Damascus Steel

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Damascus Steel

• By Seth Willoughby
• MEEN 3344 Material Science

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A Damascus Bladed Knife
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What Is Damascus Steel?

• Damascus steel is a type of forged steel that
  combines both low and high carbon steel for both
  hardness and flexibility.
• It is produced by carefully folding and forge
  welding different types of steel materials on
  each other and repeated until the desired number
  of layers is obtained.
• Some types of steel used are 1060, 1084, 1095,
  5160, L-6, 15N20, and 9260.
• The finished product, when polished, has a wavy
  line type patterned surface to its appearance due
  to the different materials used.

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Damascus Steel Attributes

• Damascus steel has been made for thousands of
  years by blacksmiths and swordsmiths alike.
• It is both hard and flexible, which makes cutting
  through other material vary easy and its chance
  of breaking very unlikely.
• Its use in cutlery for making durable kitchen
  knives that can maintain a sharp edge without
  constant sharpening.
• Due to tiny saw-like carbide teeth in the blade
  it is able to cut even when it feels dull to the
  touch.

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Damascus Steel Downfalls

• Making Damascus steel is very time consuming and
  expensive.
• Depending on the number of layers and precision a
  Damascus steel knife can range anywhere from 50
  to 2000 in price.

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References

• Fenris Forge Blades and Blacksmithing,
  http//fenrisforge.com
• La Coutelleric de Laguiole, http//www.layole.com/
  uk/coutellerie/index.php
• Wikipedia, Encyclopedia, Damascus Steel
  http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/damascus_steel