"Damascus Swords"
Like No Others Before Their Time And No Other Since.

"Introduction"

I am very much looking forward to having Damascus steel products such as Damascus swords, illustrated through my site. Personally, when I think about a total package of steel, I think about Damascus steel. Possibly stainless steel but that is for another discussion. It would be impossible for me to put up a site about steel, and simply leave it out.

I may as well do the site on precious metals and leave gold off the list. On the Damascus steel main page, we went over some history of the city of Ancient Damascus and touched on Damascus steel as well. We will further go into it on these pages as well. So as usual, here is a bit of history behind the legendary Damascus Swords.

"History Of Damascus Swords"

The Swords gained their name and popularity during the crusades. The crusaders felt the need to give the steel swords in which they feared greatly, a name, that name of course was the legendary Damascus steel.

It was like no other steel before its time and has been like no other steel since. It is uncommon for any of us to hear about the legendary “European steel” as you do with the Damascus steel. However, Europe’s pursuit to recreate Damascus steel has brought us other great discoveries and there are some great Japanese and Spanish steels as well.

These Swords were known to cut a rock in half without losing its edge and the next moment go completely through a man’s body with a one armed swipe of the blade. If that doesn’t make you run back home then you have other issues than need to be addressed. Sometimes fear is a good thing.

You could bend the blade of a sword so far over that it would touch from end to end, and spring right back, and regain its original form. The Blacksmiths throughout Europe made every attempt to recreate the steel. They would fold the steel layer after layer and twist it during the forging process doing all that they could to recreate it. They even went so far as to etch the blades with a replica pattern and overlaid the surface of the blade with silver or copper to imitate the looks of the true Damascus swords.

"Never Before And Maybe Never Again"

No matter how hard they tried, they never did succeed in recreating the steel. However, there have been significant findings in modern material science. What we do know is, Damascus Swords were made from a raw material called “Wootz.” An exceptional grade of Iron ore steel containing a high grade of carbon.

If you know anything about the steel making process, then you realize that carbon can be the difference between your fence being made of wrought iron or cast iron. Too little and you have wrought iron and too much and you have cast iron.

Wootz steel was formed using a crucible to melt, burn away the impurities, and to add in other ingredients. It was first made around 300BC in S. Central India as well as Sri Lanka. Why they let the technology, slip out of their hands is way beyond me because the original, authentic Damascus steel will more than likely never be recreated.

Even the science of today cannot fully recreate the incredible art. It may have simply been created on accident in the first place, as some things are. Some say the materials added as ingredients to produce the Damascus swords eventually were mined out but whatever the reason; it will always remain a legend and evidently a mystery to us all.

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