Solid State Diffusion bonded Damascus steel: Role within custom knife making

Over the last few years there has been a growing interest in the making of artisan steel and the development of traditional patterned Damascus steels. This has been mainly driven by small, informal groups of contemporary knife makers freely sharing experiments and data; each craftsman working on a small piece of research that then drives the group-knowledge forward. Most of the work is done using small blacksmithing facilities by part-time makers who are striving to improve their skills. This book provides data and records of slightly different type of process to make patterned steel - material made in specialist equipment in order to create metal that wouldn't be possible through other means but tested in a workshop situation by working knife makers. This book includes details of experiments, data sheets, photographs of the samples, discussion of failures and images of the final pieces. Many of the techniques shown in this book are applicable to makers and researchers who are trying to create patterned material using non-traditional metals.