Jay Fisher - Fine Custom Knives

"Lacerta" Fine Handmade Knife

• Size: Length overall: 7.0" (17.8 cm), Blade Length: 3.5" (8.9 cm), Thickness: .158" (4.0 mm)
• Weight: Knife: 5.0 oz. (142 grams) Sheath: 3.1 oz. (88 grams)
• Blade: O1 high carbon tungsten-vanadium tool steel, deep cryogenically treated, triple tempered, mirror finished, hot blued. Hardness: 58.5 HRC
• Bolsters, Fittings: 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel, Mirror polished
• Handle: Eudialite Gemstone (Russia)
• Sheath: Hand-carved, hand-dyed Leather Shoulder Inlaid with burgundy Ostrich leg skin
• Knife: The Lacerta is an extremely tough and durable small knife. It's straight and forward, and its name comes from the constellation Lacerta (the lizard) which is also rather straight and forward! If you use your imagination, you might visualize the lizard's small head at the drop in the butt of the handle at the rear bolster...
  The design is a great one, recognizable as a working utility knife, a small game knife, or even a table or steak knife for the ability to use it with fine control. Of course, many of my knives are suitable for collection, but they are serious working tools! 
  • 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 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 tang is fully tapered for balance and I've left the spine and tang smooth and even for easy cleaning.
  • 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 smooth and lightweight grip. The rear bolsters incorporate a 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 beautiful and somewhat rare Eudialite gemstone from the Kola Peninsula in Russia. This is a cyclosilicate mineral, with violet-red hexagonal crystals throughout, all oriented in different directions. The eudialite is in association with microcline, nepheline, aegirine, lamprophyllite, lorenzenite, murmanite, and other minerals. This beautiful stone is considered a collector's stone. It's a minor ore of zirconium and contains significant amounts of rare earth elements.
  • The knife feels lightweight and work-worthy in the hand, begging to be used. The blade is straight and clean; the point is fine and the edge keen and even.
• Sheath: Making a sheath to match the knife, I carved inlay pockets in the front, back and belt loops to mimic the crystalline shapes of the gemstone. I inlaid these with burgundy ostrich leg skin, which also has patterns that mimic the eudialite crystals in the handle. The sheath is dyed with a russet-gray-green dye to match the minerals in the stone, stitched with chestnut-colored nylon and sealed with lacquer for longevity and resistance to the elements.
• A unique and beautifully elegant knife with a striking gemstone crystal handle.

Thanks, A. S.!