Paul filled in at the last minute for the original demonstrator who had a sudden date conflict. Typically for Paul, he never hesitated and stepped up to the plate, er, forge and gave a wonderfully informative demo. What made this especially neat was that Paul had never previously made a damascus blank on a coal forge as he does all his damascus, or pattern welding, using propane gas. Paul started with 7 layers of two types of steel, welded them then folded the piece in half for a now 14 layers of steel and forge welded them as well. By folding the 14 again you would then have 28 layers and so on with repeated folds the layers growing exponentially by doubling with each fold. Very clear, organized and understandable steps for the whole process were given each step of the way.

Paul also talked a bit about the history of damascus, where it originated and why, etc. He also brought several samples of damascus which he either made knives from or has finished blanks ready to use.

Wonderful demo. Good job, Paul!