I was surprised and honored yesterday when my long time friend and customer had the dagger I made for him tattooed on his arm.
He said he'd have his Jank Knife for live

Sure better than getting you're girl friends name tattooed on your arm.

Impressive!

That's commitment!

That is cool

Didn’t realize this was a “gun show”

Not guns, more like a pea shooters. I can say that, you should hear what he says about me.

That’s awesome

I need some clarification about Damascus blades. I have always thought that Damascus blades had a hard center piece of steel with the softer steel folded around it but the different blades I have seen here and elsewhere seem to be made with just the so called soft steel and no center hard steel metal. Is there a standard for Damascus steel? Thanks

Damascus is multiple layers of different types of steel usually just done for aesthetics/looks. The darker steel is typically 1080 or 1095 for edge holding and cutting ability while the lighter steel is usually 15N20 (I think) which has a high nickel content which makes it bright and stand out but if it’s on the edge, then the edge won’t hold as well.

What you describe, having a high carbon center is called San Mai or “three layers” which is the traditional method of Japanese blades. You keep a softer spine for flexibility and have a super hard razor sharp cutting edge. Which is also why you see they traditionally just do an edge quench to harden the edge and not the spine giving it that wavy hamone line.

Thanks for the info, PS. Daniel

Damascus is not always made from 1095 or 1084; for example my friend Brad Vice from Alabama Damascus makes his from 52100, 5160, 203E and 15N20. It's not also purely esthetic a dull blade that you can run across your hand will still cut paper due to the microscopic serrations on the blade. There's a reason as Alabama Damascus steel billet cost's 10 or 20 time more than other knife making billets.
I do forge billets some 1095 and 15n20 for San Mai; is the San Mai stronger than just the 1095 probably not. Does San Mai flex more, I doubt it since the outer jacket is so thin and beat into submission that the outer jacket does not incorporate any performance properties to the blade. Now the San Mai to me, at least my San Mai is purely esthetic. Flexing abilities come from differential heat treatment process, thus the hamon appears on the blade expressively during the etching process.

Regardless of the steel; the for performance of the blade is 100% in the makers ability to get the most out of that particular steel with his heat treat and tempering methods.
I have cringed in my seat seeing some of the crap that knife makers pawn off on people by expressing how good of steel they are using in their production. For example a gas or coal forge is capable of heat treating SOME steel with the magnet test that simply a hit and miss on maximizing the properties of that particular steel, it's like crossing the ocean in a boat with a specific landing location without a charted course.
HEAT AND TREAT IS THE HEART AND SOUL OF THE KNIFE. The steels performance is 100% contingent on the maker!
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