One of a Kind Damascus Hunting Knife, Desert Ironwood Burl

Nobody else is getting this one. The photograph is the knife, not a stand in for a run of them, and when it sells the page comes down. The blade is 4.5 inches of Damascus over a high carbon core and the handle is desert ironwood burl, dark brown going to orange. Along the spine of the tang there is filework cut by hand. That is where the days went.

Specification

The blade

Damascus with a high carbon core. Layers of steel are welded into a bar, then grooves are worked across it and the bar is forged level again, which leaves the ladder lying in rungs up the flat. Acid opens them out. The pattern is decoration and no more. The carbon core under it takes the edge and keeps it. The etch runs to the edge with no bare bevel, and 4.5 inches is enough blade for field work without being a chore to carry. Carbon steel darkens with use and spots if it goes away wet.

The handle

Desert ironwood burl, dark brown running into orange, with figure so tight it moves as you turn it under a light. Burl is the knotted grain from a growth on the tree, so one block never matches the next. Copper spacers sit between the scales and the steel. The part worth looking at is the spine of the tang, left exposed between the scales and filed by hand into a repeating pattern. Small files, one cut at a time, working down a strip of hardened steel that gives no second chances.

The leather sheath

Vegetable tanned leather cut to this blade's own outline so the knife seats without slop. The face carries a sunflower, cut into damp hide with a swivel knife and then punched so the petals stand clear of the ground. That is several times the work of running a basket weave stamp across it. A welt inside the seam keeps the thread off the edge, and the whole thing is stitched by hand.

Who it suits

Filework is the detail people notice last and then keep coming back to.

• Anyone who turns a knife over looking at the spine
• Hunters who want a working blade dressed up
• Buyers who would rather own one piece
• People who like wood with figure in it

What comes in the box

• The 4.5 inch Damascus hunting knife shown
• The hand carved sunflower belt sheath
• A care card
• An engraving proof if you order one

There is only one of these

The knife you are looking at is the knife that gets packed. No batch sits behind it. The rungs fell where they fell, that block of ironwood is gone, and the filework was cut one notch at a time without a jig, so the spacing is mine rather than a machine's. When it sells the page closes and nothing here is repeated.

Looking after it

Wipe the blade dry and leave a film of oil on it. Do not leave it sitting in the sheath, because damp leather against steel is where pitting begins. Ironwood is dense and wants very little, so a wipe is plenty. Run a soft brush through the filework now and then, since notches hold dirt. Sharpen on a stone, then finish on a strop. The knife care and sharpening page covers the rest.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade, added here on this page. Around 30 characters fits, enough for a name and a date. A proof image comes back to you first, and nothing is cut until you approve it. Allow it 3 to 5 business days. On a single piece we discuss placement before the laser runs. The engraving page has the detail.

Questions buyers ask

What is filework? A pattern cut by hand into the exposed spine of the tang with small files. Slow work, and it cannot be undone.

Does filework weaken the tang? It is cut shallow along the spine, away from the edge, and the tang still runs full through the handle.

Am I buying the exact knife pictured? Yes. That knife and no other, because a second was never made.

Will it rust? It can. Carbon steel sits under the pattern, so dry it and oil it and keep it out of a wet sheath.

Does ironwood need oiling? Very little. It is dense already, so a wipe keeps it right.

How quickly does it ship? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

The same length with resin and colour is the hunting knife in blue resin burl, and with a brass guard there is the Damascus dagger with a fluted ebony grip. Pieces made once sit in custom builds, etched blades in Damascus steel, this size with the hunting knives.