I am often asked the question, "What is Damascus Steel"? In basic terms, Damascus steel is a steel that has a visible pattern on it. The pattern that you see is not just superficially on the surface of the steel, but goes throughout the entire thickness of it. The pattern, is a direct result of both the hot forging process and the alloy materials used in its composition. An Islamic Poet several centuries ago described Damascus Steel "as wavy streaks- glistening like a pond over whose surface the wind is gliding."

Historically Damascus Steel was known as the finest cutlery steel in the world. It was first produced by blacksmiths over 2500 years ago. The orgins of Damascus go back to the beginning of the Iron age when early blacksmiths learned that prolonged and repeated heating of a wrought iron bar in a charcoal fire, followed by intense forging, served two purposes: First it removed slag and other foreign material from the Iron. Secondly it spread any retained slag throughout the bar. As a result, the bar of iron developed superior physical properties. Weapons made from this process were harder, sharper, rigid and yet flexible.

The early smith attributed these properties to the purification of iron from the repeated heating done in the fire. What he didn't know was that the charcoal fire exercised both a chemical and a thermal effect on the bar of iron, transforming it into an alloy of iron and carbon, i.e., STEEL. This process of adding the element carbon to iron to produce what we know as steel would not, in fact, be understood until the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Because iron forged by this process exhibited surface patterns that were perceptible to the naked eye, the primitive smith began to associate these patterns with the superior qualities of the steel. Thus, this "watering" or "damask", as such patterns were called, became the visible trademark of finely worked steel.

The qualities of Damascus steel are legendary. Historically Damascus swords were known for their strength, flexibility and extreme sharpness. Because of these superior qualities that Damascus swords had over their plain steel counterparts, there are many legends which have circulated throughout the years in many cultures about its superior qualities. It was said that a Damascus sword could cut a silk scarf that was dropped over its blade with only the weight of the scarf pushing it through. In China, Damascus was known as the only steel that could cut through jade. During the Crusades, it was told that a Persian Damascus sword could cut through that of its European's counterpart.

There is currently a debate as to what is or isn't classified as Damascus Steel. Basically, there are two types of Damascus steel: Wootz Damascus ( also referred to as Oriental Damascus) and Pattern welded Damascus.

Wootz Damascus originated in India somewhere between 200 - 500 A.D. and was later exported throughout the Middle east and the Orient. Wootz, being the material from which wootz Damascus was made from, was simply a high grade of iron ore steel that contained beneficial impurities that gave it its unique characteristics - the unique characteristics being the pattern which appeared on the steel, which had both light and dark areas (which resembled light reflecting off of water), and also the steel's unusual strength and flexibility. Unfortunately wootz Damascus is no longer manufactured although there have been several attempts recently to reproduce it (I will address this topic later). The last wootz Damascus blades were produced in the 18th century around 1750. There are many theories why it is no longer made - the most notable theory being that the raw materials used in its manufacture were depleted. Wootz Damascus received its notoriety in about 1095 when the western Europeans during the Crusades encountered their Muslim opponents who were armed with Damascus swords.

Wootz was produced by forging hot spongelike iron ore, the slag and other impurities were removed during the forging process. Once cool, the iron was broken up and placed in a ceramic or clay crucible. Along with the iron ore, wood, leaves and other organic material were placed in a ceramic or clay crucible. The crucible was then sealed and heated until the iron ore absorbed the carbon from the organic material thus making wootz steel. When the steel was cooled the blacksmith then took the ingot and forged it into a sword. These ingots were imported from India throughout Persia and the Orient.

