Olympus Blades Hand Made Damascus Chefs Knife - Wood Handle

Description

One of a kind! Blade Length: 7 1/4" Handle: Wood The process starts with two dissimilar metals, typically a high carbon (1095HC) and a high nickel metal (15N20). Though we don't always use these metals, most of our knives that have a high contrast of color in the blades will incorporate these two metals. So starting from a stack of ingots (block of metal) they are tack welded (just a quick weld to hold it) together and then placed into the furnace to start the welding process. As the metals are heated, they are pounded together. As the metals form a singular piece, they are drawn out, folded and twisted to give the unique pattern that you see on our blades. Once the combining of the two metals is complete, a new ingot has been created. From this new ingot, it is re-heated and a knife is hammered and ground in to shape. Once the basic shape has been achieved, the knife is dipped quickly into oil to rapidly cool the metal. This process is known as quenching and the rapid cooling, reheating and cooling again causes the molecules to align in a more organized nature which strengthens the metal by making it harder, yet still remaining soft enough not to be brittle. Now that we have the knife shape, the blade is dipped into acid. The acid etches the high carbon steel while the high nickel steel resist the acid. This is what gives the stark contrast of colors to the blade. It's now time for the custom made handle to be put on. It starts off with a block of micarta, bone, wood or horn. It's glued and tapped into place, then ground (sanded) into shape. At this time we begin sharpening the knife blade at roughly a 15 degree angle. The end product of this process is our beautiful Damascus knives. Damascus is also (and depending on who you ask more accurately) called pattern welding, as the technology of creating true damascus steel has been lost to time (most unfortunately).