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Gidkid
4
Jan 7, 2018
Am I wrong or is the Damascus steel just worse at wear resistance, edge retention, etc than S35? Wish I could have the S35VN blade in the Cocobolo scales without buying two knives and swapping them...
MetalForU
7
Jan 8, 2018
GidkidThe core of the blade is still S35VN and it is very likely that the "dark" metal is also. When doing pattern welded damascus in stainless, the contrast metal (the brighter metal) is usually nickle because it does not etch when the blade is dipped in acid. This allows for easier cleanup and a higher contrast between the two metals. an easy way to visualize it is this I|I where the "I's" are the pattern weld and the "|" in the middle is the straight S35VN. The pattern weld is just there to look pretty since even if you manage to use the knife enough grind all the way to where the pattern starts, it will still the the straight S35VN that is your cutting edge.
Long story short, you have nothing to worry about in regard to performance with the damascus. In modern knives its just there to look pretty.
Gidkid
4
Jan 11, 2018
MetalForUAre you sure the core of this blade is still S35VN? I've seen lots of VG10 cores with Damascus coatings like you describe, but I've also seen Damasteel, which (I'm pretty sure) is its own alloy. It doesn't mention in the description exactly which sort of Damascus this is, so I assumed it probably wasn't coated S35VN, since I haven't seen other blades with Damascus coatings and S35 cores.
MetalForU
7
Jan 12, 2018
GidkidAfter a bit more digging I'm less sure about sure about the core being S35VN. You're probably right about it being some other combination. And based on the variation in pattern that I've seen on the Exskelibur I Damascus from pictures on other sites I'm not sure if they are even doing a core style blade at all (I was just looking at the one here on Massdrop at first). It would have been way better if that had said that it was Damasteel since that is a trademark held by Soderfors and they fully disclose everything about it on a material properties sheet (http://www.damasteel.se/our-steel/).
You are right that it is more reasonable to assume nothing about the steels that they are using. The only way to know for sure would be to contact Boker support but I wouldn't hold my breath too much on them being transparent since it isn't in the marketing.