Metallurgist, Vol. 55, Nos. 3–4, July, 2011 (Russian Original Nos.

3–4, March–April, 2011)

MATERIALS AND EXAMPLES OF PREPARING

DAMASCUS TYPE BLADE STEEL

S. Ch. Pyasetskii and Yu. M. Belov UDC 621.771-419.5

Data are provided about manufacturing technology for a multilayer composite (Damascus steel) using hot
rolling and hammer forging.
Key words: multilayer composite, steel of martensitic and austenitic classes, Damascus steel.

In contemporary classification of materials, used for manufacturing blades of chopping and cutting steel weapons
and tools there are two different varieties of Damascus steel, i.e., cast Damascus steel (Genuine) and welded Damascus steel
(Welded).
In order to obtain cast Damascus steel, the starting charge materials, at least partially, pass through a liquid-phase
state, and welded Damascus steel is prepared by forge welding of billets of hypoeutectic and hypereutectic steels containing
insignificant amounts of associated elements. Improved production examples are considered in this article for obtaining weld-
ed Damascus steel, including the choice of steel grade and original material dimensions, surface preparation methods, forms
of thermomechanical and heat treatment, and specimen hardness monitoring.
Considerable emphasis is devoted to the choice of the different classes of corrosion material composition and the features of
technology for preparing corrosion-resistant welded Damascus steel.
A cold Damascus steel weapon, currently losing its role as a symbol of power and potency, now emerges as a bear-
er of original artistic traditions, technical and production solutions and examples of preparing welded Damascus steel.
Information in [1] points to the steady increase in the interest of researchers in the properties and structure of blades
made of multilayer welded Damascus steel and production examples for manufacture, both traditional and newly developed.
As the secrets of the leading master-armorers of different schools and areas (including contemporary) are inter-
preted, making it possible to prepare blades of multilayer steel, with an original pattern and high object (blade) cutting edge
stability, there is steady expansion of a circle of organizations and specialists who have the task of reproducing production
technology for objects similar with respect to properties, structure and external appearance to originals stored in museums
and private collections [2, 3].
In 2000–2005, armament firms manufactured patterned blades predominantly of carbon Damascus steel by manual
forging, occasionally of unknown composition. They competed successfully with blades of corrosion resistant steels of the
martensitic class grades 65Kh13 and 95Kh18. Recently there has been increased demand for the use of welded Damascus
steel based on steels 65Kh13 and 95Kh18, alloyed with molybdenum (up to 4%), tungsten and vanadium (with chromium
content up to 20% and carbon up to 1.2%).
Domestic master-armorers either prepare this metal themselves or use that supplied, in particular, by the Swedish
firm Damasteel. The armaments firm Olimp (in Zlatoust) has chosen the first approach and the company A and R (Zlatoust),
the second. In specialist exhibitions they demonstrate corrosion resistant Damascus steel blades, consisting of 3–50 layers
of martensitic class steel, having a broad-band “long-wave” structure (manufacturers are Japanese firms and the German
firm Puma).

Serp i Molot Moscow Metallurgical Plant, Moscow, Russia. Translated from Metallurg, No. 3, pp. 73–78, March, 2011.
Original article submitted March 11, 2011.

214 0026-0894/11/0304-0214 ©2011 Springer Science+Business Media, Inc.

