Suminagashi (type of steel)

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Suminagashi ( Japanese　墨 流 し, "flowing ink" - derived from the Japanese marbling technique ) is a Japanese type of Damascus steel . It is a so-called welded composite steel , in which steels with different carbon contents and alloy components are connected to one another in layers. The layers can be made visible by etching and then form a particularly aesthetic sight.

Suminagashi is often used as a decorative support layer in high quality laminate steel blades; the cutting edge is mostly made of monosteel, less often of tanning steel .