REAL OR FAKE DAMASCUS STEEL?
In order to distinguish between genuine and fake Damascus steel, we must first understand what Damascus steel is and where it comes from.
Damascus steel is named after the city of Damascus, although the exact reason is unknown. Nowadays, the term »Damascus steel« means a unique pattern in steel that looks downright amazing.
Let's look at some production methods and techniques:
WOOTZ STEEL:
Wootz steel is produced by melting pieces of iron, steel and charcoal in a reductive atmosphere – because less oxygen is present. This way, metals absorb some of the carbon from the charcoal. After cooling the alloy slowly, the resulting material has visible discoloration throughout the piece. Parts of the material with high-carbon content are darker than low-carbon ones. This gives a distinctive waving pattern. The blades forged from Wootz steel are very strong, hard, and tough. Today's steel, however, outperforms the original Wootz steel. The single problem with Wootz steel is that the exact process of this method was forgotten throughout history.
picture 1: Wootz steel
PATTERN-WELDED STEEL:
This process was developed in an attempt to imitate and reproduce original Damascus steel. It consists of welding several alternating layers of high and low carbon steel. The workpiece is then forged, stretched out, folded, forge-welded, stretched out again, and so on. Each time the piece is folded and re-welded, more layers are obtained, and thus a finer pattern on the steel. Different patterns are obtained by using different methods of folding hot metal.
When the piece is worked with, we don't actually see the pattern immediately. We must first etch or polish the piece to reveal the pattern. Etching a Damascus steel means dippening it into acid, which etch one type of metal much faster than the other – that is how the pattern is revealed.
Another way to reveal the pattern is by fine polishing the steel – this way you get a more subtle pattern then with etching. Western people usually etch their knives to reveal the pattern, while Japanese usually use the method of fine polishing instead of etching to reveal their Damascus patterns.
With pattern-welded steel, we probably came very close to the original method of producing Wootz steel, though the method itself is not fully known. Due to a better knowledge of metals, today's Damascus steel is superior in quality and performance. What makes Damascus steel even more legendary is the fact that the two methods mentioned above are very time consuming and require a very high level of skill and experience, especially in forging.
picture 2: Pattern-welded Damascus
picture 3: pattern welded Damascus
LASER ENGRAVING / ACID ETCHING:
In addition to forging, there are other methods of fabricating a Damascus pattern (not steel) that require no forging and very little to no knowledge or experience compared to pattern-welding. These methods are merely surface treatments for purely aesthetic purposes. In other words, they imitate real Damascus steel. Due to the fast production and low degree of skills needed, these methods are also much cheaper. Unlike the genuine methods, they do not improve the mechanical characteristics of the steel. The first, more industrial method, consists of engraving a Damascus pattern texture on the surface of the steel with a laser. The second method, used more by individuals, consists of printing the texture on a sticker that is transferred onto the blade which is then immersed in acid. On area where the metal is exposed to acid (where there is no sticker), the metal is surface-etched and darkened.
picture 4: Damascus steel imitation
Nowadays, only a fraction of % of Damascus steel is the original or Wootz steel, named after the city of Damascus. Most Damascus steel is pattern-welded (real) or surface treated (fake – imitation). The term Damascus steel is now most commonly used for pattern-welded steel. In other words, the Wootz steel process was forgotten many years ago, so when a steel manufacturer is selling a real Damascus steel knife, they are referring to pattern-welded steel, not Wootz or original steel. In that regard, we will hereinafter also use the term “real Damascus steel” for pattern-welded steel.
To return to the original question:
HOW DO WE SPOT A FAKE DAMASCUS KNIFE?
Now that we know what Damascus steel is and how it is made, it is much easier to understand and determine whether Damascus steel is real or fake. Let's take a look at some ways to do just that.
- The fastest way of spotting the difference is looking at the pattern. Due to the manufacturing process of Damascus steel, there is practically no way to produce two knives with completely identical patterns. So if all kitchen knives in a set share the same pattern with the same features, they are not made from real Damascus steel. (see picture 4)
- I can already hear you asking: “What if we don't have a set of knives, but only one?” Well, we can still look at the pattern. If it's weird shaped, looks manufactured, or just looks fake and unnatural, or even looks like someone had drawn it, it is most likely fake. You kind of have to develop a feel for this, but looking at the laser engraved example below, the decision is pretty obvious. Fake Damascus steel usually has a high contrast between light and dark parts, and the lines between them are usually very sharp and clean, and not blurred like they are in real Damascus steel.
picture 5: Damascus steel imitation
- Another way is to look at the spine or any part of the knife where there is a geometry change. We learned earlier that a true Damascus pattern is present throughout the piece, not just on the surface. So, if we see a Damascus pattern on the spine of a knife, on the handle, or in hard-to-reach places, and this pattern is visually extending from the face of the knife, this is most likely true Damascus steel. But if these surfaces do not have a Damascus pattern, it might indeed be a case of Damascus pattern imitation. The reason behind the lack of Damascus pattern could also be that these surfaces were not etched at all or polished to a mirror-like finish or they were etched and subsequently polished, but not fine enough – sanding or not fine enough polishing removes the Damascus pattern. A good example of this is a cutting edge that does not have a Damascus pattern because it was subsequently sharpened. On the other hand, the polished surface can be etched again – if it is genuine Damascus steel, the pattern will reappear. (see picture 2)
- Nowadays, knife manufacturers use more and more exotic materials to produce knives. So the question is, can a knife be forged from Damascus and other types of steel at the same time? Actually, yes. For example, steel named VG-10 Damascus is a combination of VG-10 core and Damascus steel on both sides. This type of layering is called the San Mai construction or the sandwich construction. So, how does this benefit us? Is this just a marketing gimmick or does it have any real benefits? Well, such knives can have a very hard core and consequently a cutting edge, while at the same time having a very tough material around the core. That means that the knife will remain sharp for a very long time but unlike the majority of hard knives, it is not fragile, so it doesn't break on impact. This way, we can obtain the best possible knife features. So what does this have to do with determining whether a knife is made out of real Damascus steel or merely an imitation? Given that the VG-10 core is not Damascus steel, the knife may lack the Damascus pattern on the cutting edge or near it or wherever the knife is thin enough. The pattern can only show when the blade thickness increases. This way we can see where the core ends and Damascus steel begins.
picture 6: san mai construction
picture 7: VG-10 Damascus
- Lastly, let's address the elephant in the room – the price. Can a $50 knife be made out of real Damascus steel or not? Well, it is true that Damascus steel needs a lot of work and is therefore very expensive. On the other hand, not all Damascus steels are of the same quality. Getting to the point – while it is possible to get a $50 Damascus knife, they are mostly of very poor quality.
Hopefully this article offered you some useful tips for figuring out the authenticity of your Damascus knives and advice on how to choose your next favourite knife.