One of a Kind Damascus Skinner, Scrimshawed Camel Bone Handle

One knife, one handle, one drawing, and the photograph is all three. There is no second one to send instead, so when it sells the listing closes. The blade is 3.5 inches of Damascus over a high carbon core and the handle is camel bone with a fine line pattern scrimshawed into it. The bone took longer than the steel, because a scratch in bone cannot be taken back.

Specification

The blade

Damascus over a high carbon core. The layers are forged into a bar and twisted, so the etch pulls the lines into a spiral rather than straight bands. The etch goes to the edge and no bevel is left bare. The pattern is decoration. What cuts is the carbon core beneath it, which would cut as well with no pattern at all. At 3.5 inches this is a skinner, short with belly under the tip. Carbon steel darkens as it works and spots if it is put away damp.

The handle

Camel bone, cool and dense, close to cream in colour, held on a full tang with brass pins and a brass lanyard tube through the butt. The pattern in the surface is scrimshaw, a fine line drawing scratched into the bone with a needle and then inked so the lines stand out dark. It is done freehand at the speed of a wrist. There is no rubbing out a wrong line, only working around it, which is why the drawing on this handle sits the way it does and not some tidier way.

The leather sheath

Vegetable tanned leather cut around this blade's own outline, so a short skinner sits deep instead of rattling. The face carries a thistle, cut into damp hide with a swivel knife and then shaped with punches until the head lifts off the ground. Stamping that area would take a few minutes with a mallet. This did not. The seam has a welt so the thread rides on leather rather than the edge, and the stitching is done by hand.

Who it suits

Scrimshaw is a slow way to decorate a handle and it shows on the price.

• Anyone who buys for the handwork before the steel
• Hunters who want a small blade with something on it
• Buyers who like ink and line drawing
• People giving one object rather than a set

What comes in the box

• The 3.5 inch Damascus skinner in the photograph
• The hand carved thistle belt sheath
• A care card
• An engraving proof if you order one

There is only one of these

This is not a photograph of the model. It is a photograph of the knife, the one you would open the box and find. The twist landed where it landed. The bone took the needle its own way. The thistle was cut freehand and leans as it leans. When it goes the page comes down, and none of it gets drawn a second time.

Looking after it

Wipe the blade dry and put a film of oil on it before it is stored. Keep it out of the sheath for long spells, since leather holds damp against steel and pitting starts there. The bone wants a dry cloth and nothing harsh, because solvents can lift ink out of the lines. Brass goes dull and polishes back if that suits you. A stone, then a strop. Our knife care and sharpening page has more.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per blade and it is added on this page. About 30 characters fits, roughly a name and a date. You see a proof before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. On a piece with a drawing already on it we talk placement through with you first. The engraving page explains the rest.

Questions buyers ask

What is scrimshaw? A drawing scratched into bone with a needle, then inked so the lines read dark against the surface.

What happens if a line goes wrong? It stays. Bone does not close up, so the drawing works around it or the handle is replaced.

Is this the knife in the picture? Yes, that exact one, and there is no second knife behind it.

Will the ink come out? Not with normal handling. Keep solvents off the bone and it stays put.

Will it rust? It can. There is carbon steel under the pattern, so dry it, oil it and keep it out of a damp sheath.

How long is delivery? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

The same size with colour instead of ink is the hunting knife in blue resin burl, and at the other extreme sits the Damascus kukri in ram horn. Single pieces are in custom builds, etched work in Damascus steel, the rest under every knife we make.