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- THE BLADES IN DAMASK - |
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Alain and Loris Chomilier (members of the Club),
art cutlers,
sent us this article about the preparation of Damask.
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Originally, Damask is a way of iron refining by hammering, folding and drawing,
all that to get rid of the impurities of metal.
Thus a composite material is created having more or less homogeneous layers
in turns,
usually iron and nickel or nickel and steel.
This heterogeneous texture induces rather exceptional mechanical qualities
(neither iron nor nickel can be tempered) because Damask can only partly
be tempered;
so metal is little breakable and stands the breaking since it difracts the
shock-waves.
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There are several techniques of forging Damask
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- At first the occidental or Merovingian way used by the Merovingian forgers;
it was in fact a sort of welding which disappeared in late Xth century,
without any explanation.
- Then the oriental Damask or melting Damask is the Damask for all-round
standard;
for the forger the wootz is the philosopher's stone, but in spite of an
unceasing alchemical search nobody seems to have been able to recreate the
very complexe process of its elaboration.
- In the end, the Japanese Damask is the one to be found to-day which is
forged by hammering and drawing. The several thousands of layers of sabre
blades have little by little be replaced by a more limited number (a few
hundreds) because if more, the texture is too dense and acid revelation
doesn't give satisfactory aesthetic results.
Besides the undeniable mechanical qualities of Damask blades, we must insist
upon their esthetic character ; the etymology of the word refers to the
moiré materials woven in the town of the same name and not to the swords
which were forged there.
The composite quality of the material gets numberless anamorphotical potentialities
coming both from the folding and drawing and the working of the metal in
depth (for example by sculpting).
When the piece in Damask gets the wanted shape, one need only to temper
it into acid which blackens the carbon only and thus reveals the structure
of metal.
We only use stainless, nevertheless very loaded with carbon steel made with
steel obtained by the technology of the powders (a very thin grain-a lasting
edge) because the intrinsic mechanical quality of metal allows a very hard
temper
(till 63-4 Rockwell) after cryogenisation.
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Technical reminders
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For the making of metals by the technique of the metallurgy of powders,
the molten metal goes into a vacuum box where it receives a splashing of
argon : the drops of gas fixing the molecules, then the ore turns into powder.
According to the quality of steel wanted, the various powders are then mixed,
heated in a vacuum, isostatic oven and pressed under high pressure (2000
bars).
This steel has practically no porosity therefore it can be used in high-tech
industries such as aerospace industry.
In cutlery such steels are a first class material to make heavily carboned
stainless Damask.
And during the forging with the various foldings and drawings, gorgeous
and various designs can be obtained. |
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See also articles on the
manufacture ...
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