1095 and 15N20 Damascus is the recipe behind almost every patterned blade in this catalogue. Two steels go into the billet: 1095, a plain high carbon steel that hardens well and etches dark, and 15N20, which carries enough nickel to stay bright in acid. Forge weld them, fold and draw the stack, then etch the finished blade and the contrast between the two shows up as the pattern. People search this exact phrase when they have been burned by pressed or printed imitation patterns and want to see the actual alloy pair named on the listing before they spend money.
What the pairing gives you
Blades made this way run at 58 to 60 HRC here, a touch harder than the plain 1095 blades at 54 to 58, so they hold a fine edge longer and reward careful sharpening rather than heavy handed work. The pattern is structural, not a coating, so it goes all the way through the blade and a regrind will not wipe it off. The range on this page shows how far the billet travels: leaf bladed spears on ash shafts with brass sockets, a war hammer head with steel langets, kukri choppers with rosewood scales, katana at 40 inches overall, longswords out to 45 inches, a Roman gladius at 27 inches, a swept hilt rapier at 43 inches, Viking swords with three lobed and trilobate pommels, sabres, side swords, Celtic daggers with carved bone handles, and a five piece kitchen roll with walnut handled Damascus blades. Prices sit between 259 dollars and 699 dollars.
Telling it apart and looking after it
If you want to check a pattern before you buy anything, anywhere, the tells that separate a forge welded billet from a laser etched fake are worth ten minutes. The longer background on how the layers form is in our explanation of Damascus steel. Both steels in the pair are carbon steels, which means both will rust if you leave them wet, and the etch actually makes surface spotting easier to see, so wipe the blade down and keep a thin film of oil on it. The care notes cover oiling, storage and what to do about a dull patch in the pattern. To browse the swords built on this billet rather than the whole mixed range, start with the Damascus sword shelf.
Ransack Viking is a US company based in Chicago, Illinois. These pieces are handmade in the Czech Republic, then imported, inspected and shipped from Chicago. Engraving is done in the US after arrival: text 19 dollars, symbol 39 dollars, family crest 49 dollars.
Free US shipping
On most pieces. Heavier and oversized ones carry a flat charge.
Hand Forged
Heated, hammered and ground by hand.
Engraving available
Names, dates or Norse runes on most pieces.
