Bartering joy

[Cajunrider]

I'm stoked. I bartered away a BC forest for a custom knife. I can't wait for my hybrid kirisutke-chopper Damascus knife.

Watch out wild pigs, fish, and alligators, here I come with a sharp blade. You will be food!

 

[Cajunrider]

I'm stoked. I bartered away a BC forest for a custom knife. I can't wait for my hybrid kirisutke-chopper Damascus knife.

Watch out wild pigs, fish, and alligators, here I come with a sharp blade. You will be food!

@namnhi
The things we have to do to get a good "dao phay" here. Such knife is cheap in Viet Nam. Made from spring steel, they are tough and easy to keep sharp. I used to use them for everything from cooking to going into the woods. Can't find them here at all. I am finally getting one made for me just the way I want.
10" blade 3" width with a K tip and thick enough for chopping. I can't wait to try it out.

 

[BonsaiDTLA]

Share pictures when you get it!

 

[namnhi]

@namnhi
The things we have to do to get a good "dao phay" here. Such knife is cheap in Viet Nam. Made from spring steel, they are tough and easy to keep sharp. I used to use them for everything from cooking to going into the woods. Can't find them here at all. I am finally getting one made for me just the way I want.
10" blade 3" width with a K tip and thick enough for chopping. I can't wait to try it out.

An expensive knife Uncle but well worth it. Can't wait to see it.

 

[Cajunrider]

Share pictures when you get it!

It will be similar to this but way badder

 

[vp999]

I'm stoked. I bartered away a BC forest for a custom knife. I can't wait for my hybrid kirisutke-chopper Damascus knife.

Watch out wild pigs, fish, and alligators, here I come with a sharp blade. You will be food!

Please don't run while handing it...Walk slowly lol

 

[Cajunrider]

Please don't run while handing it...Walk slowly lol

I am old. I don’t run. I walk softly and swing a wicked blade. My teacher used to say :”Your steps just need to be sure. Leave the quickness to your blade!”
In my life time many things have fallen under my đao/machete/bayonet/parang/kukri/Bowie.

I’ve yet to own a true battle ready katana. That is on the list.

 

[Cajunrider]

Pre-knife

I am planning a test for it
Swinging at a chicken or a baby pig hung on a string come into mind.
Of course there will be rope to chop too.
It won’t be a full chopper test because I asked for a hybrid. Still that chicken should be cut in half on one swing.

 

[Maiden69]

I've been following several blacksmiths for quite a few years now, damascus is beautiful and the benefit of incorporating 2 types of steel, a harder and a softer makes a knife that usually have the good qualities of both materials. But, I think that once the main damascus is formed the edge of the blade would benefit from being a single steel. Be a carbon steel (1060, 1095) or tool steel (HSS) will give you an edge that will last longer than the damascus edge. The culprit is that the softer steel at the edge will dull faster than the hard steel giving you an uneven cut.

Otherwise, a beautiful knife nonetheless.

 

[Cajunrider]

I've been following several blacksmiths for quite a few years now, damascus is beautiful and the benefit of incorporating 2 types of steel, a harder and a softer makes a knife that usually have the good qualities of both materials. But, I think that once the main damascus is formed the edge of the blade would benefit from being a single steel. Be a carbon steel (1060, 1095) or tool steel (HSS) will give you an edge that will last longer than the damascus edge. The culprit is that the softer steel at the edge will dull faster than the hard steel giving you an uneven cut.

Otherwise, a beautiful knife nonetheless.


View attachment 498786

It depends on the steels used to make the Damascus to a certain degree. One thing you must get used to is the feel of a Damascus edge. It you are expecting a super smooth razor edge feel where the knife cuts and the subject is dead but yet doesn't know, you will be disappointed. If you think of it as a super-fine carbide saw blade that will cut through anything and keep on cutting after going through rough treatment, the Damascus blade will do that for you.

I have had Damascus knives that can go through heavy heavy use without me having to stop and sharpen the knife, that's what I expect. I don't want that perfect chef knife that I have to give a quick hone before making that beautiful cut on the meat. I have plenty of those hoity toity knives. I want a knife that I just pull out of the scabbard and swing a chicken or a red fish and cut it in half easily and proceed to make a meal out of them. I understand that by their nature, the Damascus knives are a beotch to sharpen but that is OK by me. I got some diamond plates ready to sharpen anything.

 

[Maiden69]

I don't want that perfect chef knife that I have to give a quick hone before making that beautiful cut on the meat.

Well, the steels I mentioned above are not what it is used for chef knifes, those would be aogami, shirogami, and other newer steels like VG10. The one mentioned above are what the industry is using for katana edge steel, since tamahagane is very expensive to manufacture. I would never use chef knife steel for anything other than meat, since they are very brittle.

 

[Cajunrider]

Well, the steels I mentioned above are not what it is used for chef knifes, those would be aogami, shirogami, and other newer steels like VG10. The one mentioned above are what the industry is using for katana edge steel, since tamahagane is very expensive to manufacture. I would never use chef knife steel for anything other than meat, since they are very brittle.

