Which knife is better Damascus or damask. Damascus steel or damask steel - which is better

This article does not claim to be complete coverage of all (especially purely professional) issues, compiled from sources, links to which you will find at the end of the article, is of a promotional, informative nature and is intended for "dummies" who want to broaden their horizons and somehow understand in some interesting questions.

Damascus and bulat - how do they differ?

The blades of modern knives are made from a variety of materials. First of all, it is steel of various types. All steels used are divided into two large groups - traditional carbon and corrosion-resistant. Classic stainless steels are of little use for making knives, since the cutting edge of such blades does not have sufficient durability. Carbon steel with competent heat treatment has excellent performance properties - high mechanical strength, keeps the sharpness of the cutting edge well, and sharpens well. There is only one drawback - the tendency to corrosion, but it is easily eliminated by elementary care or with the help of special coatings.

There are very few specialized materials for knives. Patterned steels - Damascus and damask steel - are one of them. Among consumers, there are many opinions about Damascus and damask steel. Someone claims that their recipe is lost. Others have heard little about it at all, and ask unprofessional questions: “What is it drawn with?”, Or “Why is the blade not polished?”. Of course, in fairness, it should be noted that from year to year there are fewer and fewer ignorant people. It is worth a person once to work with a knife made of high-quality Damascus or damask steel, as he will never acquire a knife from any other steel!

Damascus is a metal composed of two or three different types steels with different carbon content, connected by repeated forging.

The secret of good Damascus steel lies precisely in the correct selection and proportions of various metals. Required condition- the fact that hard steels are taken more than soft ones. The number of types of steels, the number of layers, the forging technique give the blade a specific pattern. Qualitatively made Damascus has good mechanical properties, excellent cutting qualities and attractive appearance. It should be noted that the Damascus blade does not possess the property of self-sharpening, as it is often believed, it still needs to be sharpened. In addition, it must be remembered that laminated steel is less frost-resistant, and Damascus, like ordinary carbon steel, is prone to corrosion, which is more dangerous due to the inhomogeneity of the material. Now there are so-called stainless damasks, including those made industrially, for example, "Damastil" produced in Sweden. The blade made of this material has high hardness and good mechanical properties.

Bulat is a metal obtained by casting and is composite material mild steel with fragments of high carbon steel or even cast iron.

Hence the unique combination of toughness, elasticity of the blade, its high hardness and excellent cutting properties. Damask saber blades, the flexibility of which made it possible to wear them instead of a belt, are not fiction, but reality. They easily bend at an angle of 900-1200 without breaking. Outwardly, damask knives are inconspicuous, have a blade with a grayish tint. However, damask blades are very rare and extremely expensive, so they still remain the lot of connoisseurs and connoisseurs.

Patterned steels are characterized by increased strength, excellent cutting properties and beauty. As a result of the process of their manufacture, a unique pattern appears, as unique as fingerprints.

How many layers of metal should a Damascus steel blade contain?

The number of layers in patterned steel directly affects both the beauty and clarity of the pattern, and the working qualities of the blade. The optimal average interval, taking into account the ratio of price and quality, is 300-500 layers. What matters here is not so much the number of layers as the quality of the metal. You can forge Damascus in 600 layers of nails, and it will be worse than Damascus, which has 200 layers of good metal. In addition, when forging, above 400 layers, it is required to change manufacturing process(it is necessary to additionally saturate the metal with carbon, because carbon burns out during heating), which significantly increases the cost of the workpiece and, accordingly, the knife. In addition, you need to be aware that the exceptional mechanical properties of Damascus steel do not depend on the layers, but on the quality of forging and the art of the blacksmith. It can be noted that even a specialist cannot visually determine the number of layers.

How to distinguish high-quality Damascus?

Sometimes you hear that a purchased Damascus steel knife quickly became dull. The answer is simple. Either a person bought "Damascus" (i.e. stainless steel etched in a special way, artificially imitating the pattern of Damascus), or he acquired Damascus welded from soft metals. Such metal is much easier and faster to weld. It is almost impossible to visually distinguish it from high-quality Damascus. A soft Damascus knife (no matter how beautiful its design is!), Cuts worse than any stainless steel knife. But with limited contact with bones (when butchering an animal), as well as with small chopping blows, this combination of hardness and elasticity is quite enough. A good knife steel should be not only hard, but also flexible.

