Damascus Steel? HELP please

[Horrid Stteve]

Hello, I'm supposed to be a bit of a knife nut, with regard practical bushcraft, yet today I came across a Damascus stell drop point blank for less than 60 pounds and realised i knew nothing at all about Damascus steel and its practicallity.
I was always scarred off by the price of such blades and assumed this price was based on quailty of steel and asthetics.
So... Can anyone tell me anything about Damascus steel? Does it come in grades and hardnesses? Ist it gererally a practical knife steel? Doest it rust and does it retain an edge well?
If you can answer any of these questions you would be of enormous help, puls there is always the satisfaction of filling the gaps in a youth's mind!

 

[bushwacker bob]

It depends on the constituent steels and like all steel, the quality of the heat treatment. It is not graded but you do pay more for a well made pattern welded steel.
A friend of mine 'mislaid' his Damasteel penknife in a pile of wet leaves for 4 months over the winter. The spring had turned to a lump of rust and the brass liners had gone green but the blade was completely free of rust and in the same condition he had lost it in.
I own several. top end slipjoints with damascus blades and they perform and hold an edge as well if not better than S30V, ATS34, 12c27 or O1 tool steels.
It does depend on the quality of the steel and the skill of the smith who made it, so some of the 'cheap Indian and Pakistani damascus imported stuff has a poor reputation and wont take heat treatment very well. IME British, Japanese, Scandinavian and American Damascus are very good.

 

[lannyman8]

as above really, dammy is made from 2 or more types of steel, if you use poor steel then you will end up with a poor blade, i have made a blade from dammy and i can say with out any doubt, it was the best steel i have ever used, it was easy enough to HT and from just working the steel i could tell it will hold a very very good edge....

the normal steel types are 1080 and 15N20, of course any can be used but thats the norm, you can also use mild steel or iron to make blades with a carbon steel center, this means the blade edge is sharp and holds an edge.

in answer to your question, yes it holds an edge very well, yes it will rust as its carbon steel after all, and yes it comes in differing grades of hardness, this depends on the smith as always, normally custom made the the person who commissions the blade will ask for a certain grade/rockwell hardness, most knives are between RC 57-61 but normally 59 ish.

the blade you have seen could be so cheep because it a beginer maker, or just because it is a look at item with poor steel, at the end of the day if your willing to buy it and loose that £60 then its all good, crack on, if not dont bother mate, splash out some cash and have some made.

if you do have some made it costs allot as it uses allot of time, effort, and materials, you loose around 25 % of the steel on even a simple pattern, and much more on more complex ones, loads of gas is needed for the constant heating of the metal, and a power hammer to make any amount of steel at one time..

at the end of all this, with dammy, you get what you pay for....

regards.

chris

 

[John Fenna]

I was given a dammy knife blade as a gift - it is only Indo/Pakistani damascus but takes and holds a great edge, looks great and is one of my favourite bushy knives - and I have quite a collection!

 

[Horrid Stteve]

Thank you all,you have done me a great service! Kind regards, Stteve.