Russian Damascus pocket knife
Channel: Taste of Krolikus
Date: 2020-03-30

Good afternoon, dear readers and nayfoman.
During the coronavirus pandemic season and due to the availability of more free time, the time has come to get the knives off the shelves and perform maintenance on their toys. To put them under the glass again.


I decided to share one of the few folding knives with a blade made of Damascus steel of Russian manufacture in my collection and talk a little about the situation with Damascus steels from which our knife craftsmen and craftsmen make beautiful blades.
I will tell you by the example of my folding knife, whose master I don’t know, because I acquired it from the collection by exchange and took it for the high quality of the artisanal damask. The only known fact is the production in the wonderful mecca of blacksmiths in the city of Vorsma.
First, it is worth noting that knives made of Damascus steel are also called patterned steel. I think the very history of steels and cold steel (hereinafter XO), all people somehow imagine. And we will move right into the second half of the 20th century, so as not to go into sophistry, but consider a mass-produced damascus that is produced using classical technology from antiquity, rather than the Japanese composite method (as an example, this Japanese folding knife from designer Bob Lum with its legendary Encounter) which he spoke about earlier in one of his reviews.
As a result of access to machine tools and the appearance of free time, the craftsmen at the factories remembered a very beautiful and simple (if there is no goal to do it qualitatively) production of patterned damask.
Now let's look at the quality level of different steels depending on the manufacturer (I recall the speech only about Russian production).

The masters themselves in the Russian Federation distinguish four groups of manufacturers (in fact, there are much more of them, but I'm a lazy person and I will mention only the largest associations in my understanding).
1. These are blacksmiths recognized by the masses, whether it’s external beauty (like the Arkhangelsk ones) or vice versa, consumer-working properties (in fact, Damascus steel masters can be counted on the fingers, basically we know the highly advertised and bursting dealers who create myths from their Damascus, how they sculpt it from the shuttle’s turbine blade, etc.).
2. Unnamed or little-known masters from ... I’ll just write the Nizhny Novgorod region, there are so many of them, right here, very, very (usually they do functional things or try to make functional blades as they see it themselves).
3. Industrial Damascus, which always has a stable result, but is average in its qualities (practical and aesthetic, often beginning manufacturers or those who for example do not know how to forge Damascus themselves, acquire the industrial version and make an instrument on it and the whole knife is obtained from them as if).
4. All remaining (masters and manufacturers who did not fall into category 1 and 2). I don’t plan to talk about them now, so this item simply goes under the word "rest".
Here is my Damascus (belongs to the second category) despite the absence of “lack of penetration” (these are the well-visible joints of layers that have a disproportionate thickness, I can’t show, because I don’t keep such a marriage in the collection). But because of the high-carbon base, it simply corrodes tin, even if it was cooked in a sprite (if it could be disassembled, it did so, high-carbon steels are often specially oxidized to reduce corrosion).
Therefore, I will show the changes after processing with polishing paste.
You see how dull it is and slight turbidity on the blade, it's all rust and it needs to be removed, because if you do not care for a toy or instrument, then why do you need it?
Manufacturers-craftsmen from the first category usually specialize in the production of individual orders and their damask has a unique pattern and can have high performance ("maybe" in this sentence is the keyword). All knives from the masters have brands that show their belonging to a particular blacksmith or workshop.

But the second group of Nizhny Novgorod masters for the average layman is the most interesting, because this huge layer of imagination and the ultimate characteristics of the blade is simply amazing, and the affordability is fantastic.
Prices for folding knives with a damask blade even in 2020 start at 2,000 rubles, and with a fixed one can be found for 1,000!
Factory production of Damascus steel is similar to the production of electrical appliances or stools, they simply stamp and stamp under a carbon copy, but with the observance of TU. This is mainly needed for manufacturers who do not have their own ability to produce Damascus steel in the right amount, but at the same time use it in their production. And due to the low cost (in-line production taxis), the factory production of Damascus has occupied its niche in the market quite firmly.