Blades made of Damascus steel were tested by hunters in various parts of the country. In 99% of such knives, consumers give a positive assessment of the work of the knife; 1% - are people who use the knife for other purposes, for example, when they try to cut nails, steel bars with a knife, throw it at a tree, etc. Although cutting nails is not so a big problem! Knife made of any steel with a hardness of 50 units. HRC on the working part will cut the nail. You just need to change it a little constructively: the thickness of the blade in the cutting part should be at least 1 mm (thicker is better), and the sharpening angle is at least 45 degrees (bigger is better). Order such a knife, and you will be able to chop all the desired nails! Remember that the hardness of a nail is much lower than the hardness of a knife (even from mediocre steel), it's all about the design of the blade. There are knives that cut paper, then cut the nail (by hitting the butt with a hammer) and then the knife can cut paper again (though a little worse). In general, if there is a desire to check the quality of the blade on the nail, it is not necessary to cut it. It is enough to cut the nail or make small notches on it. Any knife made of good Damascus steel will withstand this operation without any problems (but not knives with a very thin working part from 0.1 mm and thinner). And yet, such experiments with knives are not recommended. Of course, if in an extreme situation, there is a need to use a knife for cutting nails, rope or thick wire, this is another matter. You don't have to do this unless you need to. There are other tools for this (for example: chisels, metal cutters), which are much cheaper than a good knife. With such constant experiments, especially if the objects being cut turn out to be red-hot, the knife will still break.

According to the reviews of various hunters, two elks in a row were skinned and butchered with a Damascus steel knife without additional sharpening; five small boars; large billhook; several beavers processed several tens of kilograms of fish (the knife continued to cut after that!). If you look under magnification at the cutting edge of a Damascus knife after butchering an elk, you can see a micro-saw. It turned out due to the fact that the layers of soft steels were slightly crumpled, while the hard ones remained sharp due to the additionally acquired viscosity during the forging process. Therefore, if you look at the cutting edge of the knife after a long work, the blade shines in places and it seems that the knife has become dull. But when you start cutting, it turns out that the knife cuts no worse than a new one! Even when Damascus knife completely dull, it is enough to gently correct it with a grinding stone to restore cutting properties. Here the effect of straightening the soft parts of the cutting edge is triggered.

Why such a price for knives made of Damascus and damask steel?

The cost of Damascus blades is influenced by many factors: the exclusivity and originality of each product, the complexity technological production each knife, the quality of the materials. IN Lately there has been a downward trend in prices in the category of a simple working knife due to the appearance huge amount low grade Damascus. Therefore, you can observe such different prices for Damascus steel knives even from the same company (for example, one Damascus knife costs 3,000 rubles, and another $ 300). However, high-quality damascus is a material that has a lot of work and skill invested in it, and it cannot be cheap. On expensive knives end damascus is often used. This gives beauty to the product (due to beautifully selected three or four patterns). In addition, this allows you to combine materials of different hardness in one blade. So, a very hard damascus with a large amount of hard metal is used on the cutting edge, soft damascus is used on the butt of the blade (the same one from which weapon barrels were made). Thanks to the combination of these Damascus, the strength of the knife increases. The cutting properties of such a blade (albeit not much) increase.

All Damascus produced now can be conditionally divided into three categories: the so-called black, white and black and white Damascus. The cheapest is black damascus. It is welded from mild carbon steel. Technologically, it is made lighter than white and black-and-white Damascus. In addition, having high mechanical properties, it has a very low resistance to corrosion, rusts quickly and requires special care. White and black and white Damascus are slightly more expensive than black Damascus. This is due to the complex manufacturing technology of blades. Such blades have corrosion resistance, high mechanical properties. In addition, black and white Damascus (composed of carbon and stainless steel) has excellent decorative qualities, which gives the knife a unique look.

Cast damask steel is somewhat more expensive to manufacture than Damascus. It has excellent cutting properties and good strength characteristics, but it is quite expensive, and the range of knives made from it is not so large. Damascus is slightly inferior to damask steel in terms of a set of properties, but surpasses the latter in decorativeness and is cheaper relative to it.

