One of a Kind Damascus Kukri, Ram Horn and Carved Sheath

This is the only one. The knife in the photograph is the knife that ships, and when it sells the page goes with it. The blade is 11 inches of Damascus over a high carbon core, bent into a kukri curve. The handle is ram horn, ridged the way horn grows, and fitting two pieces of it around a tang so the ridges still line up took longer than the blade.

Specification

The blade

Damascus over a high carbon core in a twist pattern, made by heating the billet, winding it like rope and flattening it again. Etched, the layers come up as spirals along the flat, and the etch runs down the bevel so nothing is left bare. The pattern is decoration. The carbon core under it takes the edge. The blade drops into its curve partway along, so the mass sits out past your hand and the inside of the sweep meets the work first. Carbon steel greys with use and spots if it is put away wet.

The handle

Ram horn is never flat. It grows in ridges and waves, amber in places and grey in others, and two sides of one horn never match. Both scales come off the same horn, flattened only where they meet the tang, then worked down until the ridges carry across instead of stopping dead at the pin line. That is bench time with a lot of standing back. Brass spacers sit at either end and a brass butt cap closes the back. Another horn ridges differently, so this handle is finished.

The leather sheath

Vegetable tanned leather, cut to this blade's own outline, which matters on a kukri because the shape does not sit in a straight pocket. The face is carved by hand, cut in with a swivel knife and then shaped with punches, roses and scroll work across the front. That is several times the work of stamping. A welt is sewn into the seam so the thread sits clear of the edge, and the stitching is done by hand.

Who it suits

This suits somebody who likes a material that argues back and wants the actual piece in the picture.

• Buyers who want horn rather than wood or resin
• Anyone who likes weight sitting out past the hand
• Collectors after a piece with no twin anywhere
• People giving one knife that cannot be matched

What comes in the box

• This exact kukri, sharpened by hand
• The hand carved rose and scroll sheath
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life

There is only one of these

The photograph is this knife. There is no second one in a drawer and no repeat run planned. That horn is used up. The twist in the steel landed where the billet moved under the hammer, and the roses on the sheath were cut once. When it sells the page comes down, and that is the whole reason the price reads as it does.

Looking after it

Dry the blade when you finish and leave a light film of oil on it. Horn wants an occasional rub of oil too and does not like being baked, so keep it out of a hot car. Sharpen on a stone at the angle it arrived with. Do not leave it in the sheath for months, since 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. Around 30 characters fits, so a name and a year. A proof image goes out 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 the spot and the wording. The engraving page covers the rest of it.

Questions buyers ask

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

Am I buying the knife in the photograph? Yes. That is this piece, and no other one exists.

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

Do the ridges catch on your hand? No. They are worked down smooth. What you feel is shape rather than edges.

Can you build me one the same? No. We can use ram horn again, but another horn ridges differently and the steel never repeats.

Does horn crack? It can if it dries out or gets baked. Keep it out of direct heat and oil it occasionally.

For a grip built rather than grown, look at the Damascus bowie on a stacked leather handle, and for something small enough to carry, the Damascus skinner in scrimshawed camel bone. The rest sit in custom builds, pattern welded blades under Damascus steel, and every knife we make together.