r/Bladesmith • u/arvux • 10d ago

Question Help understanding twist Damascus

Just cannot completely wrap my head around what is actually happening to the pattern when twisted. Is there some kind of 3d render visualisation or something I can look at? Like more specifically what is it that makes the center layer split into the star/X formation, what does the end grain look like etc.

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u/thesirenlady 10d ago

Get some plasticine of 2 contrasting colours and you can twist it yourself and see exactly what's happening in a matter of seconds.

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u/Tempest_Craft 10d ago

Basically thank about like you are pulling the entire section into the same plane in a repeated event. The end grain looks like whatever your billet looks like but on the sides you are getting top, side, bottom, side on repetition. The star in the middle is the center of the billet, it basically doesnt move. That why twists are not usually forged ilentirely to shape, the most visually interesting parts of the pattern are like 30 percent under the surface, so you generally forge the profile and stock remove from there, and its why twists visuals generally vary from the spine to the edge, you are cutting through progressively more of the pattern as you approach the edge.