 Use of rolling for preparing welded Damascus steel. Since master-armorers operate with Damascus steel preforms
based on low-alloy carbon, and corrosion resistant steel, in the Serp i Molot Moscow Metallurgical Plant industrial trials were
carried out for preparing welded Damascus steel of different compositions.
Use of industrial equipment, in particular rolling mills, required development of ways of obtaining multilayer sheet
billets and slabs. In the scheme for forming low-alloy carbon welded Damascus steel, each slab was a container with dimen-
sions (160–180) × (250–400) × (1500–2000) mm, within which a pile of 30–34 sheets was laid, alternating sheets of spring
and tool steels and covered with borax. Then the container was closed with a lid, sealed and welded, leaving an opening for
escape of gases. Rolling was performed in four stages; the first two in a 560 mill (for sheet billet) and then in a 1500 mill,
first to an intermediate thickness of 8–12 mm, and then after cutting a network of channels, into sheet (4–6)-mm thick.
Heating and rolling of composite slabs and sheet billets were performed by technology adopted in the plant. After
the second stage of rolling, sheet billets consisted of 150–224 alternating layers. A study of the macro- and microstructure,
and also the hardness of a multilayer composite (industrial Damascus steel) showed that the service characteristics and sur-
face pattern of this material depends markedly on deformation and heat treatment regimes, and also on the angle and direc-
tion of surface sharpening and its final polishing.
A change-over to hot rolling of composite slabs made it possible to obtain in 2–3 hours a welded Damascus steel
preform, exceeding by a factor of 7–8 the weight of a preform prepared by manual forging. Here sheets with substandard geo-
metric dimensions, and also sheets scrapped for chemical composition and fine surface defects were used.
Objects of this Damascus steel had about 200 alternating layers of spring and tool steels. They are distinguished by
patterns of rare beauty and contrast with high service properties, although in individual examples during heat treatment minor
delamination defects are encountered.
Development of production technology for welded Damascus steel from corrosion resistant steels of different com-
position and different classes (martensitic and austenitic) was carried out in two directions.
The first direction is connected with the use of two steels of the martensitic class, differing only in carbon content.
The preparation technology for welded Damascus steel of these materials has a stage of hot rolling of sheet billets weighing
about 25 kg. For this purpose, a cylindrical container was prepared from steel 20Kh13 with a wall and bottom thickness of
20 mm and an external diameter of 150 mm, strip of 30Kh13 densely wound on a rod was pressed into it and a lid was weld-
ed of steel the same as the container. After forging the container, a sheet billet was obtained 25 mm thick of the required
weight, which was rolled into sheet 8 mm thick. The structure of specimens selected from the sheet of final thickness of 6 mm
(after smoothing grooves) was quite dense, without cavities and loose areas, but the pattern had little variety.
The second direction proposed preparation of welded Damascus steel of corrosion resistant steels of the martensitic
and austenitic classes with the use of a gasostat. This work was performed together with the Tselikov All-Russia Research,
Planning, and Design Institute of Metallurgical Machinery (VNIIMETMASh), using welded containers with a size of
200 × 40 × 40 mm within which there was alternate laying of starting strips of martensitic steel 65Kh13 and austenitic steel
08Kh18N10T, providing symmetry of the direction with respect to the central strip of martensitic steel 110Kh18M. Each of
the containers was fitted with a gas connecting pipe for creating a vacuum within the volume of the container of the order
of 10–1 mm Hg. The pipe was sealed on reaching the established rarefaction, the container was placed in a gasostat, nitrogen
was supplied and the pressure raised. After about 3 h in a steady state: in the upper part of the reactor the temperature was
1140–1160°C, and in the lower part it was 1120–1140°C with a nitrogen pressure of 143.0–147.5 MPa. Soaking under these
conditions lasted about 3 h. After cooling, the reactor it was opened, the surface was examined and photographed, and hard-
ness was studied for the Damascus steel obtained in transverse sections (control surface perpendicular to the length of the
starting strip). The macro- and microstructure of welded Damascus steel, prepared in the gasostat, was quite dense, but
the pattern was linear, and uniform.
Then the hardness level was evaluated for alternating layers of the steel of each grade (without considering the effect
of layers, placed lower) of the Damascus steel, obtained in the gasostat. Microhardness was monitored by a method with
which the high specific pressure (from 3000 to 6000 MPa) is created with a small load (200 g). The work was carried out at
the Baikov Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science, Russian Academy of Sciences (IMET RAN) under the leadership
of A. E. Shelest.

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TABLE 1. Results of Statistical Analysis of Microhardness Measurements of a Composite Preform after Gasostatic Compaction

Steel Steel 08Kh18N10T at distance from edge, mm Steel 65Kh13 at distance from edge, mm
Statistical characteristics
110Kh18M 9.4 5.0 1.8 1.0 9.0 4.6 2.2 1.4

Average value, kg/mm2 601 341 364 313 261 516 525 523 461
2 33.0 9.9 18.7 9.6 17.5 18.2 23.0 20.2 17.9
Mean square deviation, kg/mm
Coefficient of variation, % 5.5 2.9 5.1 3.1 6.7 3.5 4.4 3.9 3.9

