"Omega" Art Knife

The Omega is based on my Aunkst knife pattern, a hidden tang knife with a western trailing point blade style. This is an older/early work, and I went all out when I made it with one of my elaborate articulating stands. The name Omega came from the general shape of the stand. The blade is a carbon steel random pattern damascus, hand-forged and made of high carbon and low carbon steels ground, heat treated, and finished with alternating grinding and etching steps. This brings out the bold pattern by etching the higher carbon component away, and leaving the lower carbon component at its original surface level. Then, in a final step, the blade is blued to bring out dark contrast. The blade is fully fileworked, and deeply hollow ground with a nice grind termination radius. The knife is guarded and has a pommel of low carbon steel, hand-engraved with a scroll and leaf pattern. The handle is striking in Agatized and Jasper Petrified Wood gemstone from the Petrified Forest in Arizona. I rarely use this type of petrified wood, as it is difficult to find in large and solid enough pieces for a knife handle. Though the Petrified Forest has millions of tons of fossilized trees replaced with agate, jasper, carnelian, and quartz, most of this material is riddled with fractures and will break to crumbs when worked by the lapidary. That is why though you may see many trunks, limbs, and large pieces, you'll seldom see any that are solid in a fist-size. The larger pieces can be worked with fractures in place and still hold together, but when you try to cut and shape and grind down the smaller pieces needed for knife handles, they fall apart. There are, however some carefully acquired and harvest pieces suitable for a knife handle, and this knife demonstrates the beauty of that material. All the colors are natural, and the stones are hard and take a smooth, glassy polish. I used stainless steel spacers and red vulcanized fiber spacers to accent the reds in the gemstone.

The display stand for the Omega is as intriguing as the knife. I made it from Bloodwood and Tropical Walnut hardwoods, with brass fittings, axles, and pins as well as intricate brass pique work. The stand is articulating, and the knife swivels around in the central ring, while the omega lobes swivel around the outside of that. This allows the knife to be displayed in a wide variety of positions. The base is tropical walnut, and the stand has a machine-engraved black lacquered brass nameplate.

A beautiful ensemble and bold display of a popular early knife style, and an older work that is nice to visit.