One of a Kind Damascus Bowie Knife, Stag and Turquoise Handle

This one exists once. The photograph is the knife itself rather than a stand in for a model, so when it sells the listing goes too. The blade is 10 inches of Damascus over a high carbon core. The handle is stag antler with a line of turquoise down the spine of the scales, and that line is what your thumb finds first.

Specification

The blade

Damascus is layers of steel forged into one bar. For a ladder the bar is cut across in grooves and forged flat again, so the lines lie in even rungs, and acid opens them out. The pattern is decoration. Under it sits a high carbon core, and that core takes the edge and holds it. The etch runs to the edge with no bare bevel showing. Ten inches puts the weight forward of your hand, which is what a bowie this size is for. Carbon steel darkens with use and spots if put away wet.

The handle

Stag antler on a full tang, with brass spacers at both ends and brass pins through the scales. A channel is cut down the spine of each scale, filled with crushed turquoise, then sanded back flat so the stone finishes level with the antler. Antler is neither straight nor even, so the channel follows the piece rather than a ruler. The stone packs tighter in some stretches and shows more broken blue in others. Both scales came off one antler and still do not read the same, which is the trouble with setting stone into something that grew rather than something milled.

The leather sheath

Vegetable tanned leather, cut around this blade's own outline and hand stitched with a welt in the seam so the thread never sits on the edge. The face is carved rather than pressed. Oak leaves with acorns between them, cut into damp hide with a swivel knife and then worked with punches so the leaves stand off the ground. A stamp takes minutes. This took an afternoon and part of an evening.

Who it suits

People buy a blade this long for the look of it.

• Buyers who want colour in a handle
• Anyone who finds plain antler a bit quiet
• Collectors who want a piece with no twin
• Somebody marking an occasion

What comes in the box

• The 10 inch Damascus bowie shown here
• The hand carved oak leaf and acorn sheath
• A care card
• An engraving proof if you order one

There is only one of these

Everything on this page is a photograph of the knife you would receive. The rungs fell where the grooves put them, the antler is used up, and the turquoise runs its own way down the scales. The carving was cut freehand. Once it is bought the page comes down, and none of it is built again, not the rungs, not the handle and not the leaves on the sheath.

Looking after it

Dry the blade and leave a thin film of oil on it. Keep it out of the sheath in storage, because steel sitting in damp leather is how pitting begins. The antler and the inlay want a wipe and nothing stronger, so keep solvents off the stone. Brass dulls to a warm tone, which you can polish back or leave. Stone first, then a strop. There is more on the knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade, added on this page. Around 30 characters fits, a name with a date. We send a proof image first and nothing is cut until you approve it. Allow 3 to 5 business days. With a single piece we would rather speak to you about placement before the laser is switched on. The engraving page covers the detail.

Questions buyers ask

Is the turquoise solid stone? No. It is crushed, packed into a cut channel, then sanded flat with the antler.

Why does the line differ on each side? Antler is uneven and the channel follows it, so the stone sits denser in places.

Am I buying the knife in the photograph? Yes. That one, not one made to match it.

Will it rust? It can. The core is carbon steel. Dry it and oil it, and never leave it damp.

Can the inlay chip out? It sits in a channel level with the surface rather than proud and waiting to catch.

When will it arrive? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

A grip that is built rather than shaped is the Damascus bowie with a stacked leather handle, and something far smaller is the hunting knife in blue resin burl. Pieces like this live in custom builds, etched steel in Damascus steel, the rest with every knife we make.