Analysis of the data obtained for strip microhardness, comprising welded Damascus steel, showed that the maxi-
mum microhardness of chromium-nickel steel (0.08% C) is lower than the minimum hardness of chromium steel (0.65% C).
Here the maximum hardness of chromium steel exceeds the minimum hardness of high-carbon steel (see Table 1).
Consequently, in order to obtain high cutting properties of welded Damascus steel it is desirable to use a multilayer collec-
tion of starting plates of martensitic class steel, in particular grades 65Kh13 and 95Kh18.
Specimens of multilayer welded Damascus steel, prepared in a gasostat, confirm the possibility of realizing contact
welding of corrosion resistant steels of different classes. This result indicates that a change in pressure has a marked effect
on diffusion conditions in alloys based on iron, at least in areas of a contact surface.
In the axial zone of multilayer multilayer bundles, enclosed in an evacuated container, a thin (up to 4 mm) sheet of
ledeburite steel was placed, having a high hardness level even with slow cooling between asbestos sheets; nonetheless in two
containers breakage of this sheet was observed over the central plane, which confirms the high quality of plate welding over
the contact surface, and a requirement for reducing ledeburite steel plate thickness, providing the highest level of hardness
(601 kg/mm2).
Work with a gasostat requires the use of expensive equipment, necessitating high accuracy and precision of carrying
out both preparatory and production operations, and associated significant labor and duration. Therefore, at the Serp i Molot
plant production technology was developed for composite materials taking account of the potential of the plant equipment
and results achieved previously [4].
The possibility of obtaining monolithic multilayer (116 layers) welded Damascus steel from high-chromium steels
of the martensitic class without using a vacuum or a protective atmosphere in a thin-walled container was proposed as a basis
for a new production method of manufacturing unique composite materials.
In spite of the difference in crystal structure of steel of the martensitic class with BCC-lattice and austenitic class
with a FCC-lattice, ways of hot deformation tried for multilayer bundles made it possible to obtain defect-free preforms, con-
taining 180–200 alternating layers of corrosion resistant steel of these classes.
The fact that an increase in the proportion of austenitic component in layers for obtaining welded corrosion resis-
tant Damascus steel leads to a reduction in hardness (after rolling) of a bundle in all of its cross sections, points to the inter-
action and reciprocal effect of crystallographic structures, the stability of the face-centered structure, in spite of a reduction
in nickel concentration.
Multilayer bundles were prepared for thermomechanical treatment (forging and rolling) by the production scheme
adopted in the plant for producing composite materials (Fig. 1). The starting plates used were cold-rolled strip (0.2–0.5)-mm
thick of corrosion resistant steels oft eh martensitic class grades 20Kh13, 65Kh13, 95Kh18 (110Kh18M), and austenitic class
grades 12Kh18N9 and 12Kh18N10T. The starting plates were prepared from substandard cold-rolled strip, scrapped fro geo-
metric dimensions or fine surface defects of the lap and scratch types.
A welded container was made from cold-rolled sheet (1.5–2.0)-mm thick of steel identical to a composite compo-
nent. After laying piles of starting plates in a container and compaction, it was sealed by argon-arc welding, leaving a hole
for escape of gases, emerging from metal on heating for forging. The heating temperature for forging was 1200 ± 10°C.

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 Container preparation
Plate preparation (chopping, cleaning)
(chopping, cutting, cleaning, bending, welding)

Container assembly (200 × 150 × 100 mm), degreasing, laying, welding)

Forging container into sheet billet (20 × 220 × 650 mm), 6–8 passes

Rolling sheet billet into sheet (1–3 passes)

6-7 mm (sheet) 13–15 mm (sheet billet)

Sheet annealing Sheet billet annealing

Chopping, strip straightening

width 30–40 mm 30–35 mm 20–25 mm

Edge defect removal, cutting into measured preforms

Application of indentation network

Forging into preforms (6.5–7)-mm thick, including twisting

Preform heat treatment

Defect removal, quality control

Preform grinding to (4.5–5)-mm thickness

Defect removal, quality control

Determination of preform hardness

Preliminary preform etching

Fig. 1. Production scheme for damask manufacture.

Forging of a container into a sheet billet was started over the wide edge, first on side and after repeated heating on
the other side. Drawing a preform to final dimensions (length 600–620 mm, width 200–220 mm, thickness 15–25 mm) was
carried out in 6–8 procedures.
During forging the inner walls of the container separated from the composite bundle, since on heating for forging
they were heated much more rapidly than the pile of plates, and reaction with oxygen contained in air and dissolved in the
plate metal, in particular as a result of the action of decarburizing and an increase in gas solubility within the more heated
volumes of the metal.

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 Fig. 2. Effect of austenitic steel fraction on Damascus hardness
after forging (straight) and after rolling (point below).

