Damascus Knife Blade

[John Dallas]

I have a favorite damascus folding pocket knife whose blade has gotten brown and grungy. Any suggestions on how to clean it up so as to restore the damascus look? (No, it's not good enuff a knife to send it to Brad)

Thanks

[Drew Hause]

John: you might try the chalk stick trick
http://www.lcsmith.org/faq/surfacerust.html

[jimcaron]

Please do post us a photo when you get it cleaned up. I love the look of a nice damascus blade.

[John Dallas]

Have been trying Drew's trick - so far, no progress. Someone suggested using coffee pot cleaner, which is apparently a mild etching solution. Anyone ever heard of that?

[jimcaron]

Have been trying Drew's trick - so far, no progress. Someone suggested using coffee pot cleaner, which is apparently a mild etching solution. Anyone ever heard of that?

Try using a light polishing compound like they use on auto finishes. They are designed to take out the haze but keep the sheen. Notice I said polishing compound and not a rubbing compound which is far more aggressive.
I think simonize makes a light duty one that could work well for you

[Paul Harm]

John, I make damascus knives. If it were me, I'd take some 220 grit wet dry paper, dip it in water and clean it up. Then dip it in feric chloride [ from Radio Shack ]. Cut it about 50/50 with water. Hold it in for a minute, pull it out and check it. It may take a dip or two. When satisfided use some baking soda/water paste to neutralize the acid etch. Some will then use a blueing - it's something you'll have to play with. The whole blade may get blued and if you don't like it try hitting the high spots with maybe some 400 or 600 grit dry. You'll need a backer so it doesn't go down in the low spots. If you mess it up, start over. Or you can do without the blue if you like it. Hope this helps - Paul

[John Dallas]

Paul - Thanks. Will head to Radio Shack.

BTW, was somewhere near your neighborhood yesterday, shooting at a charity sporting clays shoot to benefit the MUCC program to encourage young shooters. We shot at Grand Blanc Huntsman's Club. They had it set up as a cupcake course (Any time I can shoot 45/50, you know it's an easy one) 50/50 was high gun. Our team average of 87% was only good enough for about 4th place. Nice club. They are hosting the state Sporting Clays Shoot there next weekend

[Paul Harm]

I've shot there when it was easy and hard. Nice club. Paul

[Steve McCarty]

The thing that tickles my fancy about knives is not what the blade looks like but how it holds an edge. I've got about fifty knives of all kinds and enjoy sitting in front of the TV sharpening them. Knives are very different when it comes to sharpening and holding an edge. By far, btw: my sharpest knives are old Cub and Boy Scout folders. Camulus blades. An old K-Bar is good and made by the same company. Other old folders are capable of taking and holding a good edge. Swiss Army knives, both companies, take an edge and then lose it. I carry one tho, and freshen the edge daily. A few strokes on a steel does the trick. Case knives are okay, but I can't get a good edge on the small ones.

IMHO, if one wants to carry a sharp blade for little money, then go to a gun show and buy an old, cheap pocket knife that has a dirty, stained, made in the US, steel blade. Forget stainless. You'll be able to get an edge on it that you can shave with.

I have not been able to get a razor sharp edge on a damascus blade, but I only have two and one is a cheap kit blade. The other is a hand made blade. It is small and takes a pretty good edge. It is a totally hand made knife.

[Daryl Corona]

Steve;
What method do you use to sharpen your blades?

[Steve McCarty]

Steve;
What method do you use to sharpen your blades?

Good question. My grandfather was a dentist and he told me that the first thing they did in dental college was learn to sharpen a knife. I have one of his right here in front of me on my desk. It is a good luck charm. It is razor sharp. He spit on a whetstone and moved the blade in little circles working in the spit. My dad used the same technique.

My favorite method, however; is to use a flat steel and work the blade on one side across the steel until it makes a bead on the opposite side. You can feel it with your finger nail. Then I turn the blade over and run the blade on the steel which works off the bead. This leaves a sharp edge. Then I hone the blade with a ceramic stick, running one side and then the other, one stroke each. This removes any remaining burrs and buffs the edge. When the blade is this sharp it is easy to ding the edge, so I run them lightly over a steel every now and then to straighten the edge. A knife like this, if it is a good one, will easily slice paper and shave the hair on your arm.

My most popular usage of my knife is to dice limes for my gin and tonic, so you see I'm pretty serious about this.

This baby is a hand made skinner. The stocks are horn of some kind. It is forged and very sharp. Someone screwed up the edge working the blade on a grind stone. That is not my work. A $15 flea market find. I think it's neat. The steal is very hard. This knife is sharp. (Picture was taken before I really worked on it.)


http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa23/GermVMA211/Knives/GWMorganpics025.jpg

[Steve McCarty]

Here is a damascus blade. Someone made it from a kit and I've seen the shape elsewhere. It is sharp. I just tested it and it is sharper than I recall it being. I need a sheath for it.

