Walter Sorrells makes a Damascus pattern chef's knife from scratch

[FerrelGeek]

The whole concept of Damascus back in the day was that it's what they had to work with; steel back then was (as was stated in a prior post) nowhere nearly as good as what we can make today. Same with folded steel. The folding was used to drive out impurities and infuse more carbon into the steel. The ancient smiths were incredibly innovative.

 

[SP33Demon]

Pretty dam cool. Wonder what his cost of materials + time spent would be. Make a bunch and sell em on the side.

 

[highland145]

+1 forged in fire on history channel

 

[disappoint]

Do mine, do mine! (Aquarius)

I'll dispense with the Aquarius' moon is in the fifth house B.S. because we both know I wouldn't be fooling anyone with that load of baloney.

This is a good time for you to contemplate laying Stalker to rest and picking up Far Cry 3 or 4. There is a reason you haven't been playing Stalker much and just as in politics your apathy doesn't originate from within but rather from your environment. The truth is it's not your fault that your choices are limited to the least undesirable of the pack because the choices available leave much to be desired.

Speaking of politics you wish to be informed enough to make the right decisions or at least be able to carry on an intelligent conversation on the topic but you find yourself holding back the gag reflex when it comes to the choices of candidates to stand behind.

While you would like to see a shake up of the entrenched trolls in Washington you're not willing to sacrifice what's left of the integrity of the office of the commander in chief to an orangutan in a suit that will end up being tried for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague despite his popularity. On the other hand you're well aware that the likelihood the U.S. military would even carry out what he proposes would be slim to none, and Slim just left town. Probably because he got fed up with politics.

Be that as it may this is the time when we have to get a little more serious about how this all affects you, as a person. It is written in the stars that a man is more of his own making than that of some politician that has lost touch with the common man he governs if not reality itself.

This would be the perfect opportunity for you to show that you can do better than what passes for a candidate for the White house these days but you would prefer to goof around on the forums instead because that is easier. The work required to learn all that must be known to attempt such an endeavor causes you to withdraw to the point you wouldn't consider a career in politics even if it were possible at this point in your life.

You must remember that even if you had chosen that path, people don't tend to vote for sane candidates anyway. Being better than the charlatans you hold your nose over isn't going to win any popularity contests so in the end it comes down to one chilling but true fact: The American people get the candidate they deserve because it is a reflection of their twisted values, distorted and generalized thinking, cognitive dissonance and biases which plague the looney tunes short bus on it's way to the Hague. You won't be on that bus, you have better things to do. Now if only you would do so. In conclusion: The best way to get yourself to do so is to start.

 

[IEC]

Try not to be such a fuck wit. Pattern steel is not Damascus, true. The people who are actually trying to replicate Damascus have gotten close enough that it comes down to when is "authentic" authentic enough.

The video in the OP is using the san-mai technique. It's only superficially similar, and originates from Japan, not the near East.

 

[Howard]

What is this original lost technology Damascus people keep talking about? I tried a Google search but didn't find anything about it.



You're welcome.

Anubis has the right idea. True Damascus steel is wootz steel, which no one really knows if they've perfectly reproduced now, whereas "Damascus" today is just pattern-welded steel. Pattern welding steel for cutlery is fairly common.

EDIT: I'm thinking of picking up this pattern-HAMMERED knife. With my own money! http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kaanasgy24.html

 

[Rakehellion]

Datasscus > Damascus

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Try not to be such a fuck wit. Pattern steel is not Damascus, true. The people who are actually trying to replicate Damascus have gotten close enough that it comes down to when is "authentic" authentic enough.

ROFLMAO!!!!

The bolded part is where a person with even a shred of a brain cell would stop arguing from their position of abject ignorance. Pattern steel is not Damascus, true. The debate ends there, period.

Have you suffered a blow to the head recently? That's not argumentative, it's actual concern. It takes a fairly high degree of brain damage to accuse someone else of being a fuck with when you know that person is right and you're wrong. So either seek help, or if actual brain damage is not present, grow up.

 

[disappoint]

ROFLMAO!!!!

The bolded part is where a person with even a shred of a brain cell would stop arguing from their position of abject ignorance. Pattern steel is not Damascus, true. The debate ends there, period.

Have you suffered a blow to the head recently? That's not argumentative, it's actual concern. It takes a fairly high degree of brain damage to accuse someone else of being a fuck with when you know that person is right and you're wrong. So either seek help, or if actual brain damage is not present, grow up.

We could do without the vitriol, ad hominem attacks and insults. If we want to discuss like adults it might be a good idea to present some facts that show the person you are arguing against is wrong.

I understand it's fun to get emotional and put people down but it makes you look hypocritical if you stoop to his level and then even further.

 

[IronWing]

ROFLMAO!!!!

The bolded part is where a person with even a shred of a brain cell would stop arguing from their position of abject ignorance. Pattern steel is not Damascus, true. The debate ends there, period.

Have you suffered a blow to the head recently? That's not argumentative, it's actual concern. It takes a fairly high degree of brain damage to accuse someone else of being a fuck with when you know that person is right and you're wrong. So either seek help, or if actual brain damage is not present, grow up.

Meanwhile, there are people in this world researching the making of Damascus steel and have made substantial progress in replicating the process. You once again ignore this, choosing instead to call people hucksters and liars.

 

[Kelvrick]

Holy fuck, the word damascus has evolved to become an excepted term for pattern welded steel.

