For anyone wondering if Damascus is better than normal steel or if it's just a myth: it is not, however it used to be. The ability to make the mix of carbon and iron in steel homogenous has not always been a given. That means that steel from hundreds of years ago was significantly worse than steel today. Damascus was the best way at the time to make the steel more homogenous thus making it superior to other steel of the same time period. Nowadays due to modern machinery steel is much more homogenous eliminating the need for the folding the steel to make damascus

As a hobbyist blacksmith I know just how difficult it is and the amount of strength that goes into making a perfect Damascus knife. For me, it takes days. But I did make one that is used in our kitchen. One of my children is an apprentice blacksmith, and she is miles better than me. However, only highly skilled craftsmen - nowadays not many - will make a fine Damascus knife, and their prices reflect their art and they well deserve the money they receive.

There is a lot of misinformation in this video unfortunately... For one, damascus/pattern welded steel is no "sharper" "stronger" or "better" than any other monosteel. Zach is likely using 1084 and 15n20 for the damascus produced here. After forge welding these alloys together, the carbon content within the steel as a whole will homogenize during forging and your end steel will perform near identically to 1080 (if anything slightly worse as extended periods of forging can actually cause negative effects in the steel). It will NOT perform any better in ANY metric than any other knife made purely from 1080. 1080 is also considered a relatively low performance steel in the world of knifemaking. That's not to say that it is bad, but there are plenty of other alloys that can perform much better in a kitchen setting (CPM M4, CPM Magnacut, Zmax, CPM S90V, etc). These tool and stainless steels do not forge well due to carbide volume and so are exceedingly difficult to turn into damascus. Most damascus on the market will be some combination of low alloy tool steels or plain carbon steels with one being nickel rich and the other nickel deficient. To reiterate, these low alloy steels are not particularly tough, hard, etc. and perform accordingly. Not to hate on Zach here as he does make some nice looking knives and has obviously earned his title as a master smith, but many of the things he says metallurgy-wise just aren't true. At around 5:40 he says that he is looking at scale that has flaked off after heat treatment because "the steel has contracted after it hardened, so I know it is hard". Steel goes through a volumetric INCREASE during hardening and actually expands slightly, doesn't contract. And this isn't what causes scale to flake off either, it's the force of the vapor jacket during quench combined with the rapid decrease in temperature (which does involve a shrinking of the steel) that does that. To any smith's that are here learning, flaky or cracked scale after quench does NOT equal a hard blade. He's also using sharpness as a metric for performance which says very little about the actual quality of his steel and ht. Given the low alloy steels he is using and the HT he is doing using his forge rather than a temperature controlled kiln, his blades likely fall far below the performance of the theoretical best-of-the-best on the market. Again, not to say that they perform badly, but to claim that your knife is the sharpest, strongest, etc around is pretty ridiculous. Also to everyone in the comments saying that true damascus/wootz steel is a lost art, it's not, we've recreated it exactly. The recipe is not lost we know exactly how it was made and what is in it down to the .000001 atomic %. We've also tested its mechanical properties and it falls far short of any modern monosteel that is produced today. Anyway, I'll end my rant there, again no disrespect to Zach, he makes beautiful knives, it's just the misinformation and lack of background research by the people who produced this video that bothers me. Source: I am a professional bladesmith, have made tons of damascus myself, and have a bachelor's and a master's in metallurgical engineering.

Ever since I watched “Forged in Fire” I’ve greatly appreciated the art of knife making. The precision needed to accomplish this is incredible

UK population drooling over this 🌚

People are missing the point (pun intended). These aren't made to be just to be practical, this are made to be pretty while maintaining the practicality You aren't really paying for the product itself, you're paying for the effort to get that cosmetic pattern and the skill of the blacksmith Yeah there's perfectly good knives well below Damascus's price, but they aren't as pretty as this one You aren't just buying a product, you're supporting the people behind it too

Mad respect to the folks who are keeping the art of bladesmithing alive and well to this day.

