Thread: Damascus vs stainless vs carbon

Is there a difference between the steels in the shave you get if all are professionally honed and shave ready? Is Damascus worth double or more then Stainless and Carbon?

IMO: Damascus is as much, if not more so, about the look and "rarity/craftsmanship/uniqueness" of the item than performance.

A great question, I'm curious about this too ?

Scott

I have both stainless and carbon razors, and they shave in very similar ways. I can't speak for Damascus.

I can say that my Tim Zowada Damascus and an older Livi damascus both shave as well as any of my stainless or carbon straight razors.

I've only been at this a couple of years, and am no expert, but I feel that my stainless, carbon steel, and damascus razors shave equally well. Assuming razors are of equal grind, etc, having my razors professionally honed is what makes the greatest difference for me.

I don't think there is any benefit to pattern welded steel today. It's done for appearance sake.

While wikipedia is hardly the last word on such issues, after reading what they have on pattern welding, I'd say it's pretty good, so head over there for a good read.


On an aside note, back when I was working as a gunsmith, one of the books in our library documented some work done by employees at Browning. One chap in particular made a side by side damascus shotgun barrel and when you magnified the surface sufficiently, you could see the dark line actually spelled the gents name, over and over, in handwriting. The things people had time for before the advent of the Television set........

And, just a reminder for anyone who might come across a damascus barreled shotgun... it cannot be safely fired with modern smokeless powder cartridges. The barrels simply cannot withstand the high pressures and must only be used with blackpowder loads.


Regards

Christian

No experience with Damascus blades but both my carbon and stainless steel blades shave equally poorly as I hone my own. I can't see it changing any if I got a Damascus one. Kind of makes you wonder if there is any real advantage to some of the modern steel alloys being promoted by some razor makers.

Bob

Damascus costs more because there are plenty of chances to ruin a piece of steel during manufacture. For an equal carbon content, pattern welded material will perform at the same level as a plain carbon steel. As long as the alloy contents and heat treatment are similar between a patterned piece and a mono steel piece, this will hold true for both carbon based steels and stain resistant ones. The main difference is aesthetic, or marketing hype or personal desire.

The pattern welded blades I have all shave at or equal to other mono steel blades I use.

There was recently a test. Two Parker shotguns, one Damascus, the other modern were tested by increasing the pressure of the loads. Both failed at the same pressure.

Purdy recently made some new guns with Damascus barrels.

That being said, I have witnessed a Damascus drilling from Germany blow out the side of the barrel while shooting skeet. I suspect that if in good condition Damascus is equaly strong but rust can weaken the welds.