Jay Fisher - Fine Custom Knives

"Talitha"

• Size: Knife: Length overall: 8.6" (21.8 cm), Blade Length: 4.25" (10.8 cm), Thickness: .120" (3.1 mm)
• Weight: Knife: 5.0 oz. (142 grams) Sheath: 3.5 oz. (99 grams)
• Blade: 440C high chromium stainless steel, hardened and tempered to 58HRC, mirror polished
• Bolsters, Fittings: 304 Austenitic Stainless Steel, mirror polished, hand-engraved
• Handle: Fossil Cretaceous Algae Jasper Gemstone
• Sheath: Hand-carved, hand-dyed leather shoulder
• Knife: The Talitha is named for the star that makes up the front paw in the constellation of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. The knife has a slight trailing point blade, where the thin and incredibly sharp point trails just a bit higher than the spine, having a fine scalpel-like quality and super acute point. I deeply hollow ground the blade, made it of 440C high chromium martensitic stainless steel, chosen for its bright bluish chromium beauty and incredible corrosion resistance with high wear resistance. It's easy to see why this is my most popular blade steel, and I polished it to a bright mirror polish. The blade has a good length of spine to support it, and the hollow grind leaves an extremely thin point for delicate and accurate work. I fully fileworked the blade completely around the tapered tang with a vine pattern and terminated the grind with a graceful choil. I bolstered the knife with zero-care 304 high nickel, high chromium austenitic stainless steel, the same stainless used in