I agree with everything Diego said plus I would add it's highly addictive! I remember after buying my first Damascus knife, I was looking for anything to slice. The crazy sharpness made slicing so effortless and fun.

As other mentioned, these damascus steels are "pattern welded steel" that are simply being called damascus. I suppose it stuck since saying pattern welded steel all the time is tiresome and calling it damascus has better marketing appeal. You can have "damascus" made of bad steels or good steels. It's just a mixture of two different alloys that corrode differently. Nowadays its only real purpose is aesthetic.

I'm from Damascus the old city and I'm very impressed by this industry , I wished if someone talk about the history of the Damaskus steel

this video is really well done. You avoided a lot of the errors I see these types of videos make about our trade. Great work!

As a materials engineer, this was a great watch. I love working with alloys👌 Aluminum lithiums are awesome

The craftsmanship and design of the knife are just as important as its functionality. You are paying for the intricate details of the handle, the precision of the blade, and the overall aesthetic appeal of the knife. While it is true that any knife can perform the task of cutting, the experience of using a well-crafted knife is unparalleled.

this is one of the best channel on youtube, real information i love it

Ive always loved Damascus and i was so greatful i had to opportunity to get a blade myself. Its a swiss dagger made of Damascus steel and has an ebony handle. I will always treasure it, they are gorgeous blades

It's cool how he has no burns on his arms. Shows how skilled he is.

I had no idea that the process of making a Damascus knife was so intricate and time-consuming, involving multiple layers of folded steel and intense heat treatment. It's amazing to see the level of craftsmanship and attention to detail that goes into creating each knife, and it's clear why they are so highly valued by chefs and collectors

It's incredible the appreciation you'll have for something with a little investigating. Thank you.

Absolutely beautiful pieces of art! I would cherish owning a blade of his, but sadly…not an option right now. I hope some day. They are truly works of art! Thank you for sharing this with us!❤

Thank you to business insider for putting an old traditional Indian sword making method, in India it is also called Wootz steel and originated in Southern part of India

I learned a lot about making knives by watching "Forged in Fire". I absolutely love these types of shows that involve either cooking or building something (American Chopper, Monster Garage, etc.). Thanks for the education.

Amongst all the people I admire, the ones who lives their life and dedicate it to their passion are on top of the list

Those Damascus knives are expertly carved out to form that shape. The intricate details on there justs look absolutely stunning.

Pretty sure it is sharp, but I just love the artistic pattern. The knives are a work of art.

just as a very important distinction, this is NOT damascus steel, this is forge-welded steel. damascus steel is a crucible steel. this is forge-welded steel that emulates the pattern of damascus steel. the type of steel is called "watered steel" that results in the pattern of different alloys/carbon concentrations. damascus is the original, and is a crucible steel. fold-forged steel is another type of watered steel, but it is NOT damascus steel.

Great video, thanks! And that is some beautiful work Zach, thanks for sharing!!

There really is an art to making a good Damascus knife and depending how you make it some ways easier than others old school vs new school. Just think its cool that this art has been around for so long and they used to use meteorites which become the few to the great

Really well done video. I like how you mention, how damascus knives perform similarly (in reality likely worse) to other high end knives. The myth of them being better simply isn't true. What's true about them is that they are real eye catchers and require certain skills to make. Also this craftmans damascus patterns look stunning.

One day when I can afford to buy one I'll go crazy on it and I want to tip the Smith what he deserves along with his price for the products. Mad respect to all of them who keep the art going

paying for not just the work n the time put in to produce the outcome, but their experience n knowledge that made it possible to work the way they do to produce the outcome is the key.

I had a dream that I didn’t have a knife when I needed one. It was a very specific looking knife that I was missing. Two days later, I was gifted a Damascus knife at the beach by a friend. It was the same shape as in my dream. Before that, I already had a profound appreciation for the craftsmanship that went into Damascus blades. That was an awesome dream come true. I always wanted a Damascus knife ❤️✨

You should cover about Karambits and Butterfly Knives next time 😆 includimg their floats

This is incredible. People like him are the best gifted people among us.

