Damascus Steel - A brief history lesson.

[gorcrow]

Bushcraft blades are stupid.

[jkd185]

great film rob.thanks mate.

regards

streetartist

[RDPproject]

@jkd185

No worries mate. Glad you liked it.

[BALDMAXXX]

What a fantastic video! Your explanation and demonstration of the subject is very clear and informative. You got me as a subscriber.

[SharpenerHellJoy]

i love your bush knife do you sell them

[RDPproject]

@SharpenerHellJoy

The knives that I currently have are mu personla knives. I do make knives for people who are willing to pay for a custom job. But they are usually scared off by the prices. Mine start at $300AU and go up.

But unfortunaly...Ive moved house and am renting with no real workshop at the moment. So I can still make knives...but the work period is about 2-3months befor the customer get the knife.

Rob.

[JesusFuckingChrist84]

Don't be too hasty?

How dare you tell me not to be hasty with regards to your fake damascus!

..Lol, I kid, that is really painful to say, kinda makes my brain hurt. You did just teach me some things with regards to ferric chloride, so thank you very much, sir. ;-)

Will it have any effect on metal that isn't folded at all? Discoloration or anything like that?

[RDPproject]

@JesusFuckingChrist84

Umm...I'll be honest with you...I dont know mate.

Never tried it on a single steel befor.

Hmm.... I feel a new video coming on......

Rob.

[JesusFuckingChrist84]

@RDPproject

And I'll be watching that new video. ;-)

(Yay, I may have inspired a new vid pertaining to metals!)

[torquefactory]

In fact Rob , original damascus steel was not made from pattern weldingl, but just a single piece of steel (wootz or bulat) with a structure resembling like a water flow when etched after a special heat treatment!

Happy Holidays Rob!

Mike

[RDPproject]

@torquefactory

Thanks for the extra info Mike.

Enjoy the holiday season mate.

Rob

[NoTraceSurvival]

Great video

[RDPproject]

@NoTraceSurvival

Thanks mate.

When I have time I will come back and check out your videos. I like the look of your channel. Stay safe.

Rob.

[jolietjake1970]

I absolutely learned alot about damascus blade steel, Thanks for posting. also Your damascus bushcraft knife is a beautiful blade.

[2911kona]

Good video RDP i now understand more about damascus steel

[RDPproject]

@2911kona

Thats good to hear. I like it when people learn from

something they see or watch on the net.

Rob.

[ArtistBlade1972]

Great video Rob! I must disagree with one of your commentors though. The japanese blade is definitely damascus steel. The japanese make plenty of damascus stuff. That one in particular is of san mai damascus construction. It's a beautiful blade.

[RDPproject]

@ArtistBlade1972

Thanks Evan.

There are so many different ways of making knives out there.

All of them good as long as the end result is made to function as designed.

Rob.

[ArtistBlade1972]

@RDPproject Very true Rob. I bet that japanese blade was an expensive gift.

[RDPproject]

@ArtistBlade1972

Yes mate...it was. I looked it up on the Japanese website (i cant find the certificate that came with it or I would give you the address)

It worked out roughly...(give or take about $20)... to cost -

70,000 Yen = 845.92 AUD = 834.280 USD.

Not a cheap knife.

[ArtistBlade1972]

@RDPproject Wow. Yeah I'd say that's expensive :)

[huandogofwar]

@ArtistBlade1972 damascus steel is a blend of steel and iron . to give strength and flexibility to an otherwise very hard steel that would have a tendency to crack. the japanese method is a method that levels out the carbon in a rough piece of "cast iron". it is not mixed. the two is not treated the same way. the techniques and the steel a so very different that it makes no sence calling it the same. i´m not saying one is better than the other its just not the same.

[ArtistBlade1972]

@huandogofwar Generally nowadays the term damascus is accepted for any steel displaying a pattern as a result of either pattern welding 2 or more steel types or steel containing dendrites such as wootz. The japanese method of refining tamahagane does usually make a pattern, but it's generally not layered in appearance. The japanese make lots of pattern welded damascus blades as well as traditional tamahagane blades. Thank you for the sub and kind words. I'd like to see some of your work.

[huandogofwar]

@ArtistBlade1972 thank you for uploading... i´m gonna upload some of my knives sometime in 11. i have a video of a necklace i made (its lying on a knife)

[ArtistBlade1972]

@huandogofwar Yeah I saw the necklace. Good work. Looking forward to seeing some knives.