As I mentioned earlier, original wootz no longer exists. Throughout the centuries and even now there have been and still continue to be many attempts to re-create or reproduce it. At this time I will not go into any lengthy explanation as to the many blacksmiths and their attempts to re-create it. In short I will only give credibility to one attempt to reproduce this original wootz Damascus. In 1988 Dr. John Verhoeven and Alfred H. Pendray teamed up and were able to produce the most accurate reproduction of Wootz Damascus. Their final product being nearly a spitting image of what we find in museums today. Here is their process:

Pattern Welded Damascus is the oldest type of Damascus Steel in existence. Dr. John Verheoven who is a Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Iowa State University College of Engineering explains, "I am fairly certain that Pattern Welded Damascus predates wootz Damascus by several hundred years. It depends somewhat on how general one wants to be with the definition of pattern welding. The first iron was smelted around 1000 B.C. and we call it bloomery iron. Because it was relatively soft we know that early smiths began to co-forge it with pieces of iron they had carburized ( added carbon to) to make steel. There is evidence that this happened only several centuries after 1000 B.C. But smiths did not begin to make pattern welded steels like we know them with swirls and curves forged in to make the more attractive patterns until centuries later, as far as I have read. But I think it probable that such pattern welded Damascus predates the Wootz Damascus which was also forged to produce the swirling patterns.

For my money the best estimate of when wootz made the scene was done by Bronson in a review article published in the 90's which we quote in the 1998 Journal of Metals article available on the web. My recollection is his date was sometime before 500 A. D. which I have guessed means 200 - 500 AD." Scientific evidence also by Panseri, Smith and Wadwworth supports the development of pattern welding techniques as early as 7th century B.C.

Pattern Welding is a technique in which alternating layers of different alloys are stacked on top of each other and forged together into a single piece of steel. As early smith's technical skills began to improve, pattern welded techniques developed. As the centuries progressed, blacksmiths began to combine the technological advances of carburization and layer welding and began to innovate various designs in the pattern welded bars which in turn were incorporated into the finished product, most notably the sword. These early smiths would alternate layers of hard steel for its cutting function with the softer steel and wrought iron for their greater flexibility and resistance to breaking. Once these different alloys were forged together they were folded, twisted or otherwise manipulated to create different patterns within the steel.

Pattern welding is the process that we at Thomas Damascus Steel company use today. We use the same techniques that were used over 2500 years ago. We take alternating layers of different alloys, stack them, and forge them together. Doing this creates different patterns within the steel. Additionally, with the advances in materials science, we now can choose alloys that we can combine together that will create a superior product. For example, we can combine a steel alloy that is flexible with an alloy that has great edge retention, and now we have created a single piece of steel that has both of these superior characteristics. We also alternate these different alloys to produce exotic patterns - mainly for the cutlery industry. What once existed as a utilitarian process has now evolved into an art form as well.

Lastly, I would like to add some of my own thoughts about Damascus Steel. As a producer of pattern welded Damascus I will try to be as unbiased as I possibly can. I mentioned earlier that there is a debate as to what is and what is not considered to be Damascus Steel. It is purported that the term ‘Damascus Steel' was first used to describe wootz steel. No one knows exactly why or when but the most popular theory being that the city of Damascus, Syria was an important trade center on the route between East and West, and it was probably here that travelers from the Western World first encountered wootz steel. Hence the name ‘Damascus Steel'. Because both wootz steel and pattern welded steel both exhibited the same water like pattern and characteristics, it was not uncommon to refer to both as ‘Damascus Steel'. And both steels were common throughout the Middle East and the Orient. Keep in mind that the term ‘Damascus' has been a generic term for both wootz and pattern welded steel.

There has been a trend as of late to refer to wootz Damascus as "original Damascus", "true Damascus" and I have even seen novice writers and blacksmiths refer to it as "real Damascus". As I pointed out in the beginning, pattern welded Damascus predates wootz Damascus by several hundred years. If anything, pattern welded Damascus is the "original Damascus". By these uninformed writers and blacksmiths referring to wootz Damascus with words such as "original", "true" and "real Damascus", they are subtly inferring that anything other than wootz Damascus is ‘not original', ‘false' or ‘fake Damascus'. I would hardly consider a product that has existed for over 2500 years "fake"!

We at the Thomas Damascus Steel company continue this tradition which has existed for over 2500 years. We produce the finest cutlery steel available anywhere. Our world renowned Damascus steel is known for its superior qualities and elegant patterns which are meticulously hand forged by our master blacksmiths. Each piece is truly unique and each piece is made by hand .