Boker Knifestyle | Edition 2020 / 2021 | English

BOKER DAMASCUS
07
DAMASCUS STEEL
A thousands-of-years old blacksmithing craft that
still unfolds its fascination today. Originally, forging
multilayered steel was supposed to produce the
best possible quality material. Today, Damascus
enthusiasts hardly care about the technical aspect
anymore. They are passionate about the fascinating
material and its special look.
Classic handforged Damascus steel consists of at
least two types of steel with different compositions.
After forging, the piece of steel is folded and
forged again, which doubles the number of layers.
The process is repeated until the desired number of
layers is reached. By using steel types with different
properties, the blacksmith can influence the quality
of the Damascus significantly; a particularly hard
steel, for instance, can be combined with an
especially resilient steel in order to achieve a
balanced ratio of hardness and edge retention.
The Damascus pattern is influenced by forging and
the number of layers, but it can also be created by
embossing the finished forged Damascus bar. By
embossing the bar with the help of an embossing
punch with a specific pattern, the layers within the
Damascus shift against each other. The embossed
pattern appears as texture in the Damascus steel
once the embossed material is ground into a blade.
The pattern is barely visible on a freshly ground
blade. It needs to be finished in a special acid bath,
in which both types of steel react to the acid by
darkening at different levels. This brings out the
pattern created by the texture and reveals the true
magnificent beauty of Damascus steel.
Contrary to classic Damascus production,
stainless steel cannot be forged together under
normal circumstances. However, clever Damascus
blacksmiths came up with a technique that
circumvents this obstacle. The essential factor is
oxygen.
While classic, non-stainless Damascus is forged
and folded in a regular open smithy, the ambient
air is the deciding factor for stainless Damascus –
it prevents stainless steel layers from being forged
together. Hence, stainless Damascus is made by
preparing layer packages and forging them in a
vacuum.
One of the most sophisticated methods for forging
Damascus steel is torsion Damascus. Here, a twist
is added to the classic folding of the material. This
creates a unique pattern and the control needed
to master this forging process requires the highest
level of expertise.
Torsion Damascus was found in the few preserved
Vikings swords, made at a time when the most
sophisticated pieces were forged with outstanding
skill and craftsmanship far superior to the standard
swords of the day, even in technical terms.
The highly complex forging process that creates
the characteristic pattern makes torsion Damascus
one of the rarest and most exclusive types of
Damascus steel.