Lance's 300mm Mammoth Tooth and Bog Oak Sujihiki

Now this...was an interesting project. My first time working with mammoth tooth altogether...and man was it...rough lol. There were a lot of little snags in this project...waiting for materials and tooling (mammoth tooth = diamond tooling pretty much exclusively), deciding on various choices in direction each step of the way...etc. I worked very closely with Lance with each step, but was also very pleased with the leeway he gave me in exercising my personal sense of aesthetics. For example, when speaking with Lance we were originally going to go with a rayskin saya, but the colors we received in the rayskin material just didn't match the project at all. Too shiny, too flashy, too blingy, not classy enough. So I spent some time thinking about it and then broached the subject of bringing in another craftsman for the saya work. I of course already had my friend Julio Garza of Mokuzo To in mind (if you haven't seen Julio's work, give him a look! You can find him on this forum at http://www.kitchenknifefora.com/forums/mokuzo-sayas-handles.74/), and when Lance saw his work it was an immediate go. I'd already finished the blade and handle, so it was immediately sent off to Julio in Canada. Even then though, we ran into issues. We originally wanted to do a matching ancient bog oak for the saya, but finding a reliable supplier for the stuff was a nightmare. Lots of flaky people in the bog oak industry it seems, lol. Over the course of months we finally got frustrated enough to make the first and only real concession on the project, and used an absolutely beautiful piece of ebony for the saya. I think it matches the handle material nicely, and does nothing to take away from the overall theme. Julio did an INCREDIBLE job on the saya (anything that isn't blade or handle is his craftsmanship...have a look at the retaining pin!!), going so far beyond our expectations it's nearly unbelievable .

All in all, even with the frustrations...this is a blade I'm very, very proud of. The depth in the bog oak, the finish and stunning color of the mammoth tooth, and the whole thing being tied together with Julio's work is as near to perfect as can be for me, which is a rare, rare thing.

Steel - AISI W2 from Aldo at New Jersey Steel Baron

Handle - Stabilized 5460yr old ancient bog oak from the Ukraine, with nickel silver and 47,000 year old mammoth tooth spacers and butt cap. Holding this blade is a weird feeling! Knowing that the tooth is prehistoric (yes, I can now say I have eaten mammoth, lol...the dust got EVERYWHERE!!), and that the oak tree died 1000 years before the Egyptian pyramids were built...is a very humbling feeling!

 

Outrageous! And they saya pin?! Way cool.

 

Yes! The saya pin may have been my favorite part of Julio's portion of the work .

 

Absolutely brilliant

 

Fantastic work!!

 

Lance is gonna be real happy

 

I am. Absolutely the most nimble 300mm knife I have ever held. It was a long year waiting for it but it was worth it. Between Cris and Julio I can't say enough about their dedication to their craft and the execution of the design. Both were exceptional.

Lance

 

WOW!!!

 

Awesome!!!!

 

I'm not sure I could ever bring myself to use it. My hats off to all of you!

 

Wow!! That is a beauty, great work guys:cool1
Congrats, Lance!

 

Epic final product by a couple of amazing craftsmen

 

Stunning work & detail!

 

Beautiful work all around. Boy would I love to own this one!

 

Weird! I never got any of these comments!!

First, thank you so much Lance, for the opportunity to put this together for you, as well as for your kind words in regards to the finished product! To everyone else, thank you as well! This one was very, very frustrating in a lot of spots, lol...but the end result was so, so worth it to me!