Wonderful video! The patterns on that knife are amazing! It's a work of art as much as a tool!

Wow, he puts so much effort in his work.

I thank him for using a more traditional approach to the Hada technique, in witch he actually folds the steel and doesn't cut and restack.

FYI, damascus does not make you knives sharper, you can get a VERY hard homogeneous steel and make a sharp knife that holds edges as good as damascus. I'm a home chef and i have a few VG10 knives that can cut on touch (sharpen by myself). problem with razor sharp knives isn't with the knives themselves but the user, anything will get blunt if you abuse it, taking good care makes you knives last longer(RIP my old 10$ SUS304 that i had been using for the last decade).

Damascus is just cosmetic. Most knives can be sharpened and be great to use.

Finally a solution to my problem that I can never get my tomato slices thin enough.

That shot of him staring into the forge with the snow in the back goes so hard 🔥🔥🔥

The most impressive thing about this dude is that he was able to become a master heat treating with a forge.

In modern steels, ''damascus'' is purely cosmetic. You Layered steel back in the day to remove impurities, and that was still not called damascus steel. Actual Damascus steel looks more like the knives you see (Many from Japan nowadays) with no layers but there is alloy banding on the single piece of steel, which can also occur in a 3 layered knife, which looks way cooler than pretty much any pattern welded (''damascus'') knife.

The "Forged in Fire" show frequently has guests make damascus blades. It's cool to see it done when it's not rushed and without real time to plan.

Its so great that he's working on that masterpiece with that weather.

They're gorgeous knives but they really gassed up this whole "Damascus" thing. In reality, a well sharpened knife between 50-400 dollars will let a skilled chef cut those paper thin slices of anything. And if some idiot wants to snatch it up to open a can, or knocks it onto the floor, it won't cause the same sort of pain. Not to say you shouldn't buy a knife like if this if you really want to, they're just not the atom splitting nanotech monomolecular sci-fi blades they're made out to be.

y'all should do a profile on Kyle Royer if you want to see a prodigious master bladesmith at work, and I say that in no way to diminish the work of Zach Jonas. . . but Kyle's work is simply exemplary.

So informative!!!! Wow, such hard work goes into the knifes

oh wow. iaido is my martial art and I've been into japanese steel for that reason. I have so much respect for blacksmiths and this was an amazing video.

If you're looking for sharp knifes, you're probably better off with Japanese chef's knifes. But I'll have to admit that Damascus steel knifes patterns are indeed very beautiful

I’d accidentally disembowel myself the first time I used it! 😧

i envy people that can create wonders with their hands...it's really important to have a skill

Zach is an artist. Tremendous respect.

Yea, it used to be superior back in the olden times, but in today times, a good quality regular steel knife made in a high end factory is just about perfect for any kitchen. Still tho, looks beautiful. If money was not an issue, I'd have it in my house.

$5,000 knife that'll be sharpened on a $10 knife stone

Great content from insider as always ❤️

Boa tarde à todos, vc sempre nos surpreende com esses maravilhosos vídeos, parabéns pelo seu trabalho, obrigada por compartilhar connosco . Deus abençoe sempre 🙏

A master blade smith can make any high carbon steel knife razor sharp. Also there is a small disclaimer that needs to be addressed: this is not true Damascus steel. Damascus steel was made from crucible steel from the Middle East and got its name from the city of Damascus in modern day Syria. The type of steel this video is showing is actually pattern welded steel which has been around for centuries. True Damascus steel has not been successfully made for a few centuries due to the Industrial Revolution began in Europe, and its pattern was based mostly on impurities in the steel such as vanadium and through heat treating and tedious thermal cycling which was only discovered only a couple of decades ago. I personally like both of these steels especially pattern welded steel but a lot of people don’t know the difference between them and it irks me that the trade name misleads people.

modern pattern welded Damascus Steel is not the same as historic Woots (Crucible steel) Damascus. And the reality is that modern pattern welded steel is simply for decretive purposes.

let me just take some confusion out of you, which i used to be confused about. a. any knife can be sharp enough to do the see through vegetable cut shots seen in this video. the difference is how long a knife can hold its sharpness. b. damascus knife making technique used to be the best way to get a mixed steel knife. now it's possible for any knife, even without the swirls. because technology. c. you can get one for the novelty of it. but a victorinox will serve you much better and is usually way cheaper. it's what professional kitchens use.

