Value addition in knife manufacturing: PHSADC publicising, promoting 'Damascus Blade Smithing'

Pakistan Hunting and Sporting Arms Development Company (PHSADC) has initiated efforts for value addition of knife manufacturing in the country by introducing the technology of Damascus Blade Smithing to different clusters of artisans engaged in producing daggers.
We are introducing the technology of Damascus Blade Smithing to different arm clusters producing daggers with the objective of value addition of the products to international standard, said Chief Operating Officer PHSADC, Muhammad Tariq.
Talking to journalists, Mohammad Tariq said Damascus knife is a globally recognised sporting weapon which is made of steel, so well forged that it bents under pressure without breaking. The sword blade made by artisans of Syria could be bent from point to hilt without breaking or warping and could also be honed to a very sharp edge, he apprised.
He said there are a large number of skill men in Pakistan producing traditional knives and daggers and if these artisans started producing Damascus knife, they could earn more money by exporting the product. CCO PHSADC informed that the price of knives or daggers produced through the technology of Damascus smithing is much higher than the daggers produced through local technology.
Furthermore, he added, Damascus steel manufacturing is a labour intensive job and production of the product would create more jobs for unemployed youth besides imparting technical training. About manufacturing procedure of Damascus steel, Tariq said it is different from our indigenous technology.
Sheets of different grades of high and low carbon steel are welded together and the welded block is then forwarded to the hammering section where it is heated and hammered. This heating and beating process is repeated number of times till creation of a desired number of layers, ranging from 200 to 1600 layers depending on the demand of customers.