Good Damascus and good damask steel from a consumer point of view are one and the same. The same hardness, the same micro-saw effect, is also easy to sharpen ... Bad Damascus and bad damask steel are the same: neither one nor the other will cut!

How to care for a Damascus steel knife?

In terms of cutting properties, high-quality Damascus steel surpasses steel of other brands several times. Its only drawback, due to the fact that Damascus contains carbon steels, is that the blade corrodes and can rust. Therefore, it needs constant care, then the knife will remain in working condition for a long time. To prevent corrosion of the blade and metal elements of the handle, it is strongly recommended that the knife be cleaned after use, wiped, lubricated with neutral oil or grease and stored in a dry place. In order to avoid damage to the pattern on patterned steels, it is not recommended to expose the knife to acid solutions, including organic ones! If suddenly rusty spots appear on the steel, they need to be removed with very fine sandpaper with oil or better with kerosene. All the hassle of caring for the blade is offset by excellent cutting properties (which cannot be compared with any stainless steel: both domestic and imported). It is not recommended to cut large and hard bones with a knife, open canned food, cut metal objects, bend the blade at large angles, use the knife as a mount, screwdriver, hammer, chisel. This can lead to loss of sharpness and damage to the blade or hilt. Also, these knives are not designed for throwing.

(the article was prepared based on the materials of the sites:

The most durable types of metals are commonly referred to as damask steel and damascus. What are their features?

What is Bulat?

Bulat It's actually a composite material. As a rule, it consists of:

1. soft grades of steel;
2. additives from steel with a high carbon content, and in some cases - cast iron.

This combination of metals gives damask steel unique properties. On the one hand, products made of the corresponding material are very hard, on the other hand, they are elastic. A damask saber can be easily bent at a right angle, and it will not break.

On the basis of damask steel, products from patterned steel can be produced. They are characterized by exceptionally high strength and excellent aesthetic properties.

What is Damascus?

Damascus It is also a composite material. It is represented, as a rule, by 2 or 3 grades of steel, differing in the percentage of carbon. Damascus products are produced by sequential forging with alternate use of different grades of steel.

As a rule, there are significantly more hard grades of steel in the structure of Damascus than those that are soft. What types of metal are involved in the forging of the product, total amount forging queues as well as specific forging technology determine appearance manufactured item: a special pattern is formed on it.

Traditional Damascus requires special conditions storage, since the corresponding type of material is quite sensitive to temperature changes and corrosion. But modern modifications of this metal, as a rule, contain special additives that significantly increase the resistance of products to various external factors.

Comparison

The main difference between damask steel and Damascus is that the first material is based on soft grades of steel, and the second is predominantly hard. Both types of metals can be classified as composite. Experts also classify them as patterned - for the reason that the combination of different types of steel during forging damask steel and Damascus in most cases forms unique patterns on the surface of products from these metals.

Having determined what the difference between damask steel and Damascus is fundamentally, we fix the conclusions in the table.

The presence of a pattern.

This is now not a defining difference. First, patterned steel appeared at the same time as Damascus. This is a fake and it was made, like all fakes - for the sake of money. Even many "Damascus" blades in museums, after research, turned out to be just an imitation. Already in the days of P.P. Anosov throughout Europe produced patterned steel, especially for gun barrels, and he noticed that "... the skill of European masters is aimed more at the formation of patterns than at improving the properties of the metal." History always repeats itself - the craze for the pattern has begun again. In genuine cast Damascus damask, the pattern is a derivative of its fighting qualities. The pattern cannot be scheduled. Until the end of the process, no one knew what level the damask steel would turn out to be and, accordingly, the pattern. Therefore, looking at the pattern, it was possible to determine what kind of damask steel is without putting it to the test. Quote: “If the damask steel is properly etched, then the samples are superfluous; without them, you can see: viscous or brittle, hard or soft, elastic or weak ... metal ”P.P. Anosov. In welded Damascus damask, there is no connection between patterns and quality. S. Danilov is right, saying that "any pattern does not speak of any properties, but only of the skill of a blacksmith." A. Maryanenko is also right when he says that "all the dignity of Damascus is in its pattern." All this is said about patterned steel, and we value genuine Damascus damask steel not only for this.
Secondly, some varieties of damask steel may not have a pattern.

