Mosaic damask
Damask steel is made by the method of repeated forge welding of plates that differ from each other in their chemical composition and, therefore, in color after etching. "Mosaic" is also made by the method of blacksmith welding of multi-colored steels - and the method is quite ancient. In the old days, when making high-quality damask, sometimes not a stack of flat plates was welded, but a bundle of thin rods or wires. As a result, patterned metal was obtained, consisting not of plates-layers, but of rods-fibers.
Such coarse-grained metal became the basis for "mosaic" damask. To obtain it, it was only necessary to arrange dissimilar rods in a package not randomly, but in a strictly specified order - so that after blacksmith welding, a kind of steel mosaic picture was formed on the cross section. For the assembly of this mosaic, not only rods and narrow plates could be used, but also specially made rods of a very complex cross-section. Depending on the specific arrangement of these disparate elements, the cross-sectional pattern of the welded pattern block could be as complex as desired.
The easiest pattern to make is formed by assembling a block of rods and plates with a rectangular cross-section. Illustrative examples are "checkerboard" and "cross" patterns. The mesh mosaic, obtained by welding a briquette of many steel rods with a square cross-section with thin plates of contrasting metal laid between them, is of the same level of complexity.
Making a block with an ornament in the form of letters, multi-ray stars and similar elements is more time-consuming. For example, Eastern gunsmiths loved a pattern in the form of a slice of a lemon or a roll, and their European colleagues even managed to find well-read inscriptions on the barrels of "font" damask. Source blocks with such patterns could be welded into a monolith only by using special frames and substrates, otherwise the bundle of disparate fibers would spread during forging.
An even more complex technique is the welding of mosaic blocks with realistic figures of people, animals, etc. To assemble the output package, steel bars are used, in which through-shaped cutouts are made by electroerosion method. In these bars, which serve as matrices, insert figurines of another, contrasting metal are inserted exactly corresponding to the cut-outs.
According to another option, a fine metal powder of iron, steel or nickel, poured into a thin-walled container, is used as a filler matrix. Bars of complex cross-section with a cleaned surface or shapes of any configuration bent from ribbons and plates are placed in this container. For example, in the form of flower buds, figures of people or animals. Insert elements can also be produced by the method of electroerosion cutting with a thin wire. After filling these compositions with powder and sealing the container, it is heated to the welding temperature and carefully forged from 4 sides.
Forging is really neat and thorough. Sometimes even incredibly neat... The pioneer of modern methods of making mosaic damask, Stephen Schwarzer, in 1993 forged a mosaic package for his knife "Hunter's Dream" - and forged it for six months on and off. During this time, he "only" unchained a bar with a diameter of 130 mm with a multi-element figure of a hunter inserted into it so that its "height" decreased from 40 mm to 12 and it became possible to weld it into a knife blade. The nuance is that even the heels of the boots can be seen in the figure of the hunter, and what is most remarkable, after all the deformations during welding and forging, the barrel near the gun remained straight. If even such a complex block were forged so that the result was no more than a recognizable figure, then forging the entire blade (without taking into account the preparation of the initial package) would take a couple of days, or even less. In this case, the master's work in the sense of accuracy can be a kind of barrier in the mosaic damask technique - that's all, a dead end, there is nowhere to go further along this path.
The use of modern powder technologies in the manufacture of mosaic damask makes this work somewhat like child's play for a more or less experienced blacksmith. One can only compete in the whimsicality of the conceived pattern and the degree of approach of diligence and laboriousness to the peaks of the "stone ass" technology. The exception is rare, few craftsmen who use original methods, the development and use of which require not only the diligence of the craftsman, but also considerable tension of the master's mind. No one abolished the concept of artistic taste, without which creating a blade with a harmonious pattern is difficult and even unlikely.
However, about the blades... After careful welding and forging of the original complex patterned block, the task remained "for the little one" - to forge a blade from this damask. Sharply heterogeneous, large-branched mosaic in itself does not have good cutting properties, therefore, in order to give the knife decent utility, it is provided in one way or another with a hard blade made of multilayer damask, and sometimes a viscous butt is welded for strength. However, it must be noted that foreign craftsmen very often openly and openly spit on decency, forging such swords, with which it is better not to sharpen a pencil or even a match. But, in general, in the West, there is no need for special utilitarianism from mosaic blades - the pattern would be more beautiful and complex, and the name of the master would be better known ...
In order to "face the goods", this intricate mosaic pattern must somehow be displayed on the side surfaces of the blade. Masters use three main methods of manifestation of the mosaic damask pattern, resulting in twisted, unfolded and end mosaic.
"Twisted" mosaic is actually a type of so-called Turkish Damascus. "Twisted" damask mosaic was called because it is obtained by twisting thin folded patterned rods, which are folded into a narrow high stack for welding. As a rule, in a sword, the mosaic base consists of 3-5 tightly twisted rods welded together. To give the blade more stability when bending, these rods are often twisted in different directions - clockwise and counterclockwise. After grinding, on the surface of the blade there are figures repeated with a step of twisting (one figure per turn), embedded in the primary block. The deeper the planes of the blade are polished, the more fully and clearly the pattern is revealed.
