Andromeda
"Andromeda" Fine Handmade Knife
- Size: Length overall: 9.2" (23.4 cm), Blade Length: 4.9" (12.5 cm), Thickness: .120" (3.1 mm)
- Weight: Knife: 6.6 oz. (187 grams) Sheath: 4.8 oz. (136 grams)
- Blade: CPM154CM High Chromium, Molybdenum Powder Metal Martensitic Stainless Steel, Deep Cryogenic T3 Process, Triple Tempered to Rockwell HRC 59.5, Mirror Polished
- Bolsters, Fittings: 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel, Mirror polished
- Handle: K2 Azurite Granite (Pakistan), Blue
Sodalite (Brazil) gemstones
- Sheath: Hand-carved, hand-dyed Leather Shoulder
inlaid with Blue Rayskin
- Knife: My Andromeda design is a definite
crossover. The knife pattern is one that is comfortable for utility
and cooking, for chefs and hunters, or for collection or investment.
This is not a simple knife to classify, as the design has so many
uses and applications. It would be welcome in the hands of a chef,
or happy to work with fine trimming and caping of game, or at home in a collection. It's named
for the Andromeda galaxy, our nearest galaxy to the milky way.
- The steel I chose for his knife is
Food Contact Safe CPM154CM, a powder metal technology tool steel, a high
technology steel known for extremely even distribution of
alloy elements and a uniform microstructure. It's a high
molybdenum stainless steel, and the molybdenum aids in
forming nucleation sites for complex carbide development.
The moly also increases the toughness dramatically,
resulting in a blade that's extremely durable. This allows
me to temper the steel at a higher overall hardness, for
great wear resistance as well. The high chromium and high
carbon results in profuse chromium carbides, increasing
corrosion resistance as well as wear resistance. To bring
this steel to its zenith, I used my proprietary T3 deep
cryogenic process in heat treating this blade; it's a highly
detailed, extremely sophisticated process that takes 33
individual steps and takes over a week long. The result of this is an
incredibly wear-resistant blade that has extremely high carbide
development, fine grain, and extremely high toughness. Asperity is
reduced; the microstructure development is superior to any other
typical handmade knife, and far above any factory or
manufactured knife. This is, simply put, CPM154CM at its very finest
advanced condition. The grind is wide and uniform, with
well-curved grind terminations and a bright, beautiful
mirror polish. The blade has full bright and light
filework for handmade distinction, the tang
is fully tapered for balance, and the single bevel cutting
edge is razor-keen. The tip is thin yet stout, at about
.017" thickness behind the relief. You can only do this with
an advanced powder metal technology steel.
- I bolstered the knife with zero-care 304 high chromium, high
nickel stainless steel bolsters, which are contoured, rounded and
finished for a comfortable feel. The bolsters are secured with
zero-clearance peened pins and dovetailed to bed the
handle scales.
The front bolsters are sealed and rounded at the faces, the rear bolsters
are wide and support the rear quillon that locks the handle
into the hand.
- The handle scales are the obvious, most
striking part of the knife. This is a doublet mounting of K2
Azurite Granite with Blue Sodalite. The azurite granite
comes from the base of the world's second highest mountain,
K2 (Karakorum Range), in the Skardu region of northern Pakistan,
remote and rarely visited. This is a
true fine-grained granite, with quartz, sodium plagioclase, muscovite, and biotite.
Spread throughout the granite rock are tiny blue azurite crystals,
which seem to congregate in spherical clusters. At first
glance, it looks like drops of blue dye on a white stone,
but this is definitely not the case! Look at it under
magnification and you can see the blue azurite crystals
throughout the granite, in various intensity and scattered
among the black flakes of biotite, and penetrating the
feldspar grains. To bring out the blue of the granite, I
mounted the stones in a doublet arrangement with Blue
Sodalite from Brazil. Look at the photos below, the two
gemstones from opposite sides of the planet compliment each
other well. This is a distinctive and unique handle for a
great knife!
- The knife feels light and smooth in the
hand, the design is ready to work in the kitchen or field,
the blade is very stiff and strong while being thin and
razor-keen. This knife is
Food Contact
Safe.
- Sheath: To make a sheath to match the gemstone
was a different type of challenge; I wanted to reflect the blue
orbs in the granite without being overbearing. I also wanted to
display the handle material in the sheath as much as possible. So I
created a deep front-cut sheath to show off the gemstone, and
hand-carved round inlay pockets varying in size throughout the sheath front,
back, and belt loop. I accented these with light carving and inlaid
blue rayskin with graduated dying of medium brown in the leather. I
stitched the sheath with chestnut brown nylon, and sealed it with a triple
coat of lacquer for longevity. It's a great combination!
- A unique and splendid knife and sheath in premium materials and treatment!
Thanks, R. N.!
Hello Jay,
The Andromeda K2 Azurite arrived a few minutes ago. It is stunning. I think the photos do not at all do it justice, even though they are very good photos.
I have a couple of 10x loupes for close inspection work, along with some daylight illumination for good color rendition, and spent a few minutes
admiring the K2 Azurite. I have never seen anything like it. Very beautiful, much more so in direct examination than in a photograph.
The sheath complements the knife very nicely. It is a real work of art.
Thank you very much for making and selling such a wonderful knife to me.
My best regards,
--R.
Please click on thumbnail knife photos