Improved cutting properties.

If you take two blades, one of genuine damask steel, the second of tool steel, then the damask blade will cut a line twice as long. Not 100 (one hundred), but only twice. The figure is not particularly impressive, but people familiar with the technique know that in order to double the result, you need to put in 10-100 times more effort. For example, a motorcycle with a 12-15 hp engine reaches a speed of 100 km / h, and to achieve a speed of 200 km / h, an engine 10-20 times more powerful is required, plus a different chassis and other aerodynamics, etc. The same with damask steel, so that it cuts only twice as well and dulls twice as slowly, you need to make much more effort and do everything carefully than with ordinary tool steel.

Cold forging.

This property is defining. A hardened damask blade can be put on an anvil and cold forged - it will not crack. Damask steel is very weakly hardened: either in air or in boiling fat, i.e. about the same as a braid. The damask blade can be bent 90 degrees and straightened when cold.
The best blades straighten themselves almost to their original position in a few days. The damask blade cannot be broken, only bent. Quote “A good damask blade with ordinary bending pops up and retains its former appearance ..., and with reinforced, for example, stepping on the end of the blade with your foot and bending it at a right angle, it will not break, but will bend, and being straightened, will not lose its former elasticity.” It is interesting that knowing this statement by P.P. Anosov, those blacksmiths who make damask steel from cast iron say: "Anosov made soft damask steel, and we make hard one." Alas, P.P. Anosov in this case speaks of genuine damask steel made in Persia and Syria. At his disposal for research were provided the richest collections of Damascus from the governor of Orenburg V.A., Perovsky, the collection of damask steel arsenal, the collection of Tsarevich Alexander, the collection of Prince Mikhail, Prince P.D. Saltykov and the collection of the chief of staff of the corps of mining engineers K.V. Chevkin. Since we cannot touch this, we will take the word of Mr. P.P. Anosov that damask steel should bend and be forged in the cold. Damascus damask steel does not have great hardness - this follows from its heterogeneous structure. Indeed, in the structure of damask steel, threads, crystals, soft iron flakes are mixed with cementite crystals and high-carbon steel dendrites. If you measure the hardness of such a mixture, then the diamond tip of the measuring device in different areas will show different hardness, but mostly not high, because. particle sizes are commensurate with the diameter of the rounding of the diamond tip of the measuring device, and this tip will slide from a hard crystal to a soft one. On this occasion, P.P. Anosov and said that "hardness is relative." "Damascus steel had enough hardness to keep it sharp." If you are offered damask steel with a hardness of 80 units. HRC is a tungsten carbide coated tool steel.
Damascus damask steel is easier to distinguish by the method of production than by the pattern, because. There are not very many ways, but there are an infinite number of drawings. You can weld a Damascus blank in 1000 layers and weighing 10 kg, then cutting off a portion of 200 g from it to make a knife with one pattern, the next with another; but since the basis is still the same, the quality of the product changes little or does not change at all.

A quality knife can be made from a wide variety of steel types. Steel is the most commonly used for making hunting knives. stainless or alloyed.

The first version of the knife differs in sufficiently working performance, however, alloy steel is significantly inferior in this. The main characteristics that stainless steel knives have are durability and unpretentiousness.

Such knives, of course, are not subject to corrosion. The alloy steel used to make the knife is usually damask steel or Damascus. It is much easier to cut something with this knife. However, they have one significant drawback - susceptibility to corrosion. Therefore, if you decide to buy knife, you should be prepared for the fact that you will have to carefully look after him. Metals are very different both in physical and in the way they are made.

Damascus steel and blade manufacturing. Damascus steel blades are produced by casting. In this case, 2 types are used - high-carbon and low-carbon steel. The first type of metal begins to melt at a lower temperature than the second.

Thus, during melting, high-carbon pieces float and “boil” in liquid low-carbon. Under these manufacturing conditions, they gradually increase in size (grow like crystals) and form a special kind of chain structures. This is what causes the appearance of a pattern characteristic of damask steel, which differs significantly from the Damascus pattern. Each blade is completely unique, like human fingerprints.

