THE TOP OF THE LINE - BOB KRAMER KNIVES
The celebrated American knife-smith bob Kramer sums it up. I gleaned this from his website because his words are what it is about. Bob's knives are a combination of best of art and meticulous craftsmanship producing one of the finest products made.
The celebrated American knife-smith bob Kramer sums it up. I gleaned this from his website because his words are what it is about. Bob's knives are a combination of best of art and meticulous craftsmanship producing one of the finest products made.
From his website". "Damascus, or pattern welded steel, is the process of combining at least two different types of steel to achieve mechanical properties or to achieve a desired aesthetic. In my Damascus, I use three different types of steel all of which harden and temper in the same temperature range".
"To begin creating Damascus, at room temperature I make a sandwich of different types of steel usually starting with 20 layers. This sandwich is tack-welded together and put into a forge running at 2350 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature, the steel becomes "plastic" and "sticky". The steel sandwich is then placed into a hydraulic press or mechanical hammer where these different steels are fused together".
"Molecules actually move back and forth across this interface between the different steels bonding the materials together. This process is also called diffusion bonding. The resulting billet is then stretched and manipulated to create desired patterns or folded a number of times to achieve a desired layer count, sometimes going up to 10,000 layers".
"This process is very labor and material intensive. In some cases up to 70% of the material is lost along the way to achieve a desired pattern. This is why Damascus knives are much more expensive than the straight carbon steel knives.
"Often I am asked if Damascus is better than Straight Carbon Steel. I'd say that it isn't better, only different. I see my Damascus knives as a bigger chunk of my soul. The making of Damascus requires more time, and a higher level of concentration".