I have finally completed work on a document explaining how words are placed into damascus gun barrel patterns. This was a lot of work!! I have gained permissions to use all but one photo in this document. I’ve included a disclaimer for that image; and will hope no issues arise from the use of it.

Some of the illustrations explaining how Crolle pattern is created, are a bit redundant. But as many who view this document may have little knowledge of damascus pattern creation, I felt it best to include ample illustrations to point out the important intricacies in the process.

I hope to some day publish a printed book on gun barrel damascus patterns. The writings in this document, are essentially the opening and ending chapters of that book. The middle of the book will cover other known damascus patterns.

Doc Drew has been kind enough to be my proof reader for this document. However, I’ve made some changes since he last reviewed it. Please kindly let me know if you see any typos, or other errors.

The link to the document is provided below. FYI; this is a 6MB file. The large file size makes it possible to zoom in on the images for a better view.

Hope you enjoy.

"Word" Damascus Pattern Creation

Steve,

This is a major effort, my congratulations.

With kind regards,
Jani

Steve, that is an excellent article, and well written. I can envision a novice being able to understand it very well.

I see some misuse of commas, but other than that it is very commendable. Commas are tough, at times.

All my best, SRH

Thanks Steve for that huge effort. If you are able to come up with a book, I'd like to track down a copy. Take care.

I'm a novice and I get it.

Great article Steve, thank you! VERY informative.

Wow! That's an incredible compilation of heretofore unavailable material. I'm slow enough it's going to take several reads to grasp what you have learned and shared. Thanks!

Thank you for your time and effort.

Steve,
Great read with understandable information. Thanks for posting. As a damascus novice, I enjoyed learning about it.
Karl

Real excellence....and clear for the layman. Thanks.

Very well done. Thanks for posting the link to your work.

Much appreciated, a comprehensible look.

Regards, Tim

So Steve, as I understand what you've presented, after the tubes were welded they were sent to the grinder and it was there that the metal was removed, revealing the crolle or whatever desired pattern? Correct?

Joe's Lindner Daly

Damas Corche at the (thicker) breech



Transition from Corche (at left) breech tube segment to Toncin at the muzzle segment which is ground thinner



Damas Toncin at the muzzle



I'm in awe of the mechanical artistry that enabled the tube makers to maintain such uniformity of some patterns from breech to muzzle

Parker AHE 6 Iron "Turkish" breech



Mid-barrel



Muzzle



Those guys were good!

That is correct Joe. The forged tubes went to the grinders, for removal of excess material and smoothing of the barrel’s outer surface. But, the damascus pattern is not revealed until the tubes are etched in acid. Ground and finish sanded damascus appears just like a piece of mono-steel.

One thing that I really wanted to convey in this information, is the effect of grinding depth on the damascus pattern. Flat stacked layers, such as Crolle pattern is created from, are the perfect representation of the grinding depth effect.

Given that there was probably little to no communication between the smiths and the barrel grinders, the smiths had no idea what barrel profile the tube would be ground to. So forging to place what would become the outer finished surface of the tube at a particular depth was impossible. The grinders could not see the damascus pattern in the tubes while grinding and perhaps had no idea what the patterns in the tubes actually were. They were grinding to match the specified profile for that particular barrel. It seems likely that the damascus patterns in many barrels may not have been known until after etching.

Glad to hear that my information has proven to be helpful in understanding these damascus patterns!



Yes. I sometimes get carried away with commas. This was a challenging subject to illustrate and explain. Each of the illustrations required multiple computer applications to create. Working on it for hours at a time made my head hurt. Constant additions and revisions to the text were necessary, as I attempted to explain what in the illustrations was important to notice. It seems that I was more focused on the illustrations than on eloquent writing.

Doc Drew has already graciously provided me with some better wording for some of the text. I will update shortly.

I’ve been promised some high quality photos of the Pieper barrel. Once received, I’ll also change out that very poor image in the current document.

Thanks for the appreciation!!

Magnificent work. Thank you.
I'm tempted to go out and buy some coloured modelling clay

Here you go Nick

Plasticine layered, twisted, folded then cut at different angles.
Courtesy of http://owenbush.co.uk/

I agree--absolutely "Magnificent"
Thank you

Berrien

Thanks for the link Drew. Nice results in the pics.