The effect noted, reminiscent of a reduction in residual pressure in radio lamps and other electric vacuum instru-
ments by introducing a getter (gas absorber) is of practical importance, since it makes it possible to refrain from creating a
vacuum in the container, and also the use of gasostats. Existence of the simple production process in this case makes it pos-
sible to reduce the cost of multilayer preforms.
Piles of plates were laid in a container not only horizontally, when their dimensions coincided with the length and
width of the container, but also vertically, when the plate dimensions coincided with the length and height of a container. This
made it possible to obtain in a finished sheet billet up to 360 layers. With identical proportions of plates of steel of austenitic
and martensitic classes in these composites contrasting etching patterns were obtained (after applying a grid and hot defor-
mation for levelling the metal surface), emphasizing and revealing the Damascus pattern.
A marked feature of the production scheme for manufacture of composites (multilayer materials) at the Serp i Molot
plant is use of hot rolling alongside forging. Here, compared with forging there is a considerable reduction in the relaxation
time between successive reduction, and deformation occurs essentially in a uniform temperature field within the volume of
rolled metal. Completion of rolling in 3–5 min from the instant of arrival of the sheet billet from a furnace into the mill line
promotes reliable adhesion over touching planes of martensitic and austenitic components, and also avoidance of possible
macrostructure discontinuity. The metal heating temperature for rolling was held at the level of 1200°C. Reduction and thick-
ness regimes for hot-rolled strips and sheets were selected taking account of the final product dimensions, and the rolling
direction (along or across the longitudinal axis) was selected taking account of the method of laying up the starting plates,
and also the subsequent application of a network of indentations, and their depth and width.
Hot-rolled sheet was annealed by a regime for the martensitic component and as necessary sheet straightening was
carried out. Cutting of sheet was carried out in mechanical shears or in abrasive-cutting mills, providing preparation of pre-
forms for specific objects.
The operation of applying a network of indentations over the wide faces of a preform led to loss of metal in the form
of turnings or metal-abrasive slurry, and consequently this made an object more expensive. Therefore at the Serp i Molot plant
versions were adopted for the production scheme providing additional forging operations for measured preforms with upset-
ting over the edges of broad faces or with twisting of preforms around a longitudinal axis. These operations made it possible
to increase the output of finished metal and to expand the range of patterns on an object surface. Prior etching of preforms
after heat treatment, cleaning, grinding, scrapping, and hardness determination made it possible to draw conclusions about
the quality level of the stainless composite obtained.
It was noted above that with an identical proportion of martensitic and austenitic components in a collection of start-
ing plates, laid in a container, an object of welded Damascus steel is distinguished by an original and significant pattern.

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 Fig. 3. Examples of Damascus steel patterns.

At the same time, service properties (hardness) of this patterned Damascus steel could be better: the hardness was 34–37 HRC
predominantly as a result of cold work.
Transformation of austenite into martensite in a composite with an identical fraction of austenitic and martensitic
steel plates required for obtaining high hardness, is probably strongly retarded by the effect of the FCC-lattice on generation
of α-phase and on decomposition of austenite in the presence of a considerable concentration of chromium of alloys of the
iron-chromium and iron–chromium–nickel systems. With a reduction in the proportion of austenitic component to 20–25%
after hardening forged and rolled performs, their hardness reached 50–53 HRC. In the next case, an increase in the propor-
tion of martensitic component was achieved by manufacture of the starting plates from hot-rolled sheet with a thickness of
2.0–2.5 mm, and required an additional grinding operation. As a result of this, metal consumption increased, the number of
starting layers in a collection was reduced to 80–100 and correspondingly there was a reduction in the artistic value of objects.
In the next stage of composite preparation from plates of two differing martensitic steel compositions there was addi-
tion of austenitic steel plates whose proportion was 33%. After forge welding and forging of preforms, including with twist-
ing and a network of indentations, the hardness of specimens after quenching was 47–50 HRC and the clarity of the pattern
increased in view of the different etching shades of martensitic steels, giving depth to a pattern, adding “scintillation” of lay-
ers of nickel-containing steel. An interesting feature of the three-component composites, containing 33% austenite, is that
after rolling a preform with vertically arranged starting plates the hardness of specimens, including after quenching, does not
exceed 5–8 HRC (Fig. 2), and due to increased toughness the metal is machined by an abrasive tool with difficulty.
This agrees with the fact that the mechanical properties are affected by the deformation scheme and the rate of its
implementation. Since with rolling deformation of a sheet billet occurs in a fraction of a second, with a reduction in thick-
ness and with drawing in the rolling direction with insignificant widening, the deformation temperature corresponds to the
structure of austenite both at the start and the end of the process, and rolled sheet is cooled rapidly on the exit roller convey-
er, and in essence quenched, fixing the austenite structure.
In order to initiate the start of γ–α transformation of a specimen, it was subjected to deep cooling (to the liquid air
boiling temperature), which made it possible to increase the hardness by a factor of 2.5–3.