[huandogofwar]

@ArtistBlade1972 i dont know if this paticular japanese knife is damascus, but it looks like it has not been blended. just one quality folded over and over. the damascus i make is not damascus either cause theres no iron in my blades....but i call it damascus, but technically its not.

[huandogofwar]

@ArtistBlade1972 by the way i subscribe to your channel. i like your work

[SKwoodsman]

Great video Rob! I've enjoyed the education part when you are talking about damascus steel. Those are very nice blades you have!

ATB

matt

[RDPproject]

@SKwoodsman

Thanks Matt.

They are just two of many.

Rob.

[ArtisanTony]

Very nice! There will always be those who contaminate YouTube with their negativity. It is important to keep quality videos like the ones you produce to offset the negativity. keep up the good work!

[RDPproject]

@ArtisanTony

Thank you for your positivity Tony....  :-)

Rob.

[bushcraftbartons]

Great lesson Rob...thanks...

[RDPproject]

@bushcraftbartons

Thank you Mike.

[27dcx]

nice demo of the etching process. i had no idea it worked so quickly!

[RDPproject]

@27dcx

That was just a very 'quick' etch to show the two different steels.

A deeper etch takes time.

Rob.

[PiPphiltitley]

beautiful knifes mate!

love the flint look, but there is some thing about that Japanese blade mate.

point made beautifully, eloquently and with respect.

"if you dont know what you are talking about move on to the next video" class!

did you sort a new place to live mate? if so hope it went all well for you.

stay safe pip

[RDPproject]

@PiPphiltitley

No....not yet. The move is not until the start of January.

Bitch of a time to do it tho.

And as I said to Fredde "Yeah...it was the polite way of telling someone who may not know what they are talking about to shut up and go away...lol"

[PiPphiltitley]

@RDPproject it was that to mate, it was that!

stay safe  pip

[hobbexp]

if you dont know what you talking about move on to the next video....!

very interesting video, even my wife stop up and look at it.

fredde

[RDPproject]

@hobbexp

*hello Fredde's wife*

Yeah...it was the polite way of telling someone who may not know what they are talking about to shut up and go away...lol

[cujomojo2007]

I wouldn't be to sure about the history bit, like you say it's not 100%. What we know as Damascus steel today is really just pattern welded iron and steel, originally it would have all been smelted together in one crucible.

[RDPproject]

@cujomojo2007

Yeah...i love the net for info....but you just cant trust all of it.

[cujomojo2007]

@RDPproject  There's not many of us who still use books.

Have you seen the Buck folder with the flint blade, they are made by Yellowhorse. If you search "Yellowhorse collectables" you can find them in the Chip Flint section. They look amazing, and they are not cheap. The only down side is that they are all folders.

[RDPproject]

@cujomojo2007

Yeah...I found them a few months ago. The photos on their site are not the best and dont really show much detail. but ..yes..I know of them.

[ColinOutdoors]

Nice one Rob, beautiful knife and great history lesson. 

[RDPproject]

@ColinOutdoors

Thanks Colin.

[suvarak]

Image of the horse as you receive it?

Is there a video of this process?

[RDPproject]

@suvarak

No Timur.

Not just yet.

[DarkChaoto]

I learnt a bit from this video thanks Rob :) I like the little horse symbol on the knife.

[RDPproject]

@DarkChaoto

Thats my little logo. You can see it on my channel avatar.

I think it needs redoing to seat the etch a little deeper.

It was only a quick light etch and as you see...its worn a bit over time.

[DarkChaoto]

@RDPproject I didnt pay attention to your avatar pic :P but thanks for pointing it out. would have been awsome if the horse was created naturally by accident lol.

[huandogofwar]

great looking knives and informative video, but lets clear up one thing. the japanese technique does not produce damascus steel, even though its layered. in the japanese folding technique you start with one piece of steel thats folded over and over to spread out the carbon evenly. this is then laminated to a piece of edgesteel. a katana gets its springy quality from a hardening proces where the back of the blade is covered in clay and only the edge is hardened "properly".

[RDPproject]

@huandogofwar

Thanks mate.

I was just using the japanese knife to show the layers. I did miss out alot of info but it was a video that was done on the spur of the moment. So I did miss out on some things that I wanted to say. I even had a list just off screen...and still forgot.

[huandogofwar]

@RDPproject no no thank you!

[nephildevil]

lol youtube comments, ur not supposed to take us seriously, ever ;)

[nephildevil]

great informative vid tho, i'm totally jealous at those knives :p

[RDPproject]

@nephildevil

Thanks mate.

