I wanted to make a knife that looked both modern and yet somehow ancient at the same time, and I think I've managed to accomplish that, to some extent.

The 6" blade is 1/4" thick 1075, and features hamon and a milled and hand polished fuller and beveled spine. I purchased the antique Edo Period fuchi after making the blade, and tried to design the rest of the knife around the pair. The guard is hammered copper with a coined edge, blackened to match the fuchi. I made a small copper menuki the same way to complement the guard to help tie it all together.

The handle is stabilized and figured Claro walnut, and is wrapped and soaked in an aerospace resin.

Overall length is 11-1/2", with a 5-1/4" handle. The handle tapers to the fuchi/guard, and swells at the butt.

Blade is 7-1/2" long (8" from tip to guard), and made of .275" thick Crucible CPM-4v, with milled fullers which have been hand polished. The spine and the little tidbit between the plunge and the guard are beveled and hand polished, and the blade has a hand satin finish. The seppa is polished stainless steel, the guard/tsuba and handle are carbon fiber, and the tsukaito is carbon fiber lace that has been soaked in an aerospace grade resin. Both sides of the handle feature a beautiful matched pair of sterling silver dragon menuki. Handle length is 5", and the point of balance is almost perfectly at the seppa.

The 6" blade is made of .275" thick W2, and features milled fullers and flats that have been hand polished, and hamon. The beveled spine has been polished, as well. The seppa is uber-thin black G10, and the tsuba is stainless steel, with a textured face to match the hot rolled finish of the ricasso. The outrageous Vermont flame sugar maple was dyed and stabilized to produce a truly amazing hot flame color that just flashes and jumps in the light, and is slightly coffin-shaped and tapers from back to front. Black tsukaito that's been soaked in resin completes the equation. Handle is 5" long, and overall length is 11". Balance is damn near exactly at the back of the tsuba.

Puggy! This short but stout little 2-3/4” blade is made of .275" thick W2 tool steel and displays a wonderful hamon, with a 4-1/2” long handle of black G10 with stingray skin overlay, and matched menuki on the aluminum sheath, covered in shark skin and lined with Ultrasuede.

This macthed pair are in .280" thick Crucible CPM-S60v, formerly known as CPM-440v, a very high wear resistance stainless steel. The larger of the two has a 6" blade, and Puggy is just shy of 3", and both feature hand polished fullers, hand finished primary bevels and beveled spines. The guards are black G10, and have coined edges. The handles are bright red G10 under the black wrap, and offer a great contrast, I think.

This blade is 7-1/2" of Crucible CPM-154, with a rounded and mirror polished spine and the squidgey little bit under the ricasso, hand finished satin flats, and a frosted fuller. The guard and mouth of the saya are mirror-matched black G10, with stainless steel and black G10 spacers, and the handle and saya are made from a single piece of perfectly straight-grained black walnut from a tree not far from my home. The matched pair of sterling silver peony menuki, black G10 kurigata and blood red silk sageo complete the package.

The saya is lined in ultrasuede to keep a firm hold on the blade and keep it from rattling, and the blade indexes on the mouth of the saya at the juncture of the rounded areas and the flats, to prevent scratching. No other place on the blade comes in contact with the opening.

A cute lil’ Damascus steel Puggy featuring Damascus steel made by my friend Jeff Marsh, with a fluted copper guard, peened copper pin and a rosewood handle.

The ultralight fusion fighter, made of 1/8” Sandvik 13c26, and featuring a 7-3/4” blade, a carbon fiber guard with a coined edge, and has a wasp-waisted coffin handle of carbon fiber in a 'frame handle' construction, with a carbon fiber pin, and then carbon fiber tsukaito over a stunning pair of sterling silver lobster menuki. Overall length is 13", with a 5-1/4" handle length. Weight is 8-1/2 ounces. 

This 7-1/2" long blade is .275" thick W2 steel, with some freaky hamon, as demonstrated in the video below, and a polished fuller. Both the spine and the squidgey bit below the ricasso are beveled, and the 'guard' is black G10. The handle is a wasp-waisted frame handle of G10, pinned and epoxied in place, then covered in black rayskin and wrapped, with a sterling silver menuki. Point of balance is just behind the 'guard'.

This Puggy sports a 3" blade in .200" thick Crucible CPM3v, hand satin finished, with a beveled spine and squidgey bit under the ricasso, and a hand-finished fuller. The simple oval guard is black G10, and the frame handle underneath the carbon fiber lace is carbon fiber, as well. 

In order to break up the monochromatic appearance, I elected to use a pair of superb 'sakura' or cherry blossom menuki in gold plated sterling silver, and I think they push the knife right over the top.

This was a collaboration with Ben Seward. Ben made the stainless San Mai and carbon core steel, and rough ground the blade, and I did the rest. The blade is 6-1/2" long, with a 5-3/8" long handle, and an overall length of just shy of 12". Weighs in at 9-5/8 ounces. The tiger-and-bamboo menuki are sterling silver and gold plate. The seppa is stainless steel, and the guard is carbon fiber. The handle has a TeroTuf core, and sleeved in carbon fiber cloth brought to a mirror polish, then wrapped in carbon fiber lace. The matched saya is constructed to match the handle, again hand polished to a mirror sheen.