Thread: Some new stuff in damascus

The blades were finished before I went to the meet, but had no scales yet. As I've said ealier, I am stepping away from plain tool steel, and the works below is what I will be doing a lot more of.

First is a 5 layer billet I made myself. It The black is O2, the shiny is 15N20. The scales are stabilized burl and colored resin hybrid. I've stopped using shokwood for the time being because there is just too little of it on the market and the guy making it plays deaf dumb and blind on the internet despite encouraging people to send him emails on his website. And truth be told, this material is harder, stronger, and cheaper anyway.







The next is a san mai I made in my forge, using Howard Clark Damascus for the sides, and O2 in the middle. This too has hybrid wood and resin scales.





And the last one is a predator razor I made from Maarten Van Hattum Damascus. He's a dutch knifemaker who also makes Damascus steel. This one is actually pretty interesting, and I thought I had done something wrong. The steel is 320 layers in a torsion twist, and hammered to a quarter hollow in a powerhammer for me. After etching, the blade exhibits what is called chattoyance, which is what happens when both eyes perceive the pattern slightly differently and the blade surface looks like a hologram. When you move the razor, you see 3D holographic effects moving on the steel, despite the steel being perfectly flat and smooth.

The scales are stabilized elk antler marrow.





Anyway, between this and wootz, that is what you can expect to see more of.