or today's HRC.
The Wootz steel-making process remains a mystery today. The precise and authentic method of it remains under the shadows. It was a guarded secret at their times. Today we only know a small portion of making it.
Difference between original and modern Damascus
Original Damascus
Original Damascus steel was based on the properties of the wootz steel and their forging method to gain that Damascus pattern and its properties.
Modern Damascus
However, due to a lack of knowledge of ancient Wootz steel manufacturing, today Damascus steel is made by pattern welding to make the visual pattern on the blade and recreate its exceptional characteristics. Both steels today are valued by their design and performance till today.
How is modern Damascus made?
The making of modern Damascus involves several steps like layering, welding, folding and repeating, shaping, and finishing. So let's start with layering
1. Layering of Damascus steel
First of all, 2 different steel types are mixed and the most common are 1095 & 15n20. The steel is stacked together and the larying steel is finished.
2. Welding
In the welding step, both stacked steel are heated at high temperatures in the furnace and pressed through hammers, hydraulic, etc merging both steels and making them one piece.
3. Folding and repeating
After that process, that block is drawn out, folded, and welded again creating the layers of Damascus steel. As many times you repeat that process, more layers will come out.
4. Finishing and shaping
The last step is that block, or billet, which is now Damascus steel. It's time to make it into your desired shape, such as a knife, sword, or anything else.
Cheap vs Authentic Damascus Steel
Today there are two types of Damascus steel. One is factory-manufactured and the other is custom-made by a skilled artisan. The factory-manufactured Damascus steel is the most cheaply built mixing scraps of steel to create the Damascus pattern used to create bulk cheap, used by different companies and a lot of mass production of cheap Damascus imported in the USA and European market on cheap pricing.
On the other hand custom knife makers use top-notch steels with proper composition precisely following the steps of layering, welding, folding & finishing. This Damascus steel is costly and highly appreciated by knife enthusiasts.