It is a great little knife. :-)

[RDPproject]

@nephildevil

lol....  :-P

[steintanz]

... interesting technology - thank you!

[RDPproject]

@steintanz

No worries mate.

Thank you for commenting Tim.

[torquefactory]

Thank you Rob for this video! I love old steels and old designs ! I love fire even if I was born in a century of electricity !

Happy Holidays!

Mike

[RDPproject]

@torquefactory

Thanks Mike.

May you and your loved ones be safe this holiday season.

[knivesfishwild]

I've always loved REAL Damascus, thanks for clearing the misinformation bud :-)

[RDPproject]

@knivesfishwild

Anytime mate. Theres alot of info out there.

Just need to sort thru all the crap.

[cam131313cam]

would that knife from japan happen to be made out of a blue/white steel?

see it alot in Japanese knives

[RDPproject]

@cam131313cam

Oh man...I dont know...

The paperwork on it is in Japanese....lol

[cam131313cam]

@3:00 that axe looks freaking awesome....

"weird blade" ay.....one of the most original blades out there imo

[RDPproject]

@cam131313cam

Thanks Cam.

Hope your doing well mate.

[Waldhandwerk]

Cool history and great information, very beautifl knives. Thanks for showing. All the best Sepp

[RDPproject]

@Waldhandwerk

Danke Sepp.  ;-)

[gamlingcs]

Damascus wasnt actually the place where it was made, It just happened to be a major trade center where the smiths could get at the biggest buyers market.

also what steels did you use for the damscus blade? ive heard that L6 and a nickel based steel makes for a good combo

[RDPproject]

@gamlingcs

This was bought pre-made.

I only remember one of the steels....1095

Cant remember the second one. It was years ago when I bought this steel as Billet

[gamlingcs]

@RDPproject ah ok, oh how did you do the beveled work on the steel to make that cool flint steel look? i think my dremel would die trying to imitate that lol

[ArtistBlade1972]

@gamlingcs L-6 is a nickel bearing steel....

[gamlingcs]

@ArtistBlade1972 so it is, lol my mistake, how about L-6 and 1095, 52100, W-2, 5160 or any of the other steels that would make dark lines

[ArtistBlade1972]

@gamlingcs All of those you listed will work fine. I've used them all with the exception of w-2.

[gamlingcs]

@ArtistBlade1972 how are 52100 and 5160? i havent done much when it comes to knives and carbon steels besides the 10XX series

[ArtistBlade1972]

@gamlingcs They are both great steels. 52100 is hard to tell apart from O-1. They are almost identical in performance and workability. All of the 5XXXX are chromium bearing steels so you don't have to worry so much about decarburization as you do with simple 10 series steels. 5160 is one of my most used steels. It's on par with 1075 in hardenability. Chromium, aside from retarding decarburization, increases hardening depth. Simple steels are surface hardening.

[gamlingcs]

@ArtistBlade1972 cool, what about differential heat treating, if 52100 is so similar to O-1 does it not allow for a controllable hamon? also is forge welding any harder when it comes to laminating 5160 with other steels?

[ArtistBlade1972]

@gamlingcs Well, you can differentially HT any steel that doesn't have a chromium content high enough to make it an air hardening grade. 52100 and O-1 can easily be differentially hardened. But as far as a striking hamon goes, the simple steels can't be beat. Everyone will have slightly different results, but I achieve the best one with 1080.

Forge welding one steel is not much different than any other unless you get into stainless which requires flux containing a fluoride salt.

[gamlingcs]

@ArtistBlade1972 Ah ok because my summer job had a forge that i take over every now and again and i wanted to try out some home made san mai stuff, since theres loads of cheap re-bar (acts like 1020ish) around, and all id have to do is get some thin barstock (preferably 1095)and pound em for a while, just to see how it goes

as for the HT, ive heard that you cant make designs on O-1, and itll just become a straight line, but i think ill stick with the 10XX series for now when it comes to my forge

[ArtistBlade1972]

@gamlingcs I've never actually tried to make a hamon on o-1 so I have no idea, but it does differentially heat treat very well. Good luck with your projects. Hope they come out really nice.

[gamlingcs]

@ArtistBlade1972 Thanks you too

[RDPproject]

@gamlingcs

Yeah...I know.

There is soooo much info on thenet. Cant go thru it all, if i did...i'd be online for the rest of the year....lol.