Nobody is expecting an ancient wootz kitchen blade from their local williams sonoma.

 

[disappoint]

Holy fuck, the word damascus has evolved to become an excepted term for pattern welded steel.

Nobody is expecting an ancient wootz kitchen blade from their local williams sonoma.

Would they even want Wootz steel Damascus? Perhaps I'm incorrect but after reading about it my understanding is that the Wootz steel Damascus didn't have the softer multi-layer steel outside sandwiched around a very hard powder metallurgy steel inside layer for edge retention but rather a blend of carbides in the steel matrix all the way to the edge (from pics I've seen).

That doesn't seem to be optimal for edge retention as much as very hard PM steel inner core sandwiched between softer outer layers as in the san mai Damascus process used today by some knife manufacturers. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Fenixgoon]

from people who actually study steel: http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/9809/verhoeven-9809.html

 

[John Connor]

Rather have a thousand fold sword. The Japanseese tested those on prisoners.

 

[shortylickens]

Rather have a thousand fold sword. The Japanseese tested those on prisoners.

Folding steel does NOT make it good, it was a half assed method of reducing impurities before they discovered better forging techniques.

And damascus steel is more overrated than sliced bread.

 

[Howard]

Would they even want Wootz steel Damascus? Perhaps I'm incorrect but after reading about it my understanding is that the Wootz steel Damascus didn't have the softer multi-layer steel outside sandwiched around a very hard powder metallurgy steel inside layer for edge retention but rather a blend of carbides in the steel matrix all the way to the edge (from pics I've seen).

That doesn't seem to be optimal for edge retention as much as very hard PM steel inner core sandwiched between softer outer layers as in the san mai Damascus process used today by some knife manufacturers. Correct me if I'm wrong.

There are comparatively few knives that use a PM steel core. But, speaking generally about knives using very hard carbon steels or tool steels for their core, or edge, they still can't be compared to wootz steel because we don't know how wear resistant wootz steel was.

Also, san-mai just means three layers. It doesn't indicate whether a knife is pattern-welded or not.

 

[shortylickens]

There are comparatively few knives that use a PM steel core. But, speaking generally about knives using very hard carbon steels or tool steels for their core, or edge, they still can't be compared to wootz steel because we don't know how wear resistant wootz steel was.

Also, san-mai just means three layers. It doesn't indicate whether a knife is pattern-welded or not.

Nihongo o hanashimasuka?

 

[Howard]

Nihongo o hanashimasuka?

You mean nihongo ga hanasemasu ka? No. I'm just a big fan of Murray Carter.

 

[Harrod]

I have a friend who does blacksmithing as a hobby, I've always thought this was pretty cool, but like programming, I would hate to have to do it as a profession.

 

[John Connor]

Folding steel does NOT make it good, it was a half assed method of reducing impurities before they discovered better forging techniques.

And damascus steel is more overrated than sliced bread.

Just read that as many as 32,000 folds would be used. Unreal!

 

[sdifox]

Just read that as many as 32,000 folds would be used. Unreal!

no...15 fold, 32k layers.

 

[Charmonium]

Boker makes Damascus knives like these

https://www.boker.de/us/pocket-knife/boker/damascus-collector-knife.html

But the ceramic knife I have from them holds and edge better.

 

[disappoint]

Anubis has the right idea. True Damascus steel is wootz steel, which no one really knows if they've perfectly reproduced now, whereas "Damascus" today is just pattern-welded steel. Pattern welding steel for cutlery is fairly common.

EDIT: I'm thinking of picking up this pattern-HAMMERED knife. With my own money! http://www.chefknivestogo.com/kaanasgy24.html

I just picked up a hammered (tsuchime) 8" SG2 knife last night at the local Sur La Table. It was on sale for $150. Normally it costs $199. I've always wanted to try powdered metallurgy SG2 to see how well it can hold an edge and how sharp I can get it on my stones compared to my old VG-10 workhorse.

If you go on their website they have free shipping if you put the promo code SHIPFREE in before you check out.

Don't use Firefox or Google Chrome browsers though as they don't seem to work. I didn't try any other browsers though as I just gave up trying to order it online since I live so close to one of their stores so I just went down there. On the plus side I didn't have to wait for it to arrive.

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1039189/Miyabi+Artisan+SG2+Collection+Chefs+Knife

It's the Miyabi Artisan SG2, 63 HRC:

 

[Howard]

I just picked up a hammered (tsuchime) 8" SG2 knife last night at the local Sur La Table. It was on sale for $150. Normally it costs $199. I've always wanted to try powdered metallurgy SG2 to see how well it can hold an edge and how sharp I can get it on my stones compared to my old VG-10 workhorse.

If you go on their website they have free shipping if you put the promo code SHIPFREE in before you check out.

Don't use Firefox or Google Chrome browsers though as they don't seem to work. I didn't try any other browsers though as I just gave up trying to order it online since I live so close to one of their stores so I just went down there. On the plus side I didn't have to wait for it to arrive.

http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO-1039189/Miyabi+Artisan+SG2+Collection+Chefs+Knife

It's the Miyabi Artisan SG2, 63 HRC:

Very nice. I was looking for some info on the R2 steel the other day and saw that someone was saying SG2 is essentially just a powdered version of VG10. Not sure if that's true or not.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Screw this--I'm going back to that thread with the video of the chick and her huge funbags changing oil in that car.

Link pls