Damascus knives and the sound of handpan. Perfection ❤

In short: They are both aesthetically magnificent and realisticly practical They are a pain to work with, it's like the blacksmith need to roll the dice a thousand times and they need to roll a perfect 6 every-single-time.

Thanks to HISTORY TV18's Forged in Fire, i was able to understand every technical term used here.....

i got a set of 6 of these beautiful blades thrown in when i purchased a belly blaster on a late night telemarketing show. believe me once you use them nothing else feels the same

Solid information through this whole video!

At this point, this is more of a type of art then a hobby

I work in aerospace and specifically the heat treatment department. I started in ‘06 and I’m still there today as the department lead. Granted, we work with aluminum and not steel so I’m sure there’s differences I’m not aware of. Heat treating is very specific. A certain temperature with a very tight tolerance. Obviously this guy is very skilled and I guess has developed the ability to “eye ball” his treatment process. From the way it was shown he has no temperature gauges and the knife wasn’t being evenly and precisely heated which is essential for the heat treatment of aluminum anyways. Are there many differences in the process between steel and aluminum? Obviously heat is a big difference! But the process overall how he performed it I’m just curious as to how it’s effective with the lack of precision.

The craftsmanship is world class.

something I've learned about Damascus knives from owning one, they last forever. My mom got one in the 1960s (2,000 layers), it's lasted through 63 years of cooking.

I've always appreciated the quality of a damascus blade, but I've never cared for that pattern. If I had the money to buy one, I would have to decide if I want quality or visuals more.

Does the knife lose it sharpness? How long is its sharpness last considering its price?

We are the Damascus kitchen knife factory in China. I agree with the explanation in this video. This is also the production process of our factory to produce Damascus kitchen knives.🥰🥰🥰

The history of Damascus steel is really interesting. The origins of Damascus steel goes back to South India. Making a really good quality steel which didn't rust easily and was strong enough to take the wear and tear of warfare was known to black smiths of these parts of India (even current Shri Lanka). Here steel was and is still called "Ukku". Indian Kings wanted horses for warfare and Arabians had best horses to offer. Indian Kings bought horses and sold swords in exchange. These swords ended up with Turkish Sultanates. The Ukku got distorted in to "Wootz". That's why even now Damascus steel is also called as Wootz steel. Then Crusades began. When the Christian Western powers met with Muslim Turkish armies in battlefield they were really impressed with the quality of the swords. Since they found these steels in Damascus, they just called them Damascus Steel.

You can get cheap Damascus knives made in the same pattern welded and twisted sort of styles as this for as little as 20$. Damascus is not at all important to determine if a knife is good or bad quality and is purely aesthetic.

Have they truly figured out the ingredients for the ancient Damascus steel? That's great. God bless.

I'm Definitely gonna out those in my To Buy List!🤯💯🛠️🇺🇸

This is pattern welded not actual damascus steel. Because there is no such thing as "damascus" steel. Damascus was a hub for sword production, using sourced Wootz ingots from India. We do not know if forge welding techniques used today were the same, which created the "damacened" properties back in the day. Closest modern approximation is the katana, using tamahagane steel. Where different parts of the same ingot are combined with forge welding, layering to form the desired properties of the finished sword.

Me remembering that these damascus knives aren't even made by real DAMASCUS steel.

Incredible, didn't even know about these before.

Story should also cover pros and cons. Like long term use if it will rust or no compared to stainless steel.

