Boker Knifestyle | EN Edition 2018 / 2019

13
CLASSIC HANDFORGED
DAMASCUS
For this oldest of all types of Damascus,
at least two types of steel of different
composition are forged together. After
forging, the piece of steel is folded and
forged again, which doubles the number
of layers. The process is repeated until
the desired number of layers is reached.
By using steel types with different
features, the blacksmith can influence
the quality of the Damascus significantly;
a particularly hard steel, for instance, can
be combined with an especially resilient
steel in order to achieve a balanced ratio
of hardness and edge retention. Since
stainless steel cannot be forged together
under normal circumstances, this classic
forging technique generally uses nonstainless
carbon steel. This means that
the resulting forged Damascus is not
stainless either.
Of course, the quality of Damascus steel
is also directly dependent on the quality
of the base steels. Damascus as such
is not necessarily a mark of quality but
simply denotes the production process
of the material. The Damascus pattern
is influenced by forging and the number
of layers, but it can also be created by
embossing the finished forged Damascus
bar. By embossing the bar with the help
of an embossing punch with a specific
pattern, the layers within the Damascus
shift against each other. The embossed
pattern appears as texture in the
Damascus steel once the embossed
material is ground into a blade.
On a freshly ground blade, the pattern is
barely visible. It needs to be finished in
a special acid bath, in which both types
of steel react to the acid by darkening
at different levels. This brings out the
pattern created by the texture and reveals
the true magnificent beauty of Damascus
steel.