Thread: Black Damascus?
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Old 04-21-2015, 01:55 PM
Ed Caffrey's Avatar
Ed Caffrey Ed Caffrey is offline
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I suspect that the term "Black Damascus" is nothing more then an advertising ploy. Thats not a term you ever hear in the custom knife realm.

There are several ways to achieve a high contrast with damascus steel. Most important is the choice of alloys used to create the damascus, the idea being to utilize different alloys that offer the properties desired in the finished product. With cutlery, based on my point of view, I first want alloys that are going to allow for the end properties that I desire in a cutting tool. Secondary to that would be the use of alloys that when etched, create the greatest contrast.
With cutlery its all about striking a balance....generally you have to give up something, in order to obtain some other characteristic.
For example, with Damascus, the highest contrast is going to come from using pure nickel in the damascus....it creates outstanding contrast, but the trade-off is that nickel is not hardenable...which means by using it, the cutting ability of a finished blade is degraded. On the other side of that is would be using alloys that offer better hardenability, but may not offer high contrast in the finished blade.

The most common alloys used by Bladesmiths in the U.S. at the current time is 1080/1084, and 15N20. These alloys are both hardenable, and a 1.5% nickel content in the 15N20 produces "good" contrast when etched.

There are also post etch procedures that can be accomplished to increase the contrast of damascus, such as bluing, and lacquer coats.


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