Tarazed
Tarazed
- Size: Knife: Length overall: 8.25" (20.9 cm), Blade Length: 3.9" (9.9 cm), Thickness: .172" (4.4 mm)
- Weight: Knife: 5.5 oz. Sheath: 5.2 oz.
- Blade: O-1 High Carbon Tungsten-Vanadium Alloy Tool Steel, Hardened and Tempered to Rockwell C59,
hollow ground, mirror finished, hot blued
- Bolsters, Fittings: Mokume Gane (diffusion welded and forged copper, nickel silver)
- Handle: Moss Agate Gemstone
- Sheath: Shark Skin inlaid in hand-carved Leather
- Knife: Tarazed is a great design; a
drop point blade with a full-sized handle makes this a very useable
knife shape, and the application of unique materials makes this
particular Tarazed a fine work of art. The word Tarazed means the
beam of the scale of balance, and I tried to balance the entire
ensemble with careful artistic application of color, texture, and
pattern. I started with a mirror-finished jet black blade of O-1
high carbon tungsten-vanadium tool steel, and the deep penetrating
bluing not only sets the color of the steel but inhibits corrosion
and increases the longevity of the knife finish. The razor keen
blade has a single bevel edge, a bit sharper than my usual double
bevel cutting edges, and the drop point has a nice curve with a bit
of belly and a point that is easy to sheath. The full tang blade is
completely fileworked with an unusual canted offset pattern. The
handle of this knife is larger than the blade, so the balance point
is well within the hand, making for accurate point control. For the
handle, I chose some rare and unusual multi-toned moss agate
gemstone, in blacks, grays, and whites, all interlaced and heavily
patterned. The bright and smoothly polished gemstone has areas of
translucency and transparency; this is a stone that you can stare at
for a very long time and see more and more interesting patterns,
crystals, and shapes within. Being an agate, it is very hard and
tough and should easily outlast you, me, and the blade! I wish I had
more of it; I only have a very small piece left, and then there is
no more! I wanted to compliment this striking pattern, so made two
pairs of Mokume Gane bolsters, a patterned nonferrous laminate of
diffusion-welded alternating layers of copper and nickel silver. The
forged laminate is pinned to the knife tang with zero clearance
peened nickel silver pins, polished, etched, and patinaed to bring
out the beautiful "grain" pattern. The handle is comfortable in the
hand, with good belly, noticeable quillons, and is very thin for
balance.
- Sheath: The sheath needed to match the knife,
so I used natural color sharkskin inlaid in black-dyed thick leather
shoulder. The nine inlays in the sheath have heavy texture, not
unlike the pattern on the agate, with wrinkles and valleys that give
the very tough skin a great deal of character. The sheath is
sculpted, formed to an interesting shape, and is heavy, durable, and
strong, hand-stitched with polyester sinew, lacquered and sealed.
The grays and blacks match very well with the color of the gemstone.
Thanks, G. D.!
Hi, Jay,
Just received the knives. So very glad I called you to ask about "Tarazed."
I am amazed at the beauty of construction and the way all the parts are so incredibly
complimentary! So far, Tarazed is my favorite treasure from your hands.
Anxious to see what you have planned for the future.
Bless you Jay!
--G. D.
Please click on thumbnail knife photos