Need help with Mcusta VG-10 vs. Damascus.

[Planetcat]

Hi All, I am looking at buying the Mcusta Tactility series (MC-12) and it comes in bead blasted VG-10 and the Damascus version with a VG-10 core. Is there much difference between these two steels besides appearance? I have an Al Mar Sere VG-10 knife and like the steel a lot. A found the Mcusta in the damascus blade at a shop near me, but don't know much about the steel. Any help on this would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[statmonster]

The cutting edge is VG-10 and that's all that should concern you, i.e. they'll both cut the same. The blade clad in damascus provides an attractive pattern if that's what your looking for, but if you sharpen with sharpening sticks then you must be extra careful not to scratch the pattern.

 

[antonio_luiz]

The layers of softer & tougher steel supports the harder and more brittle VG10 core, which in theory can then be made harder than homogenous VG10 of the same thickness without the knife becoming too brittle. In practice I suspect that both types are brought to about the same level of hardness so I suspect you won't notice any difference in cutting performance or edge retention. A lot of makers just have the VG10 core sandwiched between 2 layers of a softer steel (= san mai) for this reason. Having multiple layers does make the blade look prettier though.

The blade: shape; thickness; geometry; edge profile and heat treatment will have a greater bearing on performance than whether the blade is homogenous/san mai/layered

 

[Planetcat]

Thanks guys. Sounds like they perform the same, which is all I really care about at this point. I'd prefer the bead blasted version, but will take another look at the Damascus version at the shop.