Aren't Damascus blades originally an Indian invention?
No the steel material was dug up in India, but it was Middle Eastern blacksmiths that made it what it was.
Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
71–80 of 107 posts
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#72So sad to see an article written about Damascus steel origin without the origin being mentioned. The origin of Damascus steel was India where it was called Ukku. Wootz is derived from Ukku.
So sad to see an article written about Nuclear energy origin without the origin being mentioned. The origin of Nuclear energy was Zimbabwe mines where it was called Uranium. European physicists get all the credit.
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#73This post is blatantly wrong. Wootz steel (sourced from India but known in the West as Damascus steel because that was where a lot of the blades were made) was not pattern welded / folded. Pattern welding was used in the West to try and emulate these blades, and has gotten the name "Damascus steel", but it is not classic Damascus / wootz steel.
Your post is blatantly wrong and is trying to subtly conflate digging up raw materials with making those material into something useful. Who gets credit for Nuclear Energy? The mines in Africa where Uranium is dug up or the scientists in Europe who made it into something. Middle eastern blacksmiths developed Damascus steel. Middle Eastern merchants also managed the mines in the western part of India (modern day Pakistan) that dug up the material.
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#74Just FYI: Absolute hardest material for knife blades is ZrO2 (Zirconium dioxide == Ceramic). It also the most brittle, but never rusts and holds sharpness for insane amount of time.
Kycoera is one popular brand. But off late it seems like ceramic knives have hit upon some production efficiency, and there are many brands to choose from.
They do blunt, say after 6 months of use. Kyocera for one, provides a free sharpening service if you mail their knives in. Ceramic blade gets sharpened on diamond wheels, and they have to be mailed in.
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#75Sad to see the Middle Eastern developed techniques for forging raw materials dug up in Pakistan into Damascus steel be lost to history.
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#76Earlier quoted context omitted.
To my understanding Damascus was indeed not needed anymore as sword fighting came out of fashion. For swords it was very useful to have flexible yet sharp blades. Or has Damascus steel been traditionally used for knives too?
The idea is that Damascus steel was a technology from before there was much metallurgy knowledge. These days we have a molecular knowledge of steel and can control and test the microstructure at that scale. If you really want the best knife you look to metallurgists not artisans. Whatever you could do with Damascus steel you could do better with modern alloys and science. There's nothing wrong with the old ways, but…
For swords, I gather that key features are 1) notching or shattering other blades, and 2) resisting being notched or shattered by them.
Are you arguing that modern alloys and methods can do a better job at that than Damascus or other classical methods involving layering and folding?
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#77Earlier quoted context omitted.
The idea is that Damascus steel was a technology from before there was much metallurgy knowledge. These days we have a molecular knowledge of steel and can control and test the microstructure at that scale. If you really want the best knife you look to metallurgists not artisans. Whatever you could do with Damascus steel you could do better with modern alloys and science. There's nothing wrong with the old ways, but…
For swords, I gather that key features are 1) notching or shattering other blades, and 2) resisting being notched or shattered by them. Are you arguing that modern alloys and methods can do a better job at that than Damascus or other classical methods involving layering and folding?
That is the case, yes.
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
To my understanding Damascus was indeed not needed anymore as sword fighting came out of fashion. For swords it was very useful to have flexible yet sharp blades. Or has Damascus steel been traditionally used for knives too?
The idea is that Damascus steel was a technology from before there was much metallurgy knowledge. These days we have a molecular knowledge of steel and can control and test the microstructure at that scale. If you really want the best knife you look to metallurgists not artisans. Whatever you could do with Damascus steel you could do better with modern alloys and science. There's nothing wrong with the old ways, but…
Actually some people do go for Rolex because +/- 2 spd guarantees much less of a hassle than certain other mechanical watches' upper bound of +5, +6, or +10 spd.
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#79pattern welding is, effectively, a solution to a problem we don't have any more. When steel quality varied widely between batches, you needed a reliable way to mix it up so that the overall properties of the resulting object were predictable. This evolved into a more sophisticated technique that gave you not only predictability but differential properties (harder steel at the edge, more ductile in the spine) and a pr…
I know this does not have anithing to do with knives but Samurai swords are made from four different kinds of steel. The core, back, sides and the cutting edge. The sword is straight when forged and the arc comes from the hardening when the cutting edge expands more than the rest. Source: witnessed in person the first time when a katana was forged outside of japan at a festival at the japanese culture institute in cologne. The swordsmiths have the rank of a priest and wear white robes.
Re: Ask a Knifemaker: The Truth About Damascus Steel
#80Just FYI: Absolute hardest material for knife blades is ZrO2 (Zirconium dioxide == Ceramic). It also the most brittle, but never rusts and holds sharpness for insane amount of time.
Kycoera is one popular brand. But off late it seems like ceramic knives have hit upon some production efficiency, and there are many brands to choose from. They do blunt, say after 6 months of use. Kyocera for one, provides a free sharpening service if you mail their knives in. Ceramic blade gets sharpened on diamond wheels, and they have to be mailed in.
I own Kyocera kitchen knife as well as some made-in-china ceramic folder.
Both are performing really well. If I'd buy Chinese made steel knife - it probably would get dull after cutting 3 sandwiches or so. Ceramic knife apparently performing extremely well and remains sharp as expected.
Also - i saw there are ceramic knife sharpeners available - so i plan to get one sometime.