Science, Tech, Math › Science Damascus Steel Facts How it got its name and how it's made Share Flipboard Email Print Anne Helmenstine Science Chemistry Basics Chemical Laws Molecules Periodic Table Projects & Experiments Scientific Method Biochemistry Physical Chemistry Medical Chemistry Chemistry In Everyday Life Famous Chemists Activities for Kids Abbreviations & Acronyms Biology Physics Geology Astronomy Weather & Climate By Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. Chemistry Expert Ph.D., Biomedical Sciences, University of Tennessee at Knoxville B.A., Physics and Mathematics, Hastings College Dr. Helmenstine holds a Ph.D. in biomedical sciences and is a science writer, educator, and consultant. She has taught science courses at the high school, college, and graduate levels. our editorial process Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. Updated January 10, 2018 Damascus steel is a famed type of steel recognizable by the watery or wavy light and dark pattern of the metal. Aside from being beautiful, Damascus steel was valued because it maintained a keen edge, yet was hard and flexible. Weapons made from Damascus steel were vastly superior to weapons formed from iron! Although modern high-carbon steels made using the 19th century Bessemer process surpass the quality of Damascus steel, it remains an outstanding material, particularly for its day. There are two types of Damascus steel: cast Damascus steel and pattern-welded Damascus steel. Where Damascus Steel Gets Its Name It's unclear exactly why Damascus steel is called Damascus steel. Three popular plausible origins are: It refers to steel made in Damascus. It refers to steel purchased or traded from Damascus. It refers to the similarity the pattern in the steel has to damask fabric. Although the steel may have been made in Damascus at some point and the pattern does somewhat resemble damask, it's certainly true Damascus steel became a popular trade item for the city. Cast Damascus Steel No one has replicated the original method of making Damascus steel because it was cast from wootz, a type of steel originally made in India over two thousand years ago. India began producing wootz well before the birth of Christ, but the weapons and other items made from wootz became truly popular in the 3rd and 4th century as trade items sold in the city of Damascus, in what is modern Syria. The techniques for making wootz were lost in the 1700s, so the source material for Damascus steel was lost. Although a great deal of research and reverse engineering has tried to replicate cast Damascus steel, no one has successfully cast a similar material. Cast wootz steel was made by melting together iron and steel together with charcoal under a reducing (little to no oxygen) atmosphere. Under these conditions, the metal absorbed carbon from charcoal. Slow cooling of the alloy resulted in a crystalline material containing carbide. Damascus steel was made by forging wootz into swords and other objects. It required considerable skill to maintain constant temperatures to produce steel with the characteristic wavy pattern. Pattern-Welded Damascus Steel If you buy modern "Damascus" steel you could be getting a metal that has merely been etched (surface treated) to produce a light/dark pattern. This is not really Damascus steel since the pattern can be worn away. Knives and other modern objects made from pattern-welded Damascus steel bear the watery pattern all the way through the metal and possess many of the same characteristics of the original Damascus metal. Pattern-welded steel is made by layering iron and steel and forging the metals together by hammering them at high temperature to form a welded bond. A flux seals the joint to keep out oxygen. Forge welding multiple layers produces the watery effect characteristic of this type of Damascus steel, although other patterns are possible. References Figiel, Leo S. (1991). On Damascus Steel. Atlantis Arts Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-9628711-0-8. John D. Verhoeven (2002). Materials Technology. Steel Research 73 no. 8. C. S. Smith, A History of Metallography, University Press, Chicago (1960). Goddard, Wayne (2000). The Wonder of Knifemaking. Krause. pp. 107–120. ISBN 978-0-87341-798-3. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Damascus Steel Facts." ThoughtCo, Aug. 25, 2020, thoughtco.com/damascus-steel-facts-608458. Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. (2020, August 25). Damascus Steel Facts. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/damascus-steel-facts-608458 Helmenstine, Anne Marie, Ph.D. "Damascus Steel Facts." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/damascus-steel-facts-608458 (accessed April 19, 2021). copy citation