Awesome Damascus

Damascus steel is made by pressing layers of forged metal together. HANS shows how he made a gorgeous dagger using thousands of steel bearing balls. The resulting metal pattern is something he calls Dragon Skin. After making the blade, he fabricated a brass crossguard and a wooden handle. It’s based on a design by Neels Van Den Berg of Black Dragon Forge.

Cam from Blacktail Studio built a coffee table out of denim. Now he’s back with an even more impressive fabric table with patterns typically found in damascus steel. He started by cutting abstract wooden forms that he added to his mold. Then he layered denim, poured epoxy, vacuum-infused it, and ran it through an industrial planer to reveal the patterns.

Random Hands shows how they turned a stack of stainless steel rulers into a unique Damascus pattern, which he sandwiched around high-carbon steel to make a beautiful Japanese-style meat cleaver. He fitted it with a hexagonal wood handle and a hand-stitched leather sheath. We’d love this knife in our kitchen, but sadly, this one isn’t for sale.

On his quest to make damascus out of every kind of metal object he can find, Shurap is back with another satisfying blacksmithing project. After arranging hundreds of individual calligraphy pen nibs into steel tubing, he forged, hammered, and twisted the molten metal to form a beautifully-patterned dagger.

We always enjoy seeing how various metal items can be forged into Damascus steel. Random Hands shows off the process of turning a stack of measuring tape blades into a unique kitchen knife with one of the prettiest blade patterns ever.

Ukraine-based blacksmith Shurap has made Damascus steel from a variety of unusual items. For his latest blade-making experiment, he took stacks of staples, nested them into star-shaped clusters, added steel flux powder, then forged and hammered them to create a pattern we’ve not seen on a knife before.

Black Beard Projects created this dagger as his entry into the Fantasy Challenge. He starts the build by layering steel into a Damascus pattern, then forming it into a triangle and twisting and honing the metal to create its unique blade. After that, he made an engraved brass guard, a wrapped wooden handle, and a brass pommel.

Black Beard Projects shows off an interesting way to create a steel ring. The blacksmith started with a rusty bandsaw blade and chopped it up into flat pieces. He then welded, forged, and hammered them multiple times to create a Damascus pattern before twisting the metal into a cylinder and refining it into its final form.

One reason metals are so wonderful is because they can be melted down over and over again to form new objects. In this video from Rob Bonifacio, he shows us how he took some Canadian copper pennies and dimes, layered them with high-carbon steel and forged them into a Damascus blade for a knife. Part two here.

A store-bought pizza cutter is usually made from stainless steel. The guys from Waterjet Channel decided to make one from Damascus steel and titanium instead, so they teamed up with Jesse and Jeff from Vegas Forge to create this impressive wheel for slicing with style. Though we’d hate to get cheese all over it.

These unique damascus knives are made by forging and folding steel recovered from the Tirpitz, a German WWII battleship sunk off the coast of Norway by Allied bombers. There are four limited-edition knives in the series, the Barlow Prime Tirpitz-Damascus, the Tirpitz-Damascus, the Tirpitz-Damascus Wood, and the Tirpitz-Damascus Gold.

This thin folding knife has a straight-back blade made from 60 HRC hammered steel with a beautiful Damascus pattern. Its snakewood handle has a similarly rippled design, accented by a bright blue aluminum clip. A liner lock keeps the blade from accidentally closing. It measures 7.75″ overall with a 3.5″ blade length.

This unique knife is named for Charles Lightoller, who helped women and children onto lifeboats on the Titanic and later rescued 127 men at Dunkirk. The compact EDC knife has a 1.9″ Damascus steel blade with a twist pattern. Its handle combines Damascus steel and rosewood. Includes a full-grain leather sheath.

Typically, Damascus patterned metal is made entirely from steel. But it looks even more amazing with copper folded in. Tyrell Knifeworks walks us through the process of forging a gorgeous bowie knife by welding then pressing together layers of the mixed metals. The colors in the handle look awesome with the blade.

Blacksmith Black Beard Projects shows off a really sweet build – a replica of a Viking-style bearded hatchet. Its sweeping axe head started off life as a section of a railroad track, and its handle was hand-carved from elm wood. Also, we’re suckers for anything with a Damascus pattern.

King Cobra Blades Art handmakes these unique damascus steel 6-sided dice. Each one features a distinctive pattern made by forging and folding layers of metal together numerous times. They come in 16mm, 20mm, and 1″ sizes. They also make some beautiful damascus knives and rings.

The beautiful patterns of damascus steel make for some of our favorite tools and knives, and the thicker the tool, the more dramatic the look. In this clip from metalsmith Hassan “Habu” Abu-Izmero, watch as he welds together, forges, and twists multiple layers of steel to create a truly special pair of pliers.

Sharpen up your cooking habits with this set of beautifully hand-forged knives from Gladiators Guild. Each one is made from high-grade Damascus steel set into a pakka wood handle. The set of three includes 13″, 11″, and 9″ knives, and is 21% off the retail price in The Awesomer Shop.

Bladesmith shurap loves to make damascus from all kinds of unusual objects. In this case, he managed to get his hands on a bunch of rusty, ancient blades that date back as far as 1100 years to the Kievan Rus era. He then smooshed them down into one elegant new weapon. Historians and archaeologists look away.

This stunning work of blacksmithing comes from Black Forge Knives. It’s made from 1095 and 15n20 damascus steel, attached to a hand-carved rosewood handle. It comes with a handcrafted leather sheath to protect its head when not in use. Measures 21.75″ overall length, with a 6.5″ cutting edge. (Must be 18+ to purchase.)

As metalsmith Shurap has proven before, you can make damascus from just about any kind of steel hardware. In this clip, he melts down thousands of tiny ball bearings, and transforms them into a uniquely patterned blade. Because of their sheer number, they appear to be one of the more challenging materials to work with.

This set of five pro-quality kitchen knives from Black Forge Knives features gorgeous damascus steel blades and rich rosewood handles. The set includes a 8.25″, 7.5″, 6.5″, 5.75″, and 4″ blades, along with a leather carrying pouch. Save an extra 15% in The Awesomer Shop with code MerrySave15. (expires 12/25/19)