Damascus Steel Myth from Facts
by AddressingWrongFacts
This is sort of rambling as this is my first album but I felt the urge to make it, especially since I liked creating the silly animations.
Damascus steel has often been used to describe either a mythical steel created in Damascus eons ago which is imbued with superb endurance, sharpness and strength but lost for unknown reasons or the method of folding steel to create elaborate patterns through the use of two or more different steels. (Usually by layering a nickel containing steel, high-carbon, and lower- carbon content steels together as these would yield the best visible results)
Both of these claims just piss me off though and I will go through these points in the album.
1. The process of Damascus steel is not lost; it's just a pain in the ass to create, expensive and a niche market as it has no advantages over modern methods.
2. Pattern welding is not Damascus steel, not similar at all and sellers of knives and swords using this marketing trick/label can step on a Lego for all I care for bastardising both these remarkable smithing techniques by conflating them.
3. I'm not mentioning it in the text below but only implying it slightly so I'll state it here explicitly; there is no ultimate sword.
Fake Damascus, AKA: Pattern Welded Steel by folding
As one can see from the image, the lines are long, wavy and form a distinct pattern which is reminiscent of wood grains. This is often called "Damascus steel" despite it not even being similar to the original method. In appearance they are only similar for someone who has never seen the two side by side.
This type of pattern is created by pattern welding; folding to be more specific. (There is also pattern welding by twisting rods of steel, which was more commonly used in the European Viking age)
Folding of Steel
There were only two main reasons to fold steel. Firstly, to even out the carbon (usually around 0.60-0.80% in Katanas) and detrimental impurities. Secondly, they would attempt to hammer out the latter as much as possible and introduce new carbon into the steel during each fold. This process does not imbue the steel nor the end product (i.e. the sword) with magical properties which make its cutting edge legendarily sharp. It's still just steel and while the quenching makes it very hard, it also leaves the steel more brittle and it might even chip against hard objects. Nowadays though the folding of steel is only done for aesthetics and it certainly does look beautiful!
The Japanese only folded their steel (at least 6 and up to 16 times) to be able to produce a homogonous block of steel. This was due to the fact that the Japanese only had access to low quality ore in their homeland (which consisted of iron sand) and thus needed considerable more work to be of use (this birthed the San-Mai techniques of bladesmithing). However, the Europeans could already do this with the use of blast furnaces as early as 1200, and possibly even earlier. [1]
1.
http://www.uni-muenster.de/UrFruehGesch ... _engl.html
True Damascus (Wootz Steel)
Lines are irregular and more chaotic overall. The pattern is reminiscent of disturbed water, which isn't too far from the actual reason it contains this pattern as the steel is molten in a crucible and as it solidifies with the impurities, the carbon forms bands with iron as Fe3C the pattern is permanently* set in place.
The Damascus pattern comes about due to impurities (in amounts less than 0.003%) such as vanadium and molybdenum, and to a lesser extent chromium, niobium and manganese.
Here are some (generalized) properties of Damascus steel:
VERY HIGH carbon (1-1.8%), beneficial impurities of vanadium and molybdenum "lock" the carbon into the Fe3C carbide formation which is very hard. An edge with these carbides "cuts" more or less with a microscopic serrated edge, which slices any tissue it comes across with ease.
However, the carbides and high carbon content come at a price. Namely, while the sword is incredibly tough and can endure considerable impact, it cannot flex very well. To make matters worse; the swords were unable to be quenched/tempered as the high carbon content would make it an incredibly brittle sword.
This means that the sword's edge retention is lower than other swords of the day and it would need frequent sharpening to ensure it wouldn't revert to just being a steel bar used for clubbing. Plus this type of sword was ineffective/quickly lost its edge against metal armour.
For that reason Damascus Swords were only very effective in their own era; as only nobles could afford metal armour, so most soldiers were unarmoured or only had leather to protect themselves. (To which this sword is also very effective against as it's incredibly tough and would relatively easily rip/slice the armor).
In the mid to high middle ages however this type of steel would be useless against the full armoured knights whom dominated the battlefield.
Now, as I mentioned before, the sword is very tough because it contains so much carbon (up to twice as much as other swords of the day). This advantage is also a downside as now imagine hammering that ingot into a bar and then into a sword. You will need considerably more time and you also need to work with a lower heat as else the carbides could dissolve, which means you need to use more force and/or more time to smith one sword.
*Excessive heat can dissolve the carbides and one can lose the pattern, however, when the sword is exposed to a low heat for a considerable time the carbides can also be restored up to a point.
Flexing of the sword
Due to the way European swords were made and the type of quenching and tempering treatment they received. As such, European swords were very flexible and could bend quite a bit and then spring back into shape.
This flexibility has the advantage of when hitting an unyielding target, the blade would not be damaged when applying a lot of force. (Obviously the edge could suffer if the target is hard).
The Japanese Katana had a completely different purpose/strategy in mind and therefore did not share this advantage to the same degree. The Katana contained a soft iron core located more or less at the back which would allow the sword to withstand more impact as it would retain some flexibility. Further, before heating, the blade smith would apply clay onto the sword where the edge received the least and the spine contained the most. Then the sword was quenched and as such, the sword was hardened differentially where the edge cooled down the fastest, leaving a hard (and somewhat brittle) edge and the spine cooled down slowly which left it softer and more flexible. This allowed the sword to combine both attributes wherein its edge retention surpassed that of European swords.
However under normal circumstances, it also meant the sword was more brittle and if too much force was applied, the sword would simply break. However, the softer spine would allow the sword some more flex than if the sword was as hard as the edge everywhere. Though through these processes of an iron core and differential hardening the Katana was granted more flex, it wasn't nearly as good as European swords and at a much earlier point the Katana would permanently bend when applying force. Moreover, while the edge would keep its sharpness for longer, it had an increased risk of chipping as it was more brittle.
How Damascus steel is made
While we cannot be 100% certain how the swords were made, the technique is certainly not lost.
Damascus steel is a type of crucible steel and thus is simply Wootz steel with a fancier name. The ingredients are simply iron, glass, pure carbon (charcoal) and some tree leaves.
Further info:
"The Mystery of Damascus Blades"
Simply explains what Damascus steel is and how you could make it at home!*
http://projects.olin.edu/revere/Cool%20 ... 202001.pdf
A YouTube playlist about a guy attempting to create Wootz steel. Almost a DIY instructional video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9j9vUG ... FS&index=1
A basic 'infotainment' video about swords, at the 12:46 mark it also goes into detail about the method of pattern welding by twisting rods and why it was done. It's better than most if not all infotainment videos about swords as it simply states facts instead of overhyping it such as it is the case with for example the ULFBEHRT "documentary."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Zzm0UbUm4
*All you need is a furnace hot enough to melt steel and iron containing trace amounts of Vanadium.
REALIZZATO DAL MAGO SANTINO BALESTRA UNO DEI PIU BRAVI MAESTRI COLTELLINAI ITALIANI (CHE SONO MOLTISSIMI X FORTUNA) PER CHIUNQUE ABBI VOGLIA DI PERDERE UN PO DI TEMPO SUGGERISCO UNA VISITA AL MIO SITO 