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa23/GermVMA211/Knives/Knives002.jpg

[John Dallas]

I've always had great luck with sheathes made by Jim Layton in Ohio. I see him once a year at the OGCA show. He's getting up in years, but I believe he's still working leather.


James P Layton 2710 Gilbert Avenue Portsmouth, OH 45662-2619 (740) 353-6179

[Steve McCarty]

I've always had great luck with sheathes made by Jim Layton in Ohio. I see him once a year at the OGCA show. He's getting up in years, but I believe he's still working leather.


James P Layton 2710 Gilbert Avenue Portsmouth, OH 45662-2619 (740) 353-6179

Thanks for the info.

[Steve McCarty]

Sadly many of our traditional knife companies are out of biz or have taken their work to China. All that nation is good for is making noodles and I usually buy Italian.

Schrade blades are now Chinese. Old Time is out of biz, I think. I don't know about Camulus. Where are Case knives made today? I enjoy custom made knives, but my goodness, they have become expensive. It is easy to pay $500 for a knife! Jeeze Louise!

[Paul Harm]

Smokey Mountain Knives advertise any of their knives made in the USA with a little sign. Not many compinies left. Case makes them in the USA. Remington makes some here, some in China. Carbon steel knives seem to hold an edge better than stainless. Any knife worth a damn will have a Rockwell hardness on the C scale between 58 and 60. Too low, say 54 or less and they will sharpen real easy but won't hold an edge. Too high, say 63, and they will chip if something like bone is hit. If a knife company doesn't have a good heat treat department you could get a bad or good knife. Years ago I went to the American Bladesmith Societys bladesmithing school. We learned to " differential harden" a knife - just the bottom half of the knife was hard - or the edge half - the spline half was soft. One of their test was to put the knife in a vise and bend it 90 degrees without it breaking more than 1/2 way through. To check the edge you could put a 1/4" piece of round brass rod in a vise and put the edge on it, on it's side. With enough hand pressure the edge will bend and when you let up should go back to where it was. This first test showed you knew how to harden and temper a blade, the second test showed the blade was hard enough, but not so hard that it would chip. Most of the damascus blades you see today are made in China. Five years ago a damascus knife made in the US by a bladesmith would cost $100 a inch or higher. At least .6 % carbon content in the steel is needed for a knife to hold a edge. If the combination of both steels in a damascus knife isn't above that you'll have a pretty knive that doesn't hold an edge. Most makers use something higher, around .8 to 1%. A file made in the US has about 1.25% and that's why if heat treated properly after being made into a knife they really hold a great edge. If it's easy to sharpen a knife, the quicker it'll dull. Harder to sharpen, the longer it'll hold it's edge. Steve, I could make a sheath for your knife, but it would probably cost you more than you paid for the knife.

[Steve McCarty]

Paul; Thanks for the info. You sure know bout blades!

I too have noticed that an easy to sharpen knife loses it's edge and a hard to sharpen knife stays sharp. Some of the hardest knives for me to sharpen are Buck Knives. I've got half a dozen I guess. I carried a plastic handle Buck folder when I was in the army. It's light. Holds an edge pretty well.

Thanks for the offer to build me a sheath, but I'll find one eventually. It gives me something to hunt for at gun shows besides guns. I paid $60 for the knife. The blade wasn't touched from what it looked like in the kit. I probably paid too much, but seems like I usually do.

When I was in SERE school in the Philippines during the VN War they sold us, at $5 a pop, the Negreto style survival knive. It's about a foot long and thick. It is shaped kind of like a Napalise Kurki, made from the leaf spring off of an old Ford. Has a crude bone handle and wood sheath, but that thing is SHARP. I have used it to prise up tiles. It's also a pretty good axe. During WWII the Negreto's used to decapitate Japanese soldiers with them. They told me that Japanese owned the roads and villages, but if one stepped into the bush it was curtains.

[David Holes]

I thought it would be neat to have a Parker D2 barrel made into a knife blade. Is this logical ? Dave

[Paul Harm]

Not unless it was forge welded to each side of a piece of high carbon steel. Gun barrel damascus is low carbon and wouldn't hold an edge. With a piece of 1084, 1095, or 01 in between the damascus you'd then have a nice knife.

[Steve McCarty]

Not unless it was forge welded to each side of a piece of high carbon steel. Gun barrel damascus is low carbon and wouldn't hold an edge. With a piece of 1084, 1095, or 01 in between the damascus you'd then have a nice knife.

I would certainly be a pretty one!:)

[Richard Flanders]

A fellow here in Fairbanks makes damascus knife blades by laying chainsaw chain on old files and forging and twisting them into damascus with a trip hammer. They look very nice and seem to sharpen to a very good edge. I brought him a bundle of old files I found at an abandoned gold mine for he and his students to play with.

[Steve McCarty]

Here's my SERE school survival knife. They said it was made from the left spring of an old Ford. It is very hard, and holds a hard, sharp edge. I bought this from a Negrito native in the Philippines. He had a scar in his forehttp://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa23/GermVMA211/Knives/002.jpgarm from a Japanese bayonet. This guy really hated Japanese.