Thread: Damascus Buddel Razor

Originally Posted by Big Red

she's a really beauty man. gorgeous pattern. is it just me or is the edge not completely straight? I think it might be the pattern, looks like towards the heel it's off a bit.

did you etch it to get the grain to stand out more? or is it all polished and stands out that well on its own?

fantastic work. MORE!

Red

You are right. The edge is generally straight, but at the end, near to the shank, is a very little bump. That lets the hole edge look a little bit uneven.
But i didn´t notice any disadvantage at the shave or the honing. I think I will modify this soon and very, very carefully.
Yes the balde is etched. Without that you wouldn´t see any grain in the steel.

Originally Posted by singlewedge

Nice forge welding. Just curious why you stopped at 96? Why not 100 or 200?

Very fine blade there.

I will ask the blacksmith this weekend, I dont know.

Lovely pattern on the damascus and the scales are stunning. You're getting good at this razor building.

Beautiful. 63 RC?? Wow, I know only enough about steel to be ignorant and misinformed. That said, based on my limited experience, I'm actually surprised that it shaves comfortably with that kind of hardness. I'd be interested in seeing any magnified view of the honed edge. I have just a few razors with RC of 61-62 and I find them prone to micro-chipping.

Chris L

Just absolutly stunning.
Paul

Are you kidding me?

WOW!

Thats looking really good!

Very nice Razor, you do awesome work.

(Yeah, I think after straightening that edge up this baby will be perfect!)

The number of layers is dependent on the number of pieces you started with to make the billet. if this particular billet had been folded only once more it would have resulted in 192 layers. the lines would also be much finer than they are in this razor.

On the Razor I find it an amazing display of craftsmanship. Buddel you've done great once again. Great job, I hope i can display half the talent that you have someday. I have definitely found inspiration in this community.

Originally Posted by Pendulum

The number of layers is dependent on the number of pieces you started with to make the billet. if this particular billet had been folded only once more it would have resulted in 192 layers. the lines would also be much finer than they are in this razor.

On the Razor I find it an amazing display of craftsmanship. Buddel you've done great once again. Great job, I hope i can display half the talent that you have someday. I have definitely found inspiration in this community.

I'm glad you brought that up. Folded only four more times and the end razor would have had over 1,500 layers. In years past I had only seen pictures of pattern welded steel and when I would read about how many times the steel was folded, I assumed the bladesmith was literally folding the billet that many times. Either way it's an amazing process and in the hands of a true artisan like Buddel, the end result is a pleasure to see.

Chris L

EDIT: I just saw that buddel already answered these questions
Whatever.

Anyway, really nice blade man.

Originally Posted by singlewedge

Nice forge welding. Just curious why you stopped at 96? Why not 100 or 200?
Very fine blade there.

Because the layer count always doubles.
If you start with 3 layers
fold once -> 6
fold twice -> 12
fold 3 times -> 24
fold 4 times -> 48
fold 5 times -> 96

So you can't end up with 100 layers unless you start out with a stack of 25 layers

Btw, if you fold too many times, the stack might become homogenous again, and layers start to disappear into each other. And then you lose the visual layer aspect.

Originally Posted by Big Red

did you etch it to get the grain to stand out more? or is it all polished and stands out that well on its own?
Red

Pattern welded steel looks just like plain steel when you are working it.
Only through an etching process will you make the pattern visible.
There are many different processes to use, but the main thing is that all of them involve an acidic component.