Knapp Trailhead
"Knapp Trailhead" Custom Knife
- Size: Length overall: 10.6" (26.9 cm), Blade Length: 5.25" (13.3 cm), Thickness: .242" (6.2 mm)
- Weight: Knife: 14.0 oz. (397 grams) Sheath: 6.3 oz. (179 grams)
- Blade: 440C High Chromium Martensitic Stainless Steel, Cryogenically Treated, Hardened and Tempered to 59 HRC
- Bolsters, Fittings: 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel, hand-engraved
- Handle: Mookaite Jasper Gemstone, Australia
- Sheath: Hand-carved, hand-dyed leather shoulder
- Knife: This is a custom trailhead, an
adaptation of an earlier trailhead so distinctive that it bears my
client's name. He gave me a few particulars of the knife design, and
I got to work. I made the blade in 440C high chromium, high
carbon hypereutectoid martensitic stainless steel, for the ultimate
in corrosion resistance and high toughness and wear resistance. I've
performed by best heat treatment possible on this knife: full
austenitization at 1950°F, and deep cryogenic quenching and aging for over
40 hours at -325°F for the maximum martensite conversion and maximum
precipitation of carbides, with deep cryogenic thermal cycling and
compression between triple tempering for the ultimate in wear
resistance and toughness that is possible with this steel. This is a
tough tanto style blade, and the deep hollow grind offers a very
thin yet durable cutting edge and plenty of thick spine for support.
The blade has a two thirds length top swage to reduce the point
profile without sacrificing strength, and the large finger ring is a
distinctive and bold feature of the knife design, positively locking
the knife in the hand. The blade
has a fully tapered tang for balance, with full filework, and is bolstered with
zero-care 304 austenitic stainless steel bolsters, and the front
bolster is sculpted and extends over the finger ring for full support up to the
thumb rise. These bolsters are made of the same
stainless used to make stainless nuts, bolts, and fasteners, with 18
percent chromium and 8 percent nickel; it's extremely tough and
durable. I hand-engraved a nice pattern on the bolster
faces, echoing the finger ring in the design motif, with ribbon-like
leaf forms entering and exiting the rings, just like the finger
moves into the handle. The
bolsters are contoured and dovetailed and bed a pair of striking and
bold Mookaite Jasper gemstone scales. This is an extremely hard and
durable jasper from Mooka Station in Australia, a fossilized form
with deep red and burgundy tones in a field of rich golden yellows.
Nothing else on earth looks like Mookaite, and the gemstone is very
tough and durable. It is actually radiolarite, a sedimentary fossil
of radiolarians. You might think that radiolarians are some distant
race from deep in another galaxy (ahem) but they are protozoa, some
dating back to the Cambrian period over 480 million years ago. These
algae-like protozoa produce silicate skeletons in their very short
life span (2 to 6 weeks), and then they drop to the bottom of the
ocean. In deep waters, the drop can take up to over a year! At the
bottom of the ocean, they form "oozes" and clays of sediment, that
become fossilized over time. This is how most flints are formed as
well (as oceanic sedimentary ooze). Over millions of years,
fossilization occurs, minerals impregnate and replace biologic
remains. Specifically, the Windalia radiolarite is a Lower Cretaceous
(Aptian) formation in Western Australia that contains abundant
foraminifera, radiolaria and calcareous nanoplankton fossils. The varicolored opaline to chalcedonic radiolarite is mined and used as
an ornamental stone termed mookaite. It is this fascinating
geological process that makes these striking minerals the premium
knife handle material, and keeps me looking for more! In this Knapp
Trailhead, I chose a bold pair of Mookaite slabs, and they are
ground, polished, and finished to a high luster, and the handle
feels comfortable and strong in the hand.
- Sheath: Of course the sheath had to match this
bold knife, so I made a deep, protective one in 9 - 10 oz. leather
shoulder, and I hand-carved the same design as I engraved on the
bolsters, accenting the rings as a design component. The sheath is
hand-dyed in mocha brown with dark burgundy highlights of the
carving, stitched with black nylon throughout, and sealed with
acrylic.
- A bold, bright, unique custom creation for a great client; a
real pleasure to make!
Thanks, P. K.!
Perfectly balanced, engraving and design layout are superb an the sheath brings it all together.
Total package.
Thank you
Best always:
P.
Please click on thumbnail knife photos