One of the more striking Damascus patterns, ladder steel features parallel striated lines that run the length of the bar much like rungs on a ladder. Sometimes this pattern is called the mosaic pattern. During the forging process, the smith twists the metal at a particular angle and with a certain degree of force, which determines the final look of the steel. Twist patterns produce regular striated ripples on the steel, and it’s not hard to understand how they’re made. The weld forms what looks like a quill on a real-life feather. Smiths achieve this effect by welding together different pieces of Damascus steel and then stretching them. Feather-style Damascus steel has a straight line down its middle from which curl feathery fronds. Like the names of most Damascus steel patterns, this category describes that the pattern looks like. The pressures and heat inherent in the forging process create swirls and whorls and waves that look vaguely like an oil slick on water. In fact, it’s the one that most people think of when they conceptualize Damascus steel. Randomīelieve it or not, randomly folding the steel layers during the forging process creates a recognizable pattern. In this section, we’ll describe the seven most common Damascus steel patterns and how you achieve them. Over time, specific variations have developed, recognizable variants that can be identified and requested if the smith follows certain methods. By altering the steel-manipulation process in various ways, smiths can create distinctive patterns in Damascus steel. Those patterns are the subject of our next section. This leads to the distinctive patterns for which Damascus steel is renowned today. This rapid multiplication of layers followed by an acid-etching process causes the steel’s nickel content to take on a bright silver tone and its manganese content to darken. Every time this process transpires, the number of folds in the steel doubles, and the number of original layers used ranges from two to five. The layers are then hammered and folded before getting forged again. Hotter temperatures would cause that carbon to burn, destroying the desired effect.Īs the iron heats and begins to burn, the smith adds borax or sand to it, creating a protective layer that prevents oxidation of the heated carbon. When making steel, most forges register closer to 3,000 ☏, but today’s steel has a low carbon content, whereas Damascus steel contains up to 1.8 percent carbon. (Some kinds may also include trace amounts of nickel, silicon, manganese, sulfur, and phosphorous.) Next, the smith heats the forge fires to a lower than normal temperature, typically no higher that 2,000 ☏. Pattern wielding starts with smiths stacking multiple layers of carbon-rich steel together. While some today use this method, most employ a process known as pattern wielding. This method required not only a very specific kind of metal, but also a careful eye toward avoiding higher temperatures, which would destroy the desired patterns. How does it work? Originally, artisans in the Middle East would forge a specific kind of carbon-rich iron that originated in India in a crucible at varying heat levels, working it and reheating it time and again. That’s exactly what happens with Damascus steel. Have you ever sunk your teeth into a fresh croissant or bit into the rust of a hot-from-the-oven slice of genuine Chicago-style pizza? If so, you know that both dishes get their delicate, flaky feel from the lamination of butter into the dough, lots of extremely thin layers getting folded back onto each other again and again and again.
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