Anyone seen this before in Damascus steel?

[Josh]

I think this was a kit knife that I got in the other day… when I was reprofiling and sharpening it look what came out! Anyone seen this before? These are the only spots on the edge.

[Mark76]

Is that crack “parallel” to the Damascus pattern?

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Josh]

Yes mark, it the inclusions run in line w/ the damascus layers.

[jimbo45]

Wow that sucks no too much you can do about that I’d imagine

[tcmeyer]

Seems clear to me that it’s a flaw in the forging, but I would think any flaw would be only one layer thick – unless, of course, there was a separate core steel intended to provide a stronger edge. In which case, it’s the core steel that was damaged and the question becomes; how?

Reprofiling the blade runs the risk of simply finding more such inclusions.

Even tho it looks like the crack seems to fall in line with the Damascus surface lines, each line should really be only a few thousandths thick (if that) so any fault following a surface line should be only one or two layers thick.

If it was a kit knife, the owner ought to be able to ask for a replacement.

[Daniel maloon]

I’ve run into this before on a guys Damascus blade he bought on eBay and to a lesser degree on a few others. I was able to work that area and it sharpened out.

[Mark76]

I’ve never seen this, but I have seen a Japanese blade with a crack that ran in line with the hamon line. Something had gone wrong with the heat treatment of this knife. This caused stress in the blade and the core steel reacted differently than the cladding. Hence the crack.

I’ve been told that it may take years for a steel to “settle”, so that such cracks may occur even years after the knife has been produced.

I think this knife should go back to its maker.

Molecule Polishing: my blog about sharpening with the Wicked Edge

[Aaron kimpton]

this is pretty common in Pakistani made “Damascus” steel. Which it really is not damascus, but a pattern welded steel. I have a similar crack in one of my knives from Pakistan.

In many cases it does not effect the function of a good knife that is not abused.

[Author]

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