The "expanded" mosaic is based on the same principle of "dissection". Several deep (about half the thickness) V-shaped incisions are made on the blade blank from both sides, with an offset of half a step, and then it is stretched while hot like an accordion, as if unfolding a topographic map or a paper fan with an ornament. The incisions are made at an angle to facilitate the unfolding of the workpiece and to prevent it from tearing along the fibers. The clarity and degree of manifestation of the primary pattern depends on the depth and pitch of the incisions, as well as on subsequent deformation.
In the "end" mosaic, the pattern is distorted to the smallest extent. To make a blade, patterned plates are cut from the end (hence the name) of a ready-made patterned block across the fibers, to which the blade and butt are then either welded, or welded on two sides to a blade metal plate. Although, again, it can be repeated that many craftsmen now simply cut a blade blank from a plate of end mosaic, without burdening themselves with attempts to give at least some utilitarianism to a blade even from an extremely weak end mosaic, in which weakened thin welding seams are located across the strip.
So, the development of the production of mosaic damask, in general, is clear. If we say "not in general", then you can also cite remarkable methods of work of masters. Yes, Devin Thomas once surprised me with his "expanded" stainless steel mosaic. His damask consisted of many square delays of 440C stainless steel, sprinkled between them with nickel powder, which, of course, also does not rust. The pattern of such a classic "unfolded" damask, mesh at its base, is very similar to a topographical map. It is noteworthy that this productive American blacksmith has stocked up with an extremely good set of equipment, because, as he himself says in a purely American style, equipment saves time, time is money, and money is always in short supply. I don't know what the retired American professor Hank Knickmeyer was missing when he decided to do "end" mosaic, but he managed to make his swords serve as a standard, a kind of "end" mosaic classic for a long time. As far as I know, he was one of the first to regularly make blades with a pattern more complex than a simple set of squares and plates. It is commendable that he supplied his swords with both a hard blade and a flexible butt.
In terms of the technological complexity of the patterns, he was surpassed in those days only by the extremely ambitious and neat Steven Schwarzer, who, in addition to the "Hunter's Dream" in the same 93, welded a blade with a pattern in the form of his own dispersive signature, which had to be viewed under a microscope. Even after opening the package, the signature was very clear and legible.
National hero of France Pierre Riverdy did not compete with anyone in accuracy. For the production of complex mosaic elements, he, like Schwarzer, bought an expensive electroerosion cutting machine and learned to independently compile a program for it. And then the master went his own way, making damask, which he himself called "poetic". For example, at the end of the 1990s, he made a large blade from a "twisted" mosaic, which "ran" with many small figures that could be recognized as unicorns. However, if we turn away from the authors of various "images" and "ideas", then from a purely technological point of view, there is nothing particularly sophisticated in "poetic Damascus" by today's standards.
However, he is not just a skilled blacksmith, but a talented one. For example, brilliantly using the blacksmith welding technique, he forged a unique Per de Noel (Santa Claus in our way) folding knife. After seeing his photo, out of habit, I began to crush the pattern of the blade on the component to understand how it was made, but I did not get there right away. It was easy to understand how the individual elements were made, but how the blade itself was welded from them was a mystery that did not fit into the usual pattern of a mosaic - twisted, end, unfolded. For me, the key was that every fourth deer in the twisted (at first glance) mosaic runs in the other direction! Clinging to this detail and recalling the methods of making Damascus rifles, I managed to decode the technology step by step. To put it briefly and simplistically, Riverdi wound the patterned rods on themselves like a rope in a bobbin, then welded this ball into a monolith and carved a blade blank from its middle.
This is called freedom. Freedom in the sense that upon reaching a certain level, the master is no longer bound by technological schemes (twisted mosaic or some other), only the intended pattern is important. In fact, an experienced craftsman can implement almost any imaginable pattern, no matter how complex it may be. The limitation is, perhaps, only in the psychophysical features of a person's personality, in his inclinations and abilities for concentrated accuracy or inspired poetics.
Well, something must be said in the commercial (or, if you will, art) plan, because today mosaic swords are a collector's item on a par with paintings. I once wrote that according to Japanese concepts, a treasure should have three indispensable properties - rarity, purity (in the spiritual sense) and high value. As for spiritual purity, it is very unlikely, we are far from holiness, but the price is present, and sometimes very considerable. For example, the well-known firm "Holland-y-Holland" sold one of Pierre Riverdi's works for 180,000 Swiss francs, which is approximately 100,000 dollars. I was told that the Pierre de Noel knife was resold more than once and the next owner handed it over through Christie's auction. They say that only commission firms were 80 thousand dollars! A modern treasure in the form of a piece of patterned iron.
© Leonid Arkhangelskyi