I would totally rub my cock on these, but I'd probably end up cutting it off

[Suu]

That's Japanese steel too, isn't it?

Just because they're Damascus doesn't mean they weren't made in Japan.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Those are gorgeous, ECH! I have knife envy.

[Jasper]

Makes my old 10" Kershaw-Shun look cute by comparison.

[East Coast Hustle]

Beautiful.  Handmade?

yup. Richmond Cutlery in the UK. These guys make some amazing stuff. I want to get some of their folding knives.

[Dimocritus]

Hey, cool! Is that Damascus steel?


EDIT: Shoulda read the whole thing...

That's Japanese steel too, isn't it?

Just because they're Damascus doesn't mean they weren't made in Japan.

[East Coast Hustle]

That's Japanese steel too, isn't it?

Just because they're Damascus doesn't mean they weren't made in Japan.

troof. My other damascus knife is Japanese. In fact, these might be the first non-Japanese damascus knives I've ever seen in person. The japanese knives tend to be lighter weight though. Most of them have between 33 and 65 layers. These are 341`layers each, and pattern-welded using a technique that allows them to only use high-carbon steel, whereas traditional damascus was usually made with either HC steel and a nickel alloy or HC steel and a softer steel. These things are a 62 on the Rockwell hardness scale, whereas even most japanese damascus knives are somewhere in the 55-60 range.

[Dimocritus]

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a few years since I was into this kind of stuff, but isn't the process of making true Damascus steel lost?

[Requia ☣]

Made in Japan, and Japanese steel are not the same thing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a few years since I was into this kind of stuff, but isn't the process of making true Damascus steel lost?

It was rediscovered in the 90s, but what ECH bought isn't true Damascus steel, its welded (which looks the same).  It looks pretty, but its no different from normal steel of the makeup.  (Though that's perfectly alright for kitchen knives).

[Dimocritus]

Made in Japan, and Japanese steel are not the same thing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a few years since I was into this kind of stuff, but isn't the process of making true Damascus steel lost?

It was rediscovered in the 90s, but what ECH bought isn't true Damascus steel, its welded (which looks the same).  It looks pretty, but its no different from normal steel of the makeup.  (Though that's perfectly alright for kitchen knives).

Ah, I see. I guess it's been more than "a few years."

[East Coast Hustle]

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a few years since I was into this kind of stuff, but isn't the process of making true Damascus steel lost?

not that I'm aware of. There's nothing magical about damascus steel. In fact, applying the same technique with today's technology and alloys yields a blade far superior to historical damascus steel.

however, if I'm wrong and anyone has information that shows an appreciable difference between old-school damascus steel and today's pattern-welded high-carbon alloys, I'd love to see it.

[East Coast Hustle]

Made in Japan, and Japanese steel are not the same thing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a few years since I was into this kind of stuff, but isn't the process of making true Damascus steel lost?

It was rediscovered in the 90s, but what ECH bought isn't true Damascus steel, its welded (which looks the same).  It looks pretty, but its no different from normal steel of the makeup.  (Though that's perfectly alright for kitchen knives).

actually, it is different in terms of cutting performance. the pattern weld allows for a very fine serration in the wear pattern on the blade's edge, which has the effect of keeping the edge keener longer and also allows it to slice through everything as though everything were warm butter.

[Kai]

Made in Japan, and Japanese steel are not the same thing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a few years since I was into this kind of stuff, but isn't the process of making true Damascus steel lost?

It was rediscovered in the 90s, but what ECH bought isn't true Damascus steel, its welded (which looks the same).  It looks pretty, but its no different from normal steel of the makeup.  (Though that's perfectly alright for kitchen knives).

actually, it is different in terms of cutting performance. the pattern weld allows for a very fine serration in the wear pattern on the blade's edge, which has the effect of keeping the edge keener longer and also allows it to slice through everything as though everything were warm butter.

Have you tried them out on particularly difficult materials?

[East Coast Hustle]

the one with the walnut handle needs to be sharpened a bit more, but the one with the black handle is actually sharper than my water buffalo knife, which was previously the sharpest knife I had ever seen (and a gift from Jacque Richard), let alone owned. 90% of what I do is run-of-the-mill slicing and dicing, and it's like whatever I'm cutting isn't even there. I'm pretty sure I could behead someone cleanly with this blade, if it were long enough.

[Z³]

Fucking nice knife Hustle.

Reminds me of many years back, mid nineties maybe, when I was standing outside a shop somewhere in Austria with my dad looking at a display of knives like these, swords, and other such items. I was rambling on about toledo steel, trying to sound like I knew what I was talking about; when a random stranger just appeared behind us, talked briefly about how while historically toledo steel was of high quality, in recent years the quality of toledo steel was suspect because of the large amounts of factory produced items that would recieve the label of toledo steel. After that, he wandered off into the night leaving me somewhat perplexed.

So yeah, sorry about the random non sequiter , that is a beautiful fucking blade.

[Requia ☣]

Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been a few years since I was into this kind of stuff, but isn't the process of making true Damascus steel lost?

not that I'm aware of. There's nothing magical about Damascus steel. In fact, applying the same technique with today's technology and alloys yields a blade far superior to historical Damascus steel.

however, if I'm wrong and anyone has information that shows an appreciable difference between old-school damascus steel and today's pattern-welded high-carbon alloys, I'd love to see it.

Pattern welded is just as old school as the crucible (or wootz) method.  The internal structure is different, the chemical makeup is different (tis is why the technique was lost, the old smiths didn't know they needed special ore, and modern metallurgists assumed that impurities of less than 100 parts per million wouldn't have an effect) and the bands are closer together in wootz.  Wootz was very high quality for the time, but digging through my notes and checking it against tool steels, I'd take the tool steel. (Wootz had hardness of 20-35, the stuff the make jackhammers out of, which is more than durable, is 58-60 according to wikipedia).  I'm not sure what the quality of wootz steel using modern metals would be, but probably a hell of a lot higher than the old stuff.

Check Scientific American, January 2001 for a write up.  You can probably dig up other sources on Google scholar if you have access to any of it.  The key researchers are Verhoeven, J. D., and A. H. Pendray.