Thread: Wootz and damascus knives work in progress

Handle to the right, point on the left. Typically when you are viewing a straight razor like that it is referred to as the show side. I had no idea what else we might call it. Logically I should have said the second picture. I was not thinking that thought all the way through.

I was thinking the show side as the pretty one. I don't know which one is better looking.....

Technically not a Damascus but a san mai. A santoku I made for a friend. The steel is a san mai from Howard Clark. The sides are wrought iron, the core is 1086 modified. The wrought iron is from an antique wagon wheel. It has a lot of impurities, which causes the visual texture.
The handle is made from Gabon black ebony wood.

Originally Posted by RezDog

Handle to the right, point on the left. Typically when you are viewing a straight razor like that it is referred to as the show side. I had no idea what else we might call it. Logically I should have said the second picture. I was not thinking that thought all the way through.

With pocket knife collecting they call it the 'mark side'. The reverse is called the 'pile side.' I think that is because when assembling for pinning it goes in that order, but I'm not sure if that is the rational. I say 'mark side' and pile side for razors or knives, but I knew what you meant when you said 'show side.'

Heavy chopper / vegetable knife to match the set that included the peeling knife higher on this page.

This is a bit of a failed knife. When I was at Gudy's place we used his press to roll down a san mai billet with Damascus sides and an O2 core, and then put it in the press with ridged dies to make a ladder pattern things. We didn't really know what was going to happen but figured it would be more interesting than a plain san mai. I cut the billet in 2, and made a kitchen knife with the first part. Sadly, there was a bit of a welding flaw on the bottom of the billet. I ground it away before forging a knife out of it, but as a result the steps of the ladder don't go all the way to the edge. Still, it looked interesting enough to finish all the way.

For the handle I used a bit of black and white ebony I had lying around, and glued the wooden sides to a core of double neon green shokres. Personally I like knives that have a flash of color in them. Or as my wife calls it: 'ugly as sin'

I cannot think of any cook who would not want to have that "failed" knife. I think it is striking. : )

I'm with Bob and think this is a pretty impressive looking knife. I also happen to know how well your knives perform. Nice nice nice.

For the discerning gentleman: a peeling knife I made from a ribbon of Damascus I accidentally split from the slab. The handles are mammoth tusk bark.

You may remember the issue with the camel bone scales.
I said that I had 2 sets. I used one, and was not going to buy any more.
I still had one set left that I was allowed to use, but after considering things, I discussed it with my youngest and we decided to bury the remaining set next to the dead bird so that the camel could go to great grandmother in heaven.

We held a small ceremony, with my daughter and one of the toy camels in attendance.
My daughter held a short eulogy.