Was looking for a knife blade blank for a project....... found a lot a Damascus steel blades.......... 1095 high carbon steel / 15n20 steel blades out there.... not so many high carbon or stainless bladed.

Seems like the source for most is India or Pakistan............

Thoughts/opinions.......

Try:

Damascus Steel

Chris Reeves knives uses his steel. I have two and they are beautiful.

Depends on what your "project" is. You get what you pay for with blade blanks.

There is an American forge in Alabama. Try Jantz or Texas Knifemakers supply. I've made a couple.

Pakistan is probably OK for light use. I have several ones made in various places for display (SASS rig, etc).

You may have seen the post that our own Executioner ( Patrick Grashorn) is now making knife scales......and a couple of weeks back we had a thread on why everyone seem to want a "big knife".

I've got the work/utility and TEOTWAWKI knives covered...... so

.... as I'm passed 60 thought it would be nice to build a light duty/gentleman's 4-5 inch fixed blade knife to accompany me on my "walks in Penn's woods" that would compliment one of my S&Ws with Pat's stag grips.

Pat offers a couple of options in blades....but not quit what I wanted....so I began a search.......most of what I found was Damascus.

I'm not sure from your question if you're actually looking for a
Damascus blade or that's just what you are finding while looking for
stainless or high grade blade steel like D2 or several others. Once in
a while I pick up a copy of "Blade" magazine while grocery shopping
and it has some ads from dealers that carry knife making supplies.
There seems to be many blade blanks available from dealers in all
of the popular high quality knife steels.

YES...

That's what I was finding.....after seeing a bunch of blades got to thinking it would make a classy looking knife.... just not sure about the quality of the steel/blade.......


worse case..... I end up with a really sharp looking letter opener on my desk!!!!!!

It's possible to still find carbon steel Russell Green River Works blanks on Ebay. Very reasonable and great blades.

knifekits.com sells some quality blades for good prices.

Not all damascus blades are really damascus. "What the xxx is this guy talking about?" you might reasonably ask.

I own four built-to-order Ichiro-made and signed Cowry X damascus-bladed knives. Reality is these blades (and all Cowry X damascus blades) are three-layer laminate, just like original Morseth blades. Having typed that, the outer laminations are, in fact damascus layers of Japanese 420 stainless [equivalent]. The damascus has zero to do with enhancing any strength, ductility, or abrasion resistance of the blade. It is present solely for appearance. The outer laminations do, however, contribute to enhancing ductility of the otherwise extremely hard, probably somewhat brittle Cowry X center lamination.

Hope this helps.

Thank you I think...... LOL didn't understand a word of it......googled Cowry and Ichiro......look like +$1000 knives......

all that said.... sounds like you know what your speaking of....You can get a knife for $2 and another that looks the same for $3000........I guess I'm asking how do these "Damascus" blanks rate?

The stuff that is made by slave labor often has many flaws that make for a poor working knife. Inclusions and de-laminations and poor heat treat make for a failure.

There are a quite a few smiths here in this country make good simple Damascus steel knife blanks. I bought a simple pattern blank a few years ago from a maker in Ohio. The name that poops off the top of my head is Alabama Damascus. You should be able to find what you are looking for starting under $100, or get sucked into the beauty of the complex patterns for a lot more.

__________________
Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Joel Davis, of Organic Forge, makes Damascus for many AKI Master Smiths. You can see availble patterns at Organic Damascus Forge    By Joel Davis Design - Home

The website also shows some of the completed works from the makers that he has supplied in the past

Smith 357 ....Thanks..... looks like some good reviews.

"Knives Illustrated" and on Blades Forum...........and a custom maker "bragging" about using this steel

I never understood the fasciation with Damascus steel. Back in time I guess it was for strength and durability, but is no longer needed.

As art it can be beautiful, but on a working knife a waste, just my opinion.

There are some very good knife steels available today. The Damascus
blades may be desirable for their artwork if you don't mind the high
price but for a working knife I doubt they can compete with the quality
steel blades that can be had for a lot less money.