Damascus Knife Blade

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by Daryl Corona

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.)

[Stepmac]

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.

[Big D]

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

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by 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

Thanks for the info.

[Stepmac]

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.

[Stepmac]

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.

[Holeshot]

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.

[Stepmac]

Originally Posted by 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.

I would certainly be a pretty one!