Damascus or pattern welded steel is the process of combining at least two different types of steel to achieve mechanical properties or to achieve a desired aesthetic. In my Damascus I use three different types of steel all of which harden and temper in the same temperature range. These steels are forge welded together. This means that a sandwich of these different types of steel are assembled at room temperature and tack welded together then they are put into a forge running @ 2350 F, at this temperature the steel becomes "plastic" and "sticky" then the steel is placed into a press where, under high pressure these different steels are fused together. This process is also called defusing bonding. Molecules actually move back and forth across this interface between the different steels thereby bonding the materials together. The billet,as it's called is then stretched folded and manipulated to create desired patterns or just folded a number of time to achieve a desired layer count. Production knives on the market today claim seven layers per side or 16 layers per side.My knives are made from at least 200+ layers of steel. Some blades have over 2,000 layers. This process is very labor and material intensive. In some cases up to 70% of the material is lost or sacrificed along the way to achieve a desired pattern. This is why Damascus knives are in general much more expensive that the straight steel knives.

Is Damascus better? No, not better but different. I see my Damascus knives as a bigger chunk of my soul. They require more of my time and a higher lever of concentration than the straight steel knives. When I designed the straight steel knives my goal was to design the highest performance blade my experience and skills could muster. The Damascus blades are several steps down the road further in that I'm able to embellish an already high performance tool with patterns and processes that inspire me and engage me fully while I'm making them.

Do they cut better? Well they cut different. The straight steel blades have the keenest sharpest edges that I know of. Damascus blades are made of different types of steel whose many layers extend right through the cutting edge. These layers wear at a slightly different rate causing a very fine micro serration which can be very helpful in staying sharp longer. Both sharpen exactly the same way and both get equally sharp, so it's in the way that they wear which is different. So in deciding which type of steel you prefer, think of the Damascus as an art piece as well as a functional tool.

I'm not taking any orders at this time. As soon as I catch up on my back orders I'll begin accepting orders again, Thanks.