The general term “Damascus” refers to metal with a visible grain pattern, sometimes with a texture. Wikipedia
The art of real Damascus Steel seems to have been lost over the ages. There are tales of recipes and there are people that are trying to recreate the super strong blades with their intricately patterned blades. It seems there was a kind of steel known as wootz that was used to make Damascus Steel and this stuff had a lot of tungsten in it. Add a bit of heat and fold it a few thousand times, and viola, Damascus Steel.
There are stories about how the old Masters used organic material in their fires to create this amazing metal. A group of German scientists think they have solved the mystery of why the swords made from Damascus Steel were so different from other swords and why they stopped being made once the supple of wootz was used up. Seems that wootz was full of nanotubes. Of course, they didn’t know they were using nanotubes-unless maybe they were using a time machine as well. Damascus Steel and Nanotubes, a match made in heaven.
There are a lot of very expensive Japanese Chef knives made in the style of Damascus Steel. They look very pretty and seem to be favored by Sushi Chefs the world over. I had the made idea of being a Chef myself once upon a time, but I didn’t follow that path very far. I do like to cook though, I am a big fan of sharp knives. I don’t own any of the Damascus Steel type knives, but I wouldn’t mine owning one or two. I hear they are good for carving up Blowfish for that once in a lifetime Sushi experience.
Nanotubes were ‘discovered’ around 1991 and there are all kinds of way cool stuff in works using them. Everything for really fast computer memory to targeted drug delivery systems. Lots of people make carbon nanotubes these days, so it should be possible to start cranking out Damascus Steel Swords again. Or Chef’s Knives, or razor blades if you want a really expensive shave. I do like the look of Damascus Steel , so it would be really cool if someone started making the real thing again. You do have to wonder about nanotubes floating around two thousand years ago though. How much of our own way cool tech is just going to be forgotten over the next few hundred years?
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