Hello everyone,

A question was brought up in a different forum and it made me curious about something. The question was about carving a handle for a sgian dubh. I've wanted to do one for sometime, my wife has a masters in medievil history-English and she and I have season passes to the RenFair in this area so we dress up. Since for now I work from kits, I've been looking around and I noticed one company that carries a small selection of kits. Most of what they carry is 512-layer damascus and it is very low in price compared to even damascus blanks. I've noticed (in what little time I've been involved) for the most part that you get what you pay for- cheap is cheap. Has anyone worked with this 512?

Drac

I don't believe the number of layers is the issue, it is more of the fact of who made it, how it was made, what it is made of, and what kind of history does the maker have.

If you could pass on the suppliers information someone could probable give you a review of his/her work.

Just my 2 cents worth
Mike

Mike,

I'm not sure who makes the steel, it's offered through Alanta Cutlery. I thought maybe someone would recognize the referance since this seems to be the only place I've seen it offered. I didn't want to bring up company names to keep possible trouble down.

Drac

That stuff is made in India, and is not particularly high quality material. You really do get what you pay for.

I tried some a few years ago and agree that you get what you pay for. It wasn't from Atlanta Cutlery, but was sourced from India, and had poor welding and numerous voids appeared when I tried to grind down to get a better finished surface.
A 1/4" X 1 1/2" X 12" section ended up as a 1/8" X 3/4" X 10" letter opener.