In appearance, this steel is not particularly attractive. But it is characterized by unsurpassed working properties. The hunting knife cuts just fine and does not dull for a long time. Another great feature is flexibility. The blade can be bent at a sufficiently large angle without harm to itself. According to legend, in ancient times swords made of damask steel were worn instead of a belt. Bulat is valued all over the world.

Damascus steel is prepared by forging. Rods of two types of steel are twisted in compliance with a certain technology. Thereafter Hunter knives are forged. The most important thing in the manufacture of a knife is to choose the right metal and maintain proportions.

Hard steels should be used more than soft ones. Sometimes not 2, but 3 types of metal are used. Their number, as well as forging methods, give the blade a unique pattern. Damascus steel looks very aesthetically pleasing. At the same time, Damascus knives are distinguished by truly excellent performance. Damascus products are an excellent choice.

Knife from SV Blade

Both damask blades and Damascus blades are extremely valuable and expensive. Especially the first option. Only really rich people can afford to buy damask steel. Most often, these are collectors of weapons of damask steel or Damascus steel. Damascus blades can also be seen in ordinary hunters. Testing knives you can see on our main page.

There is nothing fundamentally new in this short note that would not be well known to those interested in this issue. But my personal experience communication shows that the overwhelming majority of people who have not yet plunged into this exciting world have little idea of ​​what is at stake when the conversation turns to Damascus or damask. This page is for them. For clarity, I tried to illustrate it with examples.

Naturally, the information presented here is not that brief, but simply, as they say, "in a nutshell." I only hope that it will help to better understand the description of the knives given on the site, and will serve as a starting point for studying really serious articles, links to which are given at the bottom of the page.

Bulat or Damascus?

In principle, any patterned blade (of course, we are not talking about a pattern applied to homogeneous steel) can be called both damask and Damascus. And it won't be a big mistake. Previously, these concepts were not strictly distinguished. Any pattern was called Damascus, and any blade made of inhomogeneous steel was called damask. Historically, outstanding qualities were attributed to damask blades, but this is rather the semantic meaning of the term, which does not characterize the appearance or technology of obtaining the product. Therefore, we will not consider it now. According to the production technology, bulat It has long been accepted to divide into "cast" and "welded" or "welding". Based on this, when describing a specific product, it is more correct to say " cast steel" or with boiled damask steel", then there will be no confusion in concepts.

cast steel

Cast damask steel is obtained by melting the initial components in a crucible in a forge. As a result of the slow cooling of the ingot, an inhomogeneous structure is formed in it, which subsequently gives a pattern on the blade.

This is exactly what the legendary Indian damask was. But what about the secret of production lost a long time ago? Indeed, even now the technology used in ancient India is not exactly known. It was so carefully hidden that by the 17-18th century the secret was lost. This is due to a decrease in demand for damask steel, caused by the start of production of high-quality and inexpensive bladed weapons from industrial steel, which first led to a reduction in the smelting of damask steel in India, and then to its complete cessation.

Numerous attempts by researchers to reveal the secret of damask steel have not been successful. However, at the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian metallurgist Pavel Petrovich Anosov developed a technology with which he managed to obtain steel that corresponded in pattern and quality to the best grades of Indian damask steel. It is on the basis of this technology that bulat is poured now. The main mistake of researchers before Anosov was that they tried to obtain a pattern by adding to the chemical composition of the alloy. And only Anosov during the experiments managed to prove that damask differs from ordinary steel not in chemical composition, but in physical structure.

According to more or less established terminology, in Russia today the word "damask steel" is usually understood as cast damask steel. I stick to this option on my site.

Bulat types (according to chemical composition)

Despite the fact that the understanding of the essence of damask steel is based on its physical structure, it, like any steel, can contain additional elements in addition to iron and carbon. If damask steel is smelted on the basis of carbon steel with the addition of cast iron, and only small amounts of natural impurities are additionally included in the composition, then such damask steel is usually called "carbonaceous". Like all carbon steels, it rusts. Modern metallurgy, which has a huge range of alloy steels, prompted craftsmen to create "doped" And "stainless" damask steel. They are smelted on the basis of alloyed steels and can be corrosion resistant.

