Damascus Blades

Damascus Blade shaping & sharpening from billet to ready to use blade. This image is a before and after shot.

Starting with a 416 layer damascus billet we use a water jet to cut out blade blanks

The first step is to grind the blanks flat on each side to get the proper thickness. We created blocks to hold and position the blades as we grind them.

then we smooth the backs by hand

Placing them back on the block we do a primary grind with the belt angled. This step creates the angel or beveled part of the blade

The blades are then placed in an oven at 1700 degrees to begin the heat treatment process

When heated to the proper temparture the blades are then quenched. We dunk them in an oil solution for immediate cooling to form the hardness of the steel.

once the heat treatment is completed we place them in a tumbler to remove the scale

Through a dipping process with a ferric chloride solution the etching reveals the unique pattern of each damascus blade. The blades are now ready for sharpening!

The final step is the sharpening. We use a Japanese water wheel for the plain edge blades and a serration wheel for the serrated blades. The backs are also ground for the locking mechanism.

The final step is a quality control check making sure there are no flaws and the shape and sharpening are correct. If necessary they can be checked for proper hardness. They are ready to be installed in a knife handle or multi tool and should last for many years and easily resharpened!