Another piece in what I consider my master works (can I say that about my own work? (It sounds absolutely conceited, but I genuinely am extremely proud of this piece).

At roughly 200 layers, this blade was forged out to be a thick slicer with a gentle curve. Slicers need weight to work well, and I wanted to maintain a thick spine with a mild taper to keep as much weight as possible up front, but not have it be overwhelmingly heavy. The grind is a partial flat grind, or a sabre grind if you want to call it that, where the bevel is nearly flat and extends midway up the blade.

I’d been playing with the lines and pondering over handle materials for probably weeks on this as it was getting closer to completion. The shape is unorthodox, so it was challenging to come up with something that flowed well, and the pattern is bold in a way that many materials would’ve clashed. Pure black was a contender, but I had just finished NIGHTMARE earlier this year which followed that theme. Then I found the block. Luke of Owl Woodworks generously gifted me this block of Yellow Cedar earlier this year, and I was saving it for a special project. This wood is absolutely a dream to work with. Clean, ground well, finished beautifully, it was stunning. One of the best pieces of wood I’ve ever worked with. It’s busy, but to my eyes it worked perfectly with this blade.

The handle construction has my usual hidden pins to keep it all together. All the pieces were finished individually prior to glue-up, and all internal edges were chamfered to keep it feeling nice over time when materials expand and contract. Without a doubt this is my cleanest constructed handle I have ever done.

Steel: 1095 and 15n20

Handle: Yellow Cedar Burl, Stainless Spacer

Edge Length: 280mm (11.0”)

Handle length: 135mm (5.3”)

Spine Thickness at Ricasso: 5.71mm (0.225”)

Spine Thickness at Tip Break: 3.68mm (0.145”)

Weight: 282g