One of a Kind Damascus Dagger, Fluted Ebony Grip and Brass

There is one of these and no second. The photograph is this actual knife rather than a sample of the model, so when it sells the listing comes down. The blade is 8 inches of Damascus over a high carbon core. The grip is black ebony with flutes cut down its length, and those flutes are why it sat on the bench as long as it did.

Specification

The blade

Damascus over a high carbon core. Layers are forge welded and etched until the raindrop rings lift out of the flat, dark against bright. The etch carries down the bevel to the edge, so no bare band is left. The pattern is decoration. The carbon underneath is what takes an edge and holds it. It is ground on both sides and sits symmetrical about a centre line, which is fussier than it sounds, since any wobble in one bevel reads against the other. Carbon steel darkens with use and spots if you put it away wet.

The handle

Black ebony, dense and heavy for its size, sitting the balance back into your palm. The flutes are the work. Every groove is cut and shaped along the whole length of the grip, and ebony fights each pass, blunting tools and scorching if you hurry. Cut properly the grooves land under your fingers in the same place every time you pick the knife up. A brass guard closes the front and a brass pommel cap closes the butt. Dark wood shows every slip, and the spacing of these flutes belongs to this handle alone.

The leather sheath

Vegetable tanned leather, cut to this blade's own outline rather than to a size that roughly fits. The face is carved by hand, cut in with a swivel knife and then shaped with punches, which takes several times as long as stamping damp leather. The motif is vine and leaf. A welt is sewn into the seam so the stitching sits clear of the steel, and that stitching is done by hand.

Who it suits

This one is for the buyer who cares how a grip feels in the hand rather than how it photographs.

• Collectors who want the actual knife in the picture
• Anyone who likes a shaped grip over flat scales
• People buying one good thing instead of several
• Buyers happy that nothing here gets repeated

What comes in the box

• This exact knife, sharpened by hand
• The hand carved vine and leaf sheath
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life

There is only one of these

The photograph is the piece. Not a knife like it, not the same model in another ebony blank. When somebody buys it the page comes down. The raindrop etch landed where the steel moved that day, the flutes were cut by eye and the carving was cut once. None of it repeats, which is the honest reason a piece like this costs what it does.

Looking after it

Wipe the blade dry when you finish and leave a thin film of oil on the steel. The etched pattern stays visible under a patina, so a little darkening is nothing to worry about. Ebony likes an occasional rub of oil and dislikes dry heat, so keep it off a radiator. Do not store it in the sheath for months, because leather holds damp against steel. More is on our knife care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade and around 30 characters fits, which covers a name and a date. We send a proof image before the laser runs and it adds 3 to 5 business days. On a one off piece we would rather talk it through first and agree where it goes before anything is cut. The engraving page has the rest.

Questions buyers ask

Is this the knife in the photograph? Yes. That picture is this piece on our bench, with no second one behind it.

How long does shipping take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

Will it rust? It can. There is carbon steel under the pattern, so dry it and oil it.

What are the flutes for? They give your fingers somewhere to land, so the hand finds the same hold without looking.

Can you make me the same one? No. We can flute ebony again, but the spacing and the etch come out different.

Is the Damascus only for looks? The pattern is. The high carbon core under it does the cutting.

For shell set into black wood there is the Damascus fillet knife in mother of pearl and ebony, and for more weight the Damascus bowie with the stag and turquoise handle. The rest sit in custom builds, pattern welded blades under Damascus steel, and every knife we make in one place.