The origins of the damascus steel are still rather hazy. Various theories have been proffered explaining how they came to be and the skill involved in making them. One of the methods supposedly entailed bits of steel, iron and carbon that were put in crucibles and subjected to very high temperatures until they are welded together. Because of the carbon content, carbides formed thus giving the flowing water designs on the blades’ surface.
Another theory offered by William F. Moran says that the damascus steel blade was the product a kind of pattern-welding technique. A popular legend to explain how the favorite blades came to be involves diamond dust and dissolving the same into a fusion of different kinds of steel. Interestingly, the origins of a blade close to it, the Russian bulat, which would have helped explain how the damascus steel was made has also been lost to memory.
The