Damascus Steel

K

KVT

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Might be beating a dead horse and I did do some searching…

I have pretty much stayed away from Damascus blades, mostly because I think they’re either ugly, gaudy or overdone on 80% of the knives they’re used on.

Anyway, I ordered my first Damascus blade on a cheapy CIVIVI Brazen.
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/CI...s-drop-point-blade-dark-green-micarta-handles

My question is, where does the steel (or steels) used in “budget“ Damascus slot in comparison to the common premium steels?
Like I know a CIVIVI Damascus isn’t going to compare to a S35VN, but is it closer to a D2? Or Nitro-V? Or …

I assume a Damascus from, say, a $550 WE Knife is not the same Damascus from a $80 CIVIVI Knife.

Why don’t the manufacturers list what’s in their various Damascus blades? Instead, they literally just list the steel type as “Damascus.”


EDIT: In one case of the WE Beacon, they actually DO list out what type of Damascus - Hakkapella Damasteel - this must be fancy stuff @ $600.
https://www.knifecenter.com/item/WE...oint-blade-black-stonewashed-titanium-handles

https://damasteel.se/pattern/hakkapella/
 
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Straight up pattern welded or is it San Mai construction, ie a solid core with damascus cladding? I see many Chinese knives use VG-10 as a core, and I think Civivi has used 9Cr18MoV also.
 
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My cheburkov's use zdi-1016 damascus. They are not $600 knives but hold up very well in both edge retention and maintenance. It seems the zdi-1016 is not as prone to rusting as cheaper damascus.
 
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Its holds an edge about similar to 9cr18mov combined with 10cr(whatever alphabet numbers), with a good heat treat because that's pruportedly what Civivi uses.
 
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I acquired my only two Damascus steel knives very recently, both of them being of Russian origin. There was no information that I could find about the steels used to make either one of them.

This one was made by Nord Crown, (a knife art studio), in St. Petersburg Russia...

20220413_152423_(1).jpg

And this one by Kizlyar of Dagastan Russia...

20220502_122653_(1).jpg

Neither of them were exactly bargain bin priced items, but doubt that either one is made with any type of modern exotic/super steels.
I find them both to be things of beauty, which above all, seems to be the purpose of getting knives in Damascus in today's world that has so many super mono steels 😊
 
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Nichols 3V Core damascus vs M390. I like them both :D
 
a lot of people get suckered into getting a 'painted' Damascus. Sometimes it's hard to tell until the paint chips off. I'm not sure about CIVIVI.. I know they supposedly make ok knives at a reasonable price.
Properly done Damascus usually look pretty stunning, especially in person. My chef's knife 😁
https://imgur.com/jfbOX9v
 
Doing a quick search at zladinox ...zdi 1016 that cheburkov uses...the layering ranges from 100 to 600 layers
Not a metalorgist but site says made from 140H18 & 60H14 steel.
Sort of digressing from OP but these knives are relatively cheaper that many other demascus knives.
 
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Pattern-welded steel performance depends on what the steels were that went into it and unsurprisingly tends to perform like an average of the welded steels.

It's like knife steel in general. If a maker says "damascus" and doesn't specify what the steels used are, it's probably cheap. That doesn't mean it's bad, but it's almost certainly simple carbon steel, so you would want to treat it as carbon steel.

Damasteel is a very specific brand whose namesake product is a powder metallurgy-formed patterned stainless steel made from PMC27 and RWL34, which is roughly analogous to AEB-L and CPM154, respectively.
 
LimpCroissant said:
Its holds an edge about similar to 9cr18mov combined with 10cr(whatever alphabet numbers), with a good heat treat because that's pruportedly what Civivi uses.
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Civivi's 9cr based damascus is the only kind I have experience with, and it performs surprisingly well. The main reason I bought the damascus was that it was an "upgrade" from the standard D2. The prettyness just made it all the better. I have not really used them hard, as they are gentleman knives, but the Riffle is more robust and has handled a little bit of cardboard.
 
K.O.D. said:
Civivi's 9cr based damascus is the only kind I have experience with, and it performs surprisingly well. The main reason I bought the damascus was that it was an "upgrade" from the standard D2. The prettyness just made it all the better. I have not really used them hard, as they are gentleman knives, but the Riffle is more robust and has handled a little bit of cardboard.
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That's good to hear that you've had a good experience with Civivi's damascus. I'd have to say that they have the nicest looking damascus out of any other brand in the same general price category. Sometimes I'll see some that almost looks like damasteel!
 
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