Damascus Kaskara

[David R]

A lot of older European blades are made out of "Shear Steel" a forged and folded steel that was not intended to be etched, but shows a watered pattern on those occasions when it is. It is possibly one of these.

[DaveS]

David R: I've heard of shear steel but don't know what it would like in a
sword blade that has been etched. I can tell you that this blade is
a layer-weld that was made to be etched and seen. I know it is
hard to tell by the quality of these pictures, but once the blade is
in hand and one can get a first hand look, it is very apparent that
this was a pattern that was brought out so it could be appreciated
by it's owner.
On the other hand i'm going to post pictures of the other kaskara
that has a pattern that looks like a layer weld, but i can't be 100
percent positive that it is damascus. Maybe it is "shear steel". It
almost reminds me a little of Syrian wootz (Sham). It has a little
shimmery look to it like sham, but of course it's not sham. Darn!!!
wish it was.............Dave

[Iain]

Regarding shear, Richard Furrer's site has some useful video content regarding the process.

http://www.doorcountyforgeworks.com/Steel_Making.html

As does this thread.
http://www.swordforum.com/forums/sho...r-Steel-Making

Richard is a member here, so if he's inclined to share an opinion I would hope he spots these two kaskara threads.

[Emanuel]

Hello,

Nice kaskara. The blade is not made from shear steel but purposely pattern welded. Here are two links to 19th century German sabres with "damascus" blades. Seems to have been a fashion at the time.

http://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=15333
http://vikingsword.com/vb/showthread.php?t=12784

Emanuel

[DaveS]

Emanuel: Thank you for the links. This clears up some questions that i had.
For sure i knew it was a true layer-weld on this kaskara and the other
one that i posted. I just didn't know where these blades would have
been made. Thanks again........Dave.