Wootz

In the old days, after smelting, a damask ingot was either forged on the spot, or it was sold in the form of an ingot called "wootz". Caravans with them went far beyond India. These ingots were in the form of a small loaf. Thus, the word "wootz" refers to an old ingot of Indian smelting.

IN English language word " wootz"serves as a definition of the ingot itself, and damask steel as a whole. Including modern damask steel is also called "wootz". The phrases "Wootz Blade" or "Wootz Damascus Blade" are used to designate a damask blade.

Welded damask steel (Damascus)

Welded damask steel, as the name implies, is obtained by forge welding. To do this, a package of steels with different carbon contents is assembled, which is welded together, then folded in some way (for example, in half) and forged again. And so the number of times necessary in each case. At the same time, the number of layers grows exponentially. So, if there were 8 layers in the initial package, then after the first welding they become 16, after the second 32, after the seventh 1024, etc.

According to the terminology that has become established today, welded damask steel is more often called Damascus. I stick to this option on my site.

The English "damascus" corresponds to the Russian "damascus" in the meaning of "welded damask".

Damascus types

By chemical composition, similarly to damask steel, Damascus is divided into carbon and stainless steel. Due to the difficulty of welding alloy steels, carbon Damascus is the most common. All types of damascus presented below are illustrated with carbon damascus.

Types of Damascus

Blade: A.White	"wild damask"does not have any structured pattern, which in no way impairs the quality of the blade cut.
Blade: Fedotov's workshop	"simple damask"has a fairly stable repeating pattern. Although in this case, when forging, the master does not strive to create a specific pattern, it is obtained automatically as a result of using the simplest technology for forging Damascus steel. Therefore, it can be considered a subspecies of the "wild" Damascus.
Blade: M. Arkhangelskaya	"Stamp Damascus" has a characteristic repeating pattern, the shape of which is determined by the stamp used to create it. The name does not come from "stamping" in the sense of low-quality in-line production, as some think, but from "stamp" as a blacksmith's tool and technique.
Blade: S.Bobkov	"Mosaic Damascus"has a pattern repeating along its entire length, the complexity of which is determined only by the skill and intent of the author. For such a Damascus, the package is initially assembled in such a way that the desired pattern is obtained after welding.
Blade: A.White	"Twisted Mosaic or Turkish Damascus" has a characteristic pattern obtained as a result of repeated twisting of the workpiece around its axis during the forging process.
Blade: M. Arkhangelskaya	"End mosaic Damascus"is a subspecies of mosaic Damascus and differs in that plates are cut off from the end of the finished block, which are either welded onto the blade in the form of plates, or form the middle of the blade, to which the blade and butt are welded.
Blade: Y. Sargsyan	"Fibrous Damascus". Quite a rare species in our country. In appearance, the blade looks like damask. If in other types of damascus the layers are pulled out for the entire length of the click during forging, then fibrous damascus consists of short fibers. When forging, the required number of layers is first collected, as in ordinary damascus Then the workpiece is rotated at 90 degrees (the layers are arranged vertically), and similarly, by forging, notching and folding, the desired number of fibers is collected.According to S. Lunev, the best Japanese swords have precisely a complex fibrous structure.
Blade: M.Arkhangelskaya (four-row mosaic Damascus)	"multi-row damask". It rather refers to the blade, and it would be more correct to say "multi-row Damascus blade". Such a blade is obtained by welding 2 or more Damascus strips located along the blade. In this case, a "working" (most practical) Damascus is usually placed on the cutting edge, and further to the butt - a more complex artistic one.
The illustration is taken from an article by L.B. Arkhangelsky	"Powder Mosaic Damascus". Mainly manufactured abroad. The essence of the method lies in the fact that first, a cliché is made from a well-welded metal, contrasting when etching ordinary steel. It is placed in a container and covered with powdered steel. Under the action high temperature and pressure, all this is sintered into a single ingot, which is then forged at the discretion of the master. In this way, images of almost any complexity can be created on the blade.

The types of Damascus listed above are the most common. They differ in forging methods, which gives a different pattern on the blade. The master can combine different methods and get completely unusual and original patterns. Only a high-level specialist will be able to unravel the secrets of another master. And we will just admire this bewitching and alluring pattern on the blade.