This blade will be a multi-page project
This design is roughly in the style of an Oakeshott type X “arming” sword, but is not an attempt to replicate any specific sword or design. I am not going for historical accuracy. The construction will be “go mai”, which just means “5 layers” in Japanese. It will consist of a core steel of 1095 which will be the edge steel, then a layer of 15n20 on each side of the core, followed by 2 outside layers which will be damascus composed of 1084 and 15n20. Since the outer layers will be damascus, which I will make first, in point of fact it will be a lot more than 5 layers because the outer “cladding” layer on each side will be 32 layers, so the real total number of layers overall will be 67-70 roughly.
The border around the edge will etch quite dark since the edge steel is plain 1095. The cladding, which should cover the majority of the center of the blade will be damascus, and there should be a relatively bright, solid border between the two. It will have an irregular border as depicted due to how I intend for forge out the length of the blade using drawing dies alternately with squaring dies, which will compress the billet in varying amounts.
Dimensions will be a 30″ blade length from guard to tip, and the blade will be 2.5″ wide at the guard. The gaurd and pommel will also be damascus but with a different pattern than the blade.
Below is an AI generated example of (roughly) what I’m aiming for with this design…
