Stock Removal vs Forging

Folded steel or "Damascus" steel is still created by forging. However, this extremely labor-intensive work has been made a bit easier with a modern invention called a power hammer. A power hammer usually gets its oomph from air pressure, and can come down with a force and precision many times that of a human arm, consistently and without tiring.

Damascus steel itself is made from a combination of different metals including various high carbon or stainless steels, nickel, copper and even titanium, all layered together, heated in a forge to the consistency of warm caramel, hammered flat and then folded in on itself hundreds of times. A skilled artisan can forge Damascus steel to display a remarkably consistent pattern using the contrasts of the various steel layers, everything from roses and raindrops to feathers and barbed wire. We love this gorgeous steel for select pieces from our Rare + Unique collection.

More on this amazing artform in a future post!

Over Dawson Knives’ history we’ve used a variety of machines to cut out our designs, everything from a regular ol’ bandsaw with a beastly blade to a plasma table to, nowadays, a CNC waterjet cutter. For those unfamiliar with what a CNC waterjet is, (me, till about a decade ago) they are computer-controlled machines that use an extremely high pressure (60,000psi) jet of water mixed with pulverized garnet to precisely cut through virtually anything: concrete, steel, aluminum, fingers—itself if you let it. To put this in perspective, the pressure washer you use to clean your driveway operates at about 2,500psi.

Check out this video to see our grouchy 25 y/o OMAX waterjet cutter in action, cutting out the new Armageddon sword!

What comes off the waterjet is what we call a “blank”, the basic silhouette of the knife only. Kind of like those steel gong targets. Next, it goes to Sam, one of our third generation Dawson knifemakers, to be ground. This means using a three-wheel TW-90 machine to give the blade its shape and bevel, then taking it through several levels of abrasives to remove scratches and give the blade a nice even texture. After that it's on to handle shaping, blade finish and sheath making, which I'll cover in another post.