How about a Damascus Hatchet

[klsm54]

I'm sort of fascinated by Damascus steel knives. If I was capable of making a knife, I'd love to make a couple out of Damascus steel.

But for a real thing of beauty, in my eyes anyway, this Damscus Hatchet takes the prize. Only $850.00, place your orders soon... ;D



www.britishcampaignfurniture.com/products?id=11413

[jimiowa]

That's a nice looking hatchet, and with the going price of Damascus not a bad price either.
I too like Damascus but they are pricey and it really takes a pretty good and well equiped blacksmithing shop to make them.
Most of the guys making damascus have either heavy trip hammers or power hammers of some sort since the billets are folded so many times to make a knife. There are a lot of hours just making the billet before it is forged into a blade.
It is facinating the ways they come up with to make the various patterns of the layers.

I don't see myself being set up for damascus any time soon.
Though I hope to mske some knives.
There is an ABS Master Smith about 20 miles from me and I hope to get down and talk to him this spring. He specializes in Japanes style swords and his blades before finishing sell starting at $1500.

EDIT: I just found this site with some awesome Damascus work.
If you click on the Shop Tour Button he has a video and lots of pictures of his Little Giant hammers in action.
www.sunfishforge.com/hansongallery2.html

[Jack]

I know I'd never part with the bucks for that hatchet, but it sure is pretty!

[klsm54]

I wouldn't attempt to make the Damascus steel, just a knife from either a Damascus billet or blank.

When you can get a 416 layer blank, like this, for under 50 bucks, you could put together a nice looking knife pretty reasonably.

[jimh]

so the 30.00 i gave for that kelgin bird and trout 2 years ago is looking like a decent buy then.

[Jack]

On those Damascus knife blanks, you want to be a little careful....
A friend of mine discovered some Damascus knife blanks at a woodworkers store- made in China, very reasonably priced. He picked up two of them for his son to put handles on (the blanks were all finished). Knives turned out nicely, but after a bit of use it became apparent that the steel had been etched with a Damascus pattern, and wasn't Damascus at all.

[deputydon]

Apr 5, 2009 9:11:44 GMT -5 Jack said:

On those Damascus knife blanks, you want to be a little careful....
A friend of mine discovered some Damascus knife blanks at a woodworkers store- made in China, very reasonably priced. He picked up two of them for his son to put handles on (the blanks were all finished). Knives turned out nicely, but after a bit of use it became apparent that the steel had been etched with a Damascus pattern, and wasn't Damascus at all.

This is a very good point Jack and it happens alot!!!
Remember you get what you pay for............Unless your dealing w/ 2M's ;D ;D ;D

[klsm54]

Just like anything, it is a "Buyer Beware" world.

There are domestic producers, and reputable suppliers though.

The picture above is from Alabama Damascus, made in Jacksonville Alabama.

www.alabamadamascussteel.com/servlet/Categories?category=Knife+Making+Supplies%3AKnife+Blades

[jimiowa]

Scott That's a nice looking blank and your right it could be made into a nice knife pretty reasonably.

As I've mentioned though I have made several attempts since I was 14 and have yet to make an knife I would admit to.
Still want to do it, and have joined the following site and am reading everything I can before I get started.
There are some makers that will sell billets and blanks on this site. It is operated by Ed Caffrey a ABS Master Blade Smith.
And has makers from all over the world contributing.

www.knifenetwork.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=1

[twomoons]

Damascus knives in practical use are fairly tough and are easy to sharpen. They seem to hold an edge because they will cut dull. The Damascus as it dulls still has edges like little saw teeth that CUT even thought if it were a regular knife you would call it dull and resharpen. The wqay to see this is to magnify the edge say 250 times and look at the pattern. True damascus was tough because it was a laminate of iron and steel and the iron content made the blade tough and kept it from fracturing. Modern damascus is usually a laminate of different types of steel. The pattern is brought out by etching the steel with acid. I just finished puttng a handle on a nice 7 1/2" blade that will be a prize for our spring shoot. The blade was forged by a friend of mine who trained with Bill Moran.

If you have a blade you want to test, polish a section of the back of the blade to a smooth finish and then put on a couple drops of sulphuric acid. If the pattern comes back it is damascus.

All myth and legend aside I prefer a plain steel knife properly tempered for using. They will generally hold a fine edge longer and are just as easy to sharpen. Since i am not banging my blade against another blade in combat the slight extra brittlness doesn't bother me. I am also somewhat disappoined in how most knife makers want to bamboozle the public with the myth of damascus and the SECRET of it's manufacture to keep an artificial high price. Anyone who can forge weld can make damascus and a good knife maker can pass the SECRET on in a 3 day seminar. There is no reason that a damascus blade should cost more than 20% more than any other hand forged blade and I will give the 20% for the extra forging time.

My first damascus blade was forged from scraps of old cut off double guns. It made a pretty good using blade. Remember in the 1880's most gun barrles for shotguns were damascus and now they are considered junk. You can't have it both ways, either damascus shotguns were good solid guns in their day or damascus knives are junk. The truth is somewhere in between.

[Jack]

Interesting points, Twomoons.
Thinking about it, the Damascus blade made it's reputation back when hardening and tempering of steel was a very iffy thing- all done by eye. And, the content of the steel was unknown.
These days, with many formulas of steel- and a known quantity, and small tempering ovens in many knife shops, hardening and tempering of steel is much different.
No more quenching a blade by running it through a slave!

[klsm54]

I would definitely agree that many knifemakers, and some steel suppliers, are ripping of the public on Damascus knives. In a short search around the internet I found blanks similar to the $43.00 I posted the picture of, for 3 and 4 times that, and some of those were imported from Pakistan or India.

And knives seem even worse. Some Damascus knives adding a couple hundred bucks to the price of the same knife in carbon or stainless. But I am beginning to see some knife makers starting to buck that trend, and selling Damascus at very little premium.

As far as the "fake" Damascus, there are both knives, and blanks, being sold that state that they are laser engraved to look like Damascus. So if the fake stuff is readily available, I'm sure there are plenty of shysters out there trying to pawn it off as the real thing.

[twomoons]

But it's soooo purdy!!!! My next goal is to make a muzzleloader with a damascus barrel. A 50 caliber kentucky pistol in flint.

[jimiowa]

Apr 6, 2009 19:18:55 GMT -5 twomoons said:

But it's soooo purdy!!!! My next goal is to make a muzzleloader with a damascus barrel. A 50 caliber kentucky pistol in flint.

I agree, the so called advantages of Damascus as a blade steel have been surpassed by modern steel making.
But Damascus is pretty, and it's cosmetics make for fine looking blades!!! That has to be why you see so many done.
The options for pattern welding in different patterns really let a smith show off his creative talent. I'll post a link to some mosaic that goes so far I consider it garish. But it took some thinking to do it that way.
Here's the link www.caffreyknives.net/bsteel.htm
Scroll down about 2/3rds of the page and it starts and ther is a tab at the bottom that shows lots more.
Now I can hardly wait to see that pistol!

[Jack]

Interesting link, Jim. Some of those Damascus patterns are wild!