You must have some really, really, really big heavy knives.
because they contain high amount of chromium and nickel , both of them lessen the cutting edge quality , these are not true Damascus type of knives but rather stamped and grounded of a large sheet of laminated steel .the dead give away is the pattern lay out you see the Damascus pattern near the tang but as you look toward the tip of the knife you see and count the layers , the tang itself is usually made separately then welded { a process refined by German Knife manufacturers } mild acid solution will show them .
A true Damascus tool will show an even count of layers all the way to the tip , as the blade are forged one by one the layers stay which make their unique properties ,and cost . ie Japanese knives .
These non magnetic steel are usually not great for knives , but good for pot and pan .
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I had the same problem but thanks for post I solved it easily
I didn’t know the best place to attach my reply, but anyway, here goes:
No one makes true Damascus, because no one even knows how the real thing was done. Even a cursory glance at real centuries-old Damascus shows that the modern versions are made in a different way. Whether the technique was intentionally kept secret or was forgotten by accident, we are very certain that we don’t know how to do it.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that there are quality modern knife-makers who produce high-quality pattern-welded steel, and junk knives that are made to look similar.
Some people not quite aware enough of history have started calling the top-quality modern product “true Damascus”, to separate it from the junk - but that’s not accurate.
How did you solve it, I wonder?
In that sense, probably no one makes true Damascus. However, that being said, probably most things are like that. No one makes cast iron pan the way they were 1500 years gold. The other thing is that Damascus steel was amazing at their time, but there is a good chance that 1000 years ago Damascus aren’t really that amazing compared to today’s steel too.
My understanding is that people separate those terms based on if the pattern was truly formed from the start or it was added-on later like laser etched on. Shun knives are great example. Most Shun knives are fake Damascus. The patterns are added later. Whereas people call Devin Thomas pattern knives as true Damascus because the pattern was formed during the process.
The pattern being true or not does not make the knives good or bad in my opinion. A knife with good edge sharpness, good edge retention and, good geometry…etc are good knives. The pattern may be real or not, but the knife is still a good knife.
Cast iron today is not made by clumsily and wrongly attempting to guess how cast iron might have been made in the past - how to make cast iron was never a lost art. But Damascus steel is a lost art - we literally do not know how it was done. It’s not made anymore, because we don’t even know what it is.
The modern knife makers themselves whose comments I’ve read, have carefully avoided referring to their own work as Damascus steel. But I obviously haven’t seen the comments of all of them.
“Japanese Damascus Steel” is obvious BS. Reading the Amazon blurb makes clear that they think this will resonate with more people than will saying its a forged (not stamped) steel knife. The ***** rating from over 200 people on Amazon says its a very good knife, but someday it will need to be sharpened and unless you know how to sharpen with a whetstone, you will have problem because it has 15 degree edge and EU & USA knives have 20 degree edge. Chef’s Choice electric sharpeners for 15 degrees cost way over
$100. They have a $30 15 degree hand job. If you like the knife., keep it sharp at 15 degrees If you live in a big city, you can get it done at a professional knife. sharpener, or, rather than buy a $200 sharpener, toss it and buy a new one for $59.
For comparison, a used ZWILLING J.A. Henckels Five-Star 8-Inch Chefs Knife on Amazon is priced at $170 and only gets a rating of 4.5*
As others have noted, 10/18 stainless steel is not magnetic. So what? Put it in a drawer.