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 If the fraction of austenitic component does not exceed 8–10% (which is achieved by applying grid of wire of
austenitic steel 1 mm in diameter, laid instead of continuous strips), then the difference between the forging and rolling oper-
ations is removed, and rolled metal is quenched normally. This method made it possible to obtain an original pattern, not
requiring application of indentations for its appearance.
The hardness of preforms made of corrosion resistant welded Damascus steel after forging reached 52–56 HRC.
In order to obtain this hardness, quenching was carried out, and as necessary tempering of preforms by a regime appropriate
for the martensitic component of the composite.
It should be noted that as starting strips in the cutting stage sheets and strips were used that had been scrapped either
for geometric dimensions or for surface defects of the lap and scratch type, etc., as also in preparing industrial Damascus steel.
Use of welded containers and a high lay-up density within them of the starting strips of stainless steel of different
classes made it possible to refrain from using gasostats.
Development of the structural features of a pattern was accomplished by etching a finished blade in boiling 18%
hydrochloric acid solution. The etching duration was determined by the degree of contrast required for the most total revela-
tion of welded Damascus steel pattern (Fig. 3).
Preparation of blade objects of Damascus steel stainless composites did not require development and use of addi-
tional production methods and it is accomplished by a scheme (route) adopted by specific producers.
Thus, improvement of the production methods for obtaining preforms of low-alloy welded Damascus steel, includ-
ing the choice of the composition and dimensions of the starting strips, surface preparation, choice of hot deformation
schemes and regimes, heat treatment and hardness monitoring, made it possible to prepare defect-free preforms, containing
up to 200 alternating layers of steel of different classes. By varying these regimes it is possible to control the functional prop-
erties and natural features of blade steel of the multilayer composite type or industrial welded Damascus steel.
In order to obtain high service properties for corrosion resistant welded Damascus steel, it is desirable to use steel of
the martensitic class, including the ledeburite class, and for collector objects there should be inclusion of a small (up to 10%)
addition of chromium-nickel (austenitic) component. In order to obtain composite sheet billets and slabs it is desirable to use
substandard sheet rolled product scrapped for geometric dimensions and fine surface defects. Replacement of forging by
rolling of composite slabs and sheet billets provides entirely reliable adhesion over the contact plane of sheets of steels of dif-
ferent classes, which makes it possible to avoid use of evacuation and/or the use of gasostats.
A test batch of industrial Damascus steel, manufactured by the first version (black Damascus steel) did not appear
to be in demand. Therefore it was not produced and concentration was devoted to developing a method for producing a mul-
tilayer patterned composite. Our experts came up against a number of failures, and in some cases departed from scientific
recommendations, assuming intuition and mastery.
Most interesting is when blades are subjected to etching: at the metal surface there is always (!) development of an
unrepeatable pattern, as a result of the action of the human mind, mastery and rules of nature.
Conclusion. Five years have passed since the publication of an article by N. N. Perevalov about the production of
Damascus steel at the Serp i Molot plant. Today there is no such production at the plant as production of series and exclusive
knives.
Production of Damascus steel and blades made from it at the Serp i Molot plant was abandoned, and there was no
development. N. N. Perevalov and his colleague, casting virtuoso B. G. Koloskov, are now deceased, and they made a con-
siderable contribution to technology for preparing Damascus steel under industrial conditions. Neither do the authors of this
article work at the plant. There still remain forgers having experience with Damascus steel, and also a “Damascus steel
fanatic,” i.e., chief engineer, director of the production unit of the Serp i Molot Moscow Metallurgical Plant, M. P. Galkin.
He wishes to believe that some time in the future …
Afterword. In 2008 in the manual “Blade. Tradition and the Present” an interview “S. Pashikhin armed the army”
with I. Minseev was published. The well-known representative, director of the firm Cold Steel of Russia, S. V. Pashikhin, spoke
in detail about how a competition was won for manufacture of 1000 swords for the Presidential Regiment. It was a shame that
in his interview he did not mention that for the preparation of these arms the metal used was produced by the Serp i Molot
plant: steel 10Kh13 (for the main mass of blades) and a stainless composite of Damascus steel (for several exclusive blades).

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REFERENCES

1. S. Takaishi, “The art of sword making – quality and beauty of Japanese swords,” Steel Res., 72, No. 10 (2001).
2. L. B. Akhangelskii, “Legendary arms,” Klinok, No. 3, 4–11 (2001).
3. M. Vyazhevich, “Magic of a steel blade,” Metallosnab. Sbyt, No. 1, 76–79 (1999).
4. M. P. Galkin, S. Ch. Pyasetskii, and N. N. Perevalov, “New materials and improved methods for preparing blade
steel of the Damascus type,” Proizv. Prokata, No. 12, 5–12 (2006).

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