Mockingbird  Hill K  n  i  v  e  s     &     T  r  a  p  s John Emberton, Custom Craftsman jemberton2@grm.net 320 NW 3rd St. Trenton, Mo. 64683 (660) 359-5758
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	The steel  commonly known today as "Damascus steel",  is not actually true Damascus steel - it is pattern welded steel.  Treated with acid, pattern welded steel presents a surface appearance identical to that of "True Damascus" and until the 1990s it was believed that pattern welding actually was the method by which true Damascus steel was produced.  However, this was not the case. No one knows exactly by what method true Damascus was made.  For reasons that are not entirely clear, the process was lost  around 1750, and it has been a subject of study and conjecture by many since that time. Various groups using experimental archeology have claimed they have recreated true Damascus steel , but even if those who make such claims have produced steel with the same properties as surviving examples of true Damascus , there is still no certainty of how it was originally created.   In modern times, the words  "Damascus" steel has come to represent the pattern welding technique used by custom blade smiths primarily  for it's cosmetic affects, and that is how it is used on this site. Pattern welding is an ancient technique, known to have been used as early as the first days of the Roman Empire.  It was   originally used to combine steels of different carbon contents, creating alloys with the properties required for demanding tasks such as  penetrating metal armor.   In the pattern welding process,  the metal smith lays strips of material in layers and welds them together, forming a "billet." The billet is then heated, pounded, and folded,  then heated, pounded, and folded again.  With each cycle of folding and pounding, the molecular structure of the alloy becomes more dense (and consequently,  stronger).   Treating the steel with acid exposes the layering below the surface, creating unique and attractive patterns similar to that of true Damascus steel.