Damascus Blade?

[Sal Williams]

Hi Guys, Everywhere I look I keep hearing about damascus blades, in books I have and threads etc. , but I don't know what they are and haven't seen an explanation yet. Would one of you kind fellows enlighten me please?
Thanks, Sal

[Larry Lipps]

Sal, forging damascus blades was somewhat of an art form during the Third Reich. Offered as a option by most manufacturers on their various edged weapons, it greatly increased the cost to the purchaser. On these grounds well less than 1% of all edged weapons have damascus blades.

Damascus steel is a somewhat ancient art form of folding and hammering steel to form a multiple layered metal that is used to make the blade. It is a time consuming process that required years to master. Many manufacturers offered artificial damascus blades as a low cost alternative. Any Internet search engine can provide you with a good explanation of the actual process if you want more information. Maybe someone has a photo of a blade thay can post.

[Sal Williams]

Thanks Snigley, Yes if someone could pot pics that would be great! Can you easily tell a Damascus from one that is not? It would be really nice to see pics of a Damascus next to what you called afrtificial Damascus next to just plain regular blades for comparison. It would be informative to a newbi like me anyway.
Thanks again, Sal

[Skipper Greenwade]

Sal,

in most cases, the tang of a Damascus blade will be stamped with the word "Damast" or "Echt Damast". Artificial Damascus is pretty easy to spot once you've seen the real thing for yourself. I have one piece in my collection with an artificial Damascus blade but, unfortunately, no genuine Damascus piece(s) to use for a comparison shot.

Probably the most common Damascus pieces the Third Reich edged weapon collector should expect to run across are Navy daggers. Many of the Imperial-era Navy's had Damascus blades. A lot of them were 'converted' to the Third Reich pattern, usually by simply switching pommels.

Hope that helps,
Skip

[Sal Williams]

Thanks Skip, that does help. Would you post your imitation damascus? Maybe we can get sombody out there to post a real one and then we could compare. How about it fellows, anyone got a damascus they could post pics of?
Sal