Modern pattern welded Damascus steel, 256 layers of hard higher carbon steels are welded to many layers of soft lower carbon steels. The pattern is designed, the blade is forged-welded, twisted, drilled, flattened, grounded, and forge-welded some more. The stack of steel is formed into a billet, and these billets or bars are then used to make a knife. The knife is profiled, ground, heat treated and finished with additional processes like etching and bluing to reveal the striking pattern. Blade is tempered & edge is fully sharpened.