Thread: What's the deal with these Damascus blades??

In the pic of the bottom of the tang , it looks like the "Damascus" pattern does not transition into the bottom of the tang . Are you sure the pattern isn't photo etched onto the blade ?

The pattern is visible on the bottom of the tang and the whole spine and tail. Just doesn't show well in the photos.

Thanks much for the updated information Dylan. Waiting to hear more when you have the time and opportunity to finish it up and post your "opinion" of the razor.

Thanks for doing the homework for all of us!

Well, I went back at it some more on the Norton 1k. More "jointing" to get the frown out, then more back and forth with two layers of tape. I almost have the bevel running to the edge. When I say almost, I mean almost on this razor; on a normal razor I'd say there is still quite a bit of work to go. But with this thing, "a lot" has taken on a new meaning.

I've attached some photos. Note the width and variance of the bevels, and also check out where you can see the "wear" on the tape on the spine (darker areas above the toe and heal - notice no "spine wear" in the middle). Not sure if all the unevenness is due to the grind or what, but there is much unevenness to be had.

So without stating the obvious, this razor is not suitable for a Newbies

Originally Posted by vespar72

So without stating the obvious, this razor is not suitable for a Newbies

Quite right. Though, as these are hand made, I don't know how much the grinding varies from razor to razor. It is possible that I got a bad one. Then again, maybe I got a good one...

FWIW...The blade is to wide for the thickness of the spine. The general rule of thumb is the blade width should be 3.5 x the thickness of the spine. This gives a nice narrow bevel. Yours is in excess of 4 x! That's one of the reasons for the wide bevels, the angle is to shallow. Another reason is uneven grinding of the blade along the edge, the thickness varies so much that the bevels are of uneven width. The 3rd reason may be that the thickness of the spine is not uniform for its length, thus it probably does not lie flat on the hone which would cause the angle of the bevel to change at various points along the edge. This strongly resembles the flaws I found on a Marbles Damascus razor that I purchased last year from Smokey Mountain Knife Works for about $30. It was also a bit warped!
Once I found that it was a bit warped I put it into my box of trash razors. Don't ask me where it is now, I could not care less.

You may be able to make this into a shaving razor... I hope so. The next test would be the quality/smoothness of the shave and how long it holds an edge.

Hoggie also mentioned the 3.5 ratio. Maybe I'll throw some more tape on to try to hit it. Will probably get me to the bevel faster as well...

This is a valiant effort Dylan. All of this work when you know that chances are, considering the problems with the grind and the geometry that Randy mentioned, the steel is sub standard in tempering and heat treat, if not in quality. I take my hat off to you. I wouldn't have the patience to have gone this far. You've done a service for us RADdicts that have been following the thread. I'd really be surprised if once honed to shave ready it will hold the edge. The dream of the damascus on the cheap is just that.