So i got my hands on some damascus steel last week and wanted to know how to tell what type of pattern they are. There were 5 patterns in the batch i got. I have attached images for reference.They are made of 1095 and 15N20.

I don't know the correct terminology, but hazarding a guess in order of appearance I think they may have been produced by the following procedures:

Twist

Fold

Twist and folded

crimped

crimped and folded

I'm sure one of the more experienced bladesmiths will be along shortly to put me straight and assign the correct terminology ( they's darn prutty tho int they)

The first is a twist

The 4th one is a ladder pattern. 

The third might be a random.

Can't see the 2nd and the last looks like it might be a birds eye with all of the holes drilled in rows.  

Not an expert,  Flemish

Flemish pretty well nailed that. The first is a very soft or mild twist, then there is what looks like a re-squared bar flattened out, followed by a plain random pattern, a ladder pattern, and bird's eye (or pool & eye, or rain drop, etc.) with the holes drilled in straight rows. Where did you get them?

Who did you get them from? Did they say what the two alloys were?

Thanks for the help. I found a guy about an hour drive away from me on kijiji who was selling them. I didnt think to get his name. I did ask what materials he used for them and he said 1095 and 15n20

They look very much like the "1095" and "15N20" billets being mass produced in Pakistan.. I had someone give me one not that long ago and it's all delamination headaches under the hammer.. If thats what they are, then they're pretty enough for guards, bolsters and maybe even a little stock removal.

J 

Sorry it took me so long to get back to this topic but i have had alot of projects on the go. I finally had time to test out that steel i got. First i tried hardening a bar and comparing it to some hardened 01 steel. The file skated off the edge of the hadened piece. Then i forged out a blade from the piece and tried to see if i noticed any delamination but i didnt notice anything off hand. Im very new so maybe i just dont know what to look for but it looked alright to me. so i took the piece to the grinder to finish it up and i edged the blade in boiling vinnegar. The etch took after about 4 minutes and the pattern came back through. I dont know if any of that means anything really. Like i said im really just getting started but all in all im happy with my results so far. Attached a pic of the knife i made from it.

That's a "sharp" looking knife.

                                                                               Littleblacksith 

On 2016-02-13 at 8:07 PM, littleblacksmith said:

That's a "sharp" looking knife.

                                                                               Littleblacksith 

Ha, I see what you did there