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Old 11-12-2012, 03:18 PM   #1
Briandg
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Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: southwest Missouri
Posts: 35,518
Damascus kitchen knives?

At sams, today, I saw a set of damascus kitchen knives. $99. a chefs knife, chinese type chefs knife, and two utility knives.

Here's the catch: They were 66 (count them) layer damascus, and it had a "core" listed. for those who may not know steel, to start with, you simply can't get 66 layer damascus, it doesn't exist, unless it's plain bogus from the get go. You take two different steels, or iron and steel, and weld it together, then forge flat. Fold, forge, fold, forge, fold, forge, fold, forge, and fold and forge again. That gives you 64, not 66 layers. Second, you can't "core" damascus, as that destroys even the slightest utility, or reason for having a damascus blade. lastly, if you are serious, you forge the edge thinner, and then grind the profile. the only reason for damascus steel is to pack as many layers of softer iron and harder steel, along with the accompanying crystalization, on the cutting edge.

So, what makes the things a rip off? First, you need more layers to make a fine blade. Second, the edge was not forged, meaning that when the blade was ground, all of those "66 layers" were ground off. The knife will have wound up with a poorly constructed cutting edge as the center layers of the steel will meander back and forth. If there was, as implied, a core of another steel, your knife should have just been made out of this "core" metal. instead, you will have a wandering edge that will be inconsistent metallurgically, and NOT, as implied, as good as a genuine layered damascus knife with a forged and packed edge. Since there was a pretty line of ripples going down the blade, you know that they forged it flat, and ground right through the layers.

So there you have it. Don't buy damascus kitchen knives.

btw, it used to be that 128 was considered a minimum number of layers for a truly good knife,with packed edge, and then ground to shape. otherwise, you get no benefit from the laminated steel.
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