Nope to all the questions. I've only worked with damascus once, since frankly it doesn't impress me, but I had no problems with it. If you grind your own blade, after polishing it you'll need to apply etchant, available at radio shack or some of the Knife Supply Houses. Outside of that, its pattern welded steel. There's lots of instructin avaiable on the internet on how to do a damascus blade.