Now you are talking
Truth be told, this is my funsie knife. Time and experience will tell whether it can be a day to day knife. I have spent beaucoup money on knives yet have not gotten one with the comfortable feel of the knife I used in my younger days. With that knife I went into the jungle for survival, to the sugarcane field, to the kitchen for meal prep. It was my all in one knife. I have yet to find one here in the US that I feel the same. Each knife that I have at most will excel in one or two areas but then feel way too lacking in others.

 

[Maiden69]

All my kitchen knives are Japanese, I couldn't bring myself to buy traditional ones because of the price point, but the ones I have are decent at least. I favor the brand Yaxell, my first one was a kiritsuke Yaxell Mon, just to see if I could get used to them without chipping the hell out of the edge. After that I bought a chef's knife (gyuto) and an upgraded veggie chopper Ran Plus. This year my wife got me my first "traditional" knife, a sujihiki (slicer) from Haruyuki Kuma. While not traditional steel, this one is made with HSS edge encased in stainless steel, it is made by a traditional knife maker. Pretty sure not as expensive as some one off damascus knives, but they serve a purpose.

As far as a do it all, going to the jungle kinda knife my uncle had a kukri that he exchanged with an Hindu military soldier in the 70's that he used on jungle missions. Similar to the one below. Very cool knife, he "blued" the steel to make it inconspicuous.

 

[vp999]

Is it VC tested ?

 

[Lorax7]

I've been following several blacksmiths for quite a few years now, damascus is beautiful and the benefit of incorporating 2 types of steel, a harder and a softer makes a knife that usually have the good qualities of both materials. But, I think that once the main damascus is formed the edge of the blade would benefit from being a single steel. Be a carbon steel (1060, 1095) or tool steel (HSS) will give you an edge that will last longer than the damascus edge. The culprit is that the softer steel at the edge will dull faster than the hard steel giving you an uneven cut.

Otherwise, a beautiful knife nonetheless.


View attachment 498786

Correct. Damascus is pretty. The hada of a folded steel blade, regardless of whether it’s traditional tamahagane or not, is also pretty (although more subtle than the shiny 15N20 nickel steel of a typical Damascus blade). But, both are, in essence, products of ancient techniques for making bad steel somewhat less bad. Neither can beat modern crucible steel in terms of function.

 

[BonsaiDTLA]

@Cajunrider reminds me of this one that I received as a gift

They take many hours to make one blade. This thing is indestructible.

If there was a zombie apocalypse, I want this one with me. The zombies can have my CA junipers and black pines.

 

[Cajunrider]

Correct. Damascus is pretty. The hada of a folded steel blade, regardless of whether it’s traditional tamahagane or not, is also pretty (although more subtle than the shiny 15N20 nickel steel of a typical Damascus blade). But, both are, in essence, products of ancient techniques for making bad steel somewhat less bad. Neither can beat modern crucible steel in terms of function.

So what modern steel do you recommend for a knife like mine?

 

[Lorax7]

So what modern steel do you recommend for a knife like mine?

Considering that you like the look of Damascus, a typical modern Damascus blade would be a combination of 1095 and 15N20. The Damascus will be not quite as strong as a mono steel blade made of either 1095 or 15N20 alone, but that’s a trade off worth making for aesthetics.

Of course, unlike historical forge-welded blades, a modern Damascus is made starting with 2 varieties of high quality crucible steel. Historically, blacksmiths folded steel not because they were trying to make the blade pretty, but because they had very crude steel to start with and they needed to expel some of the unwanted impurities as well as get the carbon content in the right range.

 

[19Mateo83]

I make knives from time to time as a hobby. Occasionally I’ll trade them for stuff or gift them. @HorseloverFat can attest to the quality, durability and edge holding ability of a properly hardened 1095 blade. I sent him this one this past winter. The ones I make are from 1/8” 1095 bar stock, yea it’s not as pretty as Damascus but they hold a wicked sharp edge once properly heat treated and annealed and are almost indestructible. I do have plans for a large bush knife out of 3/16” 1095. I just haven’t had the time to finish my new, bigger forge.

 

[Cajunrider]

Considering that you like the look of Damascus, a typical modern Damascus blade would be a combination of 1095 and 15N20. The Damascus will be not quite as strong as a mono steel blade made of either 1095 or 15N20 alone, but that’s a trade off worth making for aesthetics.

Of course, unlike historical forge-welded blades, a modern Damascus is made starting with 2 varieties of high quality crucible steel. Historically, blacksmiths folded steel not because they were trying to make the blade pretty, but because they had very crude steel to start with and they needed to expel some of the unwanted impurities as well as get the carbon content in the right range.

I am not asking for Damascus. I am thinking about getting a premium steel knife blank and making or getting someone to make a knife to my liking.