I thought the making of true damascus was lost and in truth this would just be “watered” steel

But in order to be considered Damascus steel doesn’t have to be made in Damascus? 🤷🏼‍♂️ 👀

Its not damaskus, its layered edged steal with chrome and carbon inlays.. actually damaskus more looks like big mixmatch with a grainy ricy structure from the interaction in the crucible.

From a Damascene guy, this is a very good video!

Imagine the pain when u drop this knife on the floor on its sharp end

First of all it's a pattern welded steel knife as we lost the means to make Damascus steel which comes from wootz iron which is was crucible iron that was found in India. Second it's expensive because a pattern welded steel is harder to make and require ample knowledge of what steels would work well together and years of practice to learn to achive the pattern achive the pattern your want consistently. Lastly pattern welded steel are both of similar quality to other steel knifes the only difference the pattern that comes from the diffrent carbon Contents from the steels used and the user of the knife. There are better quality steel outside of pattern welded for sure but the whole idea that pattern welded steel is better is a myth that was propagated by the use of actual Damascus steel blades which where again is just here say.

My goal has been for years to replace all my knifes with damasks blades. I have one so far and it cuts like Diego said, it’s an experience for any professional chef or home chef. It was a pretty penny to buy. ❤❤❤

Kappabashi Dougu Street in Tokyo, Japan, is also popular among foreign tourists and top chefs , because Japanese knives are produced using samurai sword-making techniques and can cut well.

This isn't really Damascus. It's called PATTERN WELDED! Damascus looks similar but it's unfair to call it actual Damascus. I'd love this channel to cover woots Damascus tho!!!!

With modern "Damascus" metal, there's basically no actual benefit over regular old steel knives, they mostly just look better. Like a 1000 years ago Damascus steel knives and swords were legitimately stronger and much more hard to produce than regular metal items, and they were expensive because of their rarity, actual strength properties, significant difficulty in manufacturing versus regular steel, and of course the intricate design patterns. These days "damascus" is pretty much entirely cosmetic term, and the price is mostly depended on design, because the diffuculty of manufacturing entirely depends on design required. Modern damascus knifes aren't actually that much stronger, sharper, or more durable than regular modern steel. They do have some advantages over regular steel, but 99% of Damascus steel items is in the looks, not function.

This man have my full respect for him❤

Been seeing all these praises of Damascus steel knives. Back in the day remember warnings not to fire modern high power ammo in Damascus steel firearms. How is it we are suddenly in love with Damascus steel???

Its actually expensive because the makers first have to unlock colors, then gold, then platinum, and find a map to take longshots before damascus becomes available.

"while high end mono steel knives may perform similarly".... This is the key point. Everything that follows this phrase is just about how it looks and how it's made. Very symbolic of the current hipster/artisan fad

More people should watch this very interesting 50min video about actual Damascus steel (​The Secrets of Wootz Damascus Steel) You can get something quite similar in modern knives, I've only seen it on Japanese knives, can be seen on solid VG-10 blades, the iron cladding on 3 layers knives and Honyaki (expensive 1piece/mono blades) It's the alloy(s) within the steel showing, no folding or layers. In terms of actual Damascus the pattern came through if you had at least .005% Vanadium In my opinion, the best thing about alloy banding is that it's a natural thing within the steel, it looks way cooler than any pattern welded steel which really easily can look gaudy.

Damascus is so beautiful on blades 😊

As a chef, I can tell you not to be "scared" because the price, once you buy one, it will last you a LITERAL life time if treated properally. Had a colleague whos knife was older then me, and I am 23.

If anyone has to ask why damascus is so expensive they are brain dead. Go out and try to create a pattern like that in a block of molten steel then come back and ask again.

I seen many knives but this one is tottaly amazing for me.

Where would I be able to buy the ones that failed to pass these tests?

Can we have more of these? I don't mean the knife but rather something unique and skillful instead of 'these people are paid almost nothing for a dangerous job that goes through 50 middlemen to increase the price' or 'this family has been producing this item by hand for generations - despite there are modern techniques that make an objectively better product'