Sheath: Hand-carved, hand-dyed Leather Shoulder Inlaid with Gray Lizard skin
Knife: The Ullr is a small knife, with a
sweeping belly that would identify it as a skinning blade, yet a
shape that is suitable for a variety of uses. This Ullr is light,
handy, and beautifully made, suitable for any collection or light
field use. Named for Norse mythology and the bow, skiing, and
hunting, Ullr is a terrific, lightweight field knife.
The steel I chose for the knife is O1.
O1 is an actual tool steel. It's not just an improvement on
standard carbon steels; it is a workhorse of the steel tool
trade, a fine steel, actually classified as a cold work tool
steel. It's used for die-forming other steels, to make taps,
cutters, broaches, and shears, a steel that has a proven
reputation of performance. While O1 steels can vary,
this is a premium O1 steel, with substantial amounts of
tungsten and vanadium, forming wear-resistant complex
carbides. Add to that my deep cryogenic processing of this
steel at -320°F and triple tempering cycles, and this steel
has a significant transformational performance curve, with
several times the wear resistance of conventionally
processed O1. I've mirror polished the hollow ground blade
and performed my hot bluing of the surface, creating a
corrosion inhibiting surface with the appearance of black
mirrored glass. The blade is ground incredibly thin, and is
less than 0.013" thick behind the cutting edge at the belly.
This makes for an incredibly sharp knife edge. The point is
dropped (curved down) so the knife is easy to sheath. The tang is fully
tapered for balance and I've included full filework
throughout the knife for distinctive handmade flair.
Note about the photos and the finish: Since this knife
is hot blued, I took two sets of photos
showing the blade (the obverse and reverse sides). One set
of photos has a photographic light reflector above the knife, so you can see the
hollow grind and the grind lines. Those are the photos that
show the bolsters in lighter gray or white. The other set is done without a
light reflector above, and in those photos, the bolsters are black
or subdued. In those photos, you can get an idea of the
actual black, glassy, slick surface appearance of the hot
blued blade. You can also tell which is which by the
alternate text shown when your cursor hovers over the photo.
Hot blued mirror finishes on knife blades are
the most difficult to photograph well, so this is the best
way to demonstrate their appearance in varying light
conditions.
I bolstered the knife with zero-care
304 high chromium, high nickel stainless steel bolsters,
which are contoured and polished for a comfortable, smooth feel. The bolsters are secured with
zero-clearance peened pins and dovetailed to bed the
handle scales.
The front bolsters are wide and flat, feeling very
smooth in the hand, with a noticeable forefinger quillon
to stop the hand from sliding forward. The rear bolster is wide and has
substantial quillon that that helps lock the handle into the
hand between the ring finger and small finger. The handle
shape is known as a "three-fingered" handle for
lighter-weight smaller knives.
The handle scales are a fantastic
material; this is one that you cannot demonstrate simply by
photos alone. The camera can't capture the metallic, rich,
dark appearance of this fascinating rock. This is
Psilomelane from the Greek words psilos, meaning
smooth, and melas, meaning black.
Smooth and black is not enough to describe this rich,
metallic surface, with lighter gray bands of pyrolusite
through hollandite and romanechite, and several small
crystal-lined pockets. This is a manganese oxide, and
manganese is an important component in steel. You may be
familiar with hematite, an iron oxide with a metallic
luster. Psilomelane is considered a black hematite, metallic
and smooth and beautifully matching the blued steel knife
blade. This particular material comes from the Silver Crown
mine in Mexico, thus the name. It was difficult to find
pieces of this large enough for a knife handle, and it feels
great in the hand, and visually exciting to look at in the
sunlight.
The knife feels handle-solid and the
blade light and easy in the hand, since the psilomelane is a
dense, heavy, metallic gemstone. The bolsters lock it into
the hand well, the knife begs for accurate work.
Sheath: To make a commensurate sheath for the
Ullr, I chose a dark gray lizard skin because it's smooth and
metallic, and inlaid it in leather shoulder, dyed black. The sheath
has 10 sweeping inlays in the front, back, and belt loop and is
stitched together with black polyester and coated with lacquer for
longevity.
A light, fascinating black knife, unique and exotic metallic handle, and
fine exotic sheath ready for use and fine enough for any collection!
Copyright 1996-2024 by The Jay Fisher Company. All rights reserved. Federal copyright law prohibits unauthorized reproduction by any means and imposes fines up to $25,000 for each violation.
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