Ive been eyeing a few knives that have (what they are calling) Damascus steel blades.  Im sure its the "old school" Damascus, since the price range is < $100, but my main concern is knowing its characteristics....mainly the ability to take a good edge.  I tend to dislike stainless steels and prefer 1095 or other high carbon types.  I do like D2 steel however, although to me, it seems to be a bit tougher to get an edge on it not sure why.

Damascus is difficult and expensive to make so if the knife is < $100 it is probably crap.  Also, when I was forging damascus I used 1085/1095 & L6 or 5160 and L6.


Good damascus will take and keep an edge as good or better than their individual steels.  It can also be made from many steel combinations.

"Damascus" steel is absolutely hard core and beautiful, if you can find it. It is horrendously expensive because the method to make it has been lost. If you are refering to what is actually "pattern welded" steel, then price is subjective and based on materials and skills of the smith hammering it out. Some fine grained steels can be very good indeed and will hold very keen edges.

So there is no specific composition ... its up to whoever is making it?  Thats kinda like cold steel and other commercial makers that use their own labels such as "Carbon V".
1095 or 440 or D2 I can understand.

I am not a fan of Damascus steel of any kind, for several reasons. Number one is price vs performance. When a company decides to go the Damascus/pattern welded route its purely for aesthetic reasons, it has absolutely nothing to do with the performance or characteristics of the knife. This drives up the price in a pretty unbalanced manner, however does nothing to actually improve the knife. Number two is that no matter how many times a company tries to sell their Damascus steel as superior to a standard homogeneous steel, the fact of the matter is you are using more than one type of steel with varying chemical compositions, hardness, toughness, and physical properties. The steels are going to wear differently, period. If you have more than one steel acting as your edge, you may find that your edge performs differently in different areas. Number three is the heat treat. Any knife maker worth a damn knows how important heat treat is. In my knife making experience I have found when I am working with a new steel I spend the vast majority of my time researching the heat treat. When you are treating 2 or 3 different types of steel with the same heat treating method, it will always be a compromise. No two steels love the EXACT same heat treating method, so throwing all of them into the same heat treat will further exacerbate the steel characteristics of the various steels used.

It is important to note, that if you are just lightly using the knife than I doubt you will ever run into the above problems. Those are just my opinions, others may disagree.

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