Genuine Modern Damascus Steel?

[Shaun2]

Hope this is ok to post. I found this short, solid-bladed knife in a junk shop, vaguely recognising it as Damascus steel, knowing there are a lot of fakes out there, but this was old (not ancient) and probably a 'sgian dubh'. Someone had tried to re-assemble it really badly to a piece of antler, and it took some efforts to get the nasty, brittle orangey glue out. There is no bolster, which is why there is still a space between the blade and the handle even when the tang is fully inserted (see last picture). The antler is likely original, but because the bolster is gone, it is hard to fit properly in my hand. The whole thing needs lengthening.

Anyway, I cleaned it up (not finished yet) and I'm now soaking the blade in a molasses solution (chelation brings out the rust spots).

Other issues include the sharpened edge being different/uneven on both sides, so that has to be re-ground and honed. I'm not bad at sharpening, but re-grinding? Nope. I'll get a professional sharpener to do that. I'l have to see if I can ding someone to make me a nice (metal?) bolster and leather sheath.

Anyway, it looks genuine to me, and the spine (3.5mm wide, so pretty hefty blade) has long, parallel-ish lines. There are many more than the photo shows, like triple the number. I have seen other Damascus steel spines, but they continue the waviness seen on the flat sides. I don't quite get that really. I'd expect what I am seeing on mine?

Anyone have a view? I'd really welcome some input. Here are some pictures. The last shows the 'before' pic as found in the wild.

 

[Chris]

Based on the striations on the spine it looks like welded billet to me, but I'm not an expert and images of genuine Damascus steel are hard to find. Either way it'll look nice once it's cleaned up. True Damascus being a crucible steel though, it seems unlikely that it would form lines down the spine like that.

 

[Driftwood]

Ditto

 

[Twelvefret]

Isn’t the process involving folding the layers together? Wouldn’t this explain the lines on the spine? Thanks for the discussion.

 

[R181]

I did a quick net search and found this:

Types of Damascus Steel | Complete Guide 2025

It may help explain that there are different types of Damascus Steel and how they are made.

Bob

 

[Chris]

Isn’t the process involving folding the layers together? Wouldn’t this explain the lines on the spine? Thanks for the discussion.

True Damascus steel, no. As I mentioned that's made in a crucible. It was produced in India from who knows when up until the early 19th century when it stopped being produced and the method was lost.

What you're referring to is welded billet where different steels are layered together rather like making plywood. The resultant billet can then be folded if desired or simply forged as-is depending on the desired final appearance; while this is often referred to as Damascus because of its appearance it isn't really Damascus, it's a modern lookalike. True Damascus steel was the best available for its time, but modern steels have surpassed it, which may have been a contributory factor in the end of its production.

It's also noteworthy that "Damascus" gun barrels were also nothing of the sort, they were formed from strips of steel around a mandrel and referred to as Damascus because of their appearance.

Edit - after further reading it appears that much research was done into Damascus steel including by Faraday, who tried to recreate it. Since then it went on a really long coffee break until it was revisited comparatively recently, with the result that there are a small number of smiths who can reliably produce a crucible steel which is visually and metallurgically almost indistinguishable from historical Damascus steel.

 

[R181]

It's also noteworthy that "Damascus" gun barrels were also nothing of the sort, they were formed from strips of steel around a mandrel and referred to as Damascus because of their appearance.

Should you own a gun with a Damascus barrel, you may want to research if they are safe to use or just keep as a wall hanger.

Bob

 

[Chris]

Should you own a gun with a Damascus barrel, you may want to research if they are safe to use or just keep as a wall hanger.

Bob

That is a good point. Speaking from the POV of English shotguns they were only ever proofed with black powder, they weren't designed for modern nitro loads, and most of them being by now around a century old I would really not recommend shooting one.

 

[Shaun2]

Thanks for all the comments. Naturally, it wouldn't be the actual Damascus of long ago. I meant more the modern equivalent of so-called Damascus steel revived in the early 70s.

I have looked up a lot of videos regarding "fake Damascus", which is simply steel billet etched/printed, not hammered and folded. My point about the spine on my piece is that on some modern 'real' Damascus, there are wavy pools/lines that continue the pattern you see on the sides of the blade; mine has striation lines, indicating layers/folds. There must be different methods of hammering, is my thinking (?)

 

[JamieM]

Like Chris said, the original Damascus steel and the process of making it have been lost; there are similar types of steel produced, which are superb pattern steels, and they are also very high-performance steels perfect for good-quality knives. Here is one of my Spyderco pocket knives using Damasteel.

Spyderco Damasteel refers to knives produced by Spyderco that feature blades made from Damasteel, a type of stainless Damascus steel. Damasteel is manufactured by the Swedish company Damasteel using a powder metallurgy process, which involves layering and forging different types of stainless steel together. This process creates a unique layered pattern on the blade that is revealed through acid etching after the blade is shaped and ground.

 

[Shaun2]

Like Chris said, the original Damascus steel and the process of making it have been lost; there are similar types of steel produced, which are superb pattern steels, and they are also very high-performance steels perfect for good-quality knives.

///

Yes, we all agree. I don't think anyone was suggesting there was an original, crucible Damascus steel forged in this instance. I was wondering about the striation layers on the spine, and checking to see if the blade wasn't fake Damascus, that is, a knife etched to merely look like modern Damascus. From what I can discern, it's real enough (modern Damascus), but there must be different folding and welding methods utilised from workshop to workshop. The other thing that is hard to discern is the quality of the steel used: high quality, or washing machine scrap? Is it possible to tell, I wonder, without going to a metallurgy lab?

 

[JamieM]

There are numerous Damascus patterns and steels; search for "Damascus knives" on YouTube for more information.