270mm feather Damascus gyuto with custom handle

About 8 months ago when I was making more simpler knives Kevpenbanc ( Kev) contacted me for a commission that was in true unicorn territory . I had made couple Damascus knives but with the combination of the custom handle and specs required this was the trickiest knife I have done to this date yet . Per our conversations it was a relief that we had similar taste and preferences on knives . So here we have ;
270mm gyuto in feather pattern ( billet from Randy) asymmetric ground for right handed user . 55mm tall at the heel and around 3mm at the spine . Stiff with minimal flex , around 61-62hrc . It weighs 264 grams and very thin behind the edge
The handle is quite special in terms of the materials used and time took to complete . Octagonal , Musk ox ferrule and end cap , dyed stabilised mammoth tooth , copper spacers and stabilised box elder burl .
Now time to make the tall Nakiri to match this beauty as a matching set
Thanks for looking ,
Mert

 

bad ass Mert!

 

Dang!

 

Super sweet!

 

MERT!
FRIGGING AWSOME.

 

Looks like it came out ok

 

Absolutely awesome work Mert

 

Curious what was the trickiest part of putting this knife together? Was it lining up the feather damascus pattern with the center of the blade?

 

Thank you all

 

When making a regular knife you have the luxury to make a mistake and grab some more steel or wood to start over . With this expensive materials there is none of that , it has to be spot on first time because that is the only chance you get .
I have been making more simpler handles and this one had 7 components on it . They all have different hardness and just the cost of the materials used is more than you medium level good gyuto, I can not afford to get the copper hot and loose the bond or get the musk ox too hot and burn or crack the mammoth tooth etc

 

Very nice. Feather has been my unicorn ever since I saw catchside blades. This one is beautiful. I love the handle.

 

Wow. This is great!

 

Thanks guys