Jay Fisher - Fine Custom Knives

"Ullr" Fine Handmade Knife

• Size: Length overall: 6.75" (17.2 cm), Blade Length: 2.75" (7.0 cm), Thickness: .116" (3.0 mm)
• Weight: Knife: 5.5 oz. (156 grams) Sheath: 3.3 oz. (94 grams)
• Blade: O1 high carbon tungsten-vanadium tool steel, deep cryogenically treated, triple tempered, mirror finished, hot blued. Hardness: 59 HRC
• Bolsters, Fittings: 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel, Mirror polished
• Handle: Silver Crown Psilomelane Manganese Oxide (Mexico)
• 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!

Thanks, E. B.!