Hunting Washington Forum

Equipment & Gear => All Other Gear => Topic started by: HoofsandWings on August 17, 2008, 05:23:30 PM

Title: Need some advice on best way to care for damascus blade
Post by: HoofsandWings on August 17, 2008, 05:23:30 PM: What are the dos and don'ts for caring for the blade? It has a beautiful pattern and I do not want to lose it. What is the best way to sharpen the blade?
I use the knife for skinning, gutting of big game; gutting waterfowl and upland birds.
Thanks
Title: Re: Need some advice on best way to care for damascus blade
Post by: high country on August 21, 2008, 06:33:07 PM: providing the knife is just plain (not stained) metals it really is just like any other knife. use it, keep it clean and oiled. if you get it bloody that is good, if you leave it bloody......that is bad. you can't scrub the pattern out of it as the pattern is formed by floding the steel over and over, you can scrub off any patina that has formed.

enjoy!
Title: Re: Need some advice on best way to care for damascus blade
Post by: HoofsandWings on August 21, 2008, 09:31:58 PM: Quote from: high country on August 21, 2008, 06:33:07 PM
providing the knife is just plain (not stained) metals it really is just like any other knife. use it, keep it clean and oiled. if you get it bloody that is good, if you leave it bloody......that is bad. you can't scrub the pattern out of it as the pattern is formed by floding the steel over and over, you can scrub off any patina that has formed.

enjoy!
Thanks HighCountry. It is a utility knife and has a nice pattern. I will remember not to put comet clenser on it to clean. I have oil stones to sharpen, but realized I need a water stone to touch up in the field.
Should I be using fine or extra fine for my water stone?
Title: Re: Need some advice on best way to care for damascus blade
Post by: high country on August 24, 2008, 02:08:04 PM: you really can't go wrong either way........just depends on what you want for an edge.
Title: Re: Need some advice on best way to care for damascus blade
Post by: rainshadow1 on August 24, 2008, 03:49:31 PM: You can over-polish damascus and make it look very, very similar to regular carbon steel. If you finish it to all the same level, it'll look like one piece of steel. It's been etched, and the different steels eat away at different rates, that makes the layering visible and makes the pattern.

Don't rub on the sides of the blade if you can avoid it, just be sure to keep it clean and oiled. If you polish it and the lines of the pattern get hard to distinguish, you'll need to re-etch it to make them distinct again.

As to sharpening, treat it like any other knife, it should be better than most because the layered steel actually sharpens and cuts better than any other.