Viking Folding Knife with Damascus Steel Blade, Bone Handle

Viking Age Folding Knife with Damascus Steel Blade and Bone Handle

This Viking pocket knife features a 256-layer Damascus steel blade. The handle is made of bone and adorned with period details.

As the knife is fully hand-crafted, the ornaments may slightly vary from piece to piece. Please also keep in mind that bone is a natural product and variations in bone colour and grain are quite common. Each Viking folder has thus its own very unique handle and above pictures are for reference only.

The terms Damascus steel, damascene or pattern welded designate a compound steel forged out of two or more different types of steel. It is named after its birthplace, the Syrian city of Damascus, a former stronghold of the patterned steel production. As a common practice, a harder high carbon steel and a milder low carbon steel are repeatedly forge welded and folded together. The high carbon steel ensures a higher hardness, a better temperability and longer lasting edge retention, whereas the milder steel confers greater blade flexibility and tensile strength. This procedure, which arose in a time where steel qualities were often low and inconsistent, enables to combine the positive attributes of the various steel grades. Besides, the different shadings generated by the varying carbon content of the alternating layers engender strikingly beautiful patterns, such as the twisted motif called Torsion Damascus pattern or the Rose Damascus pattern. Undoubtedly, these unusual patterns partly explain why inherent magical properties were attributed to the Damascus steel blades of the Middle Ages.

Details:
- Blade material: Damascus steel (256 layers)
- Also available in a regular version with high carbon steel blade (Product no. 0364002461)
- Handle material: bone
- Overall length: approx. 18 cm
- Blade length: approx. 8 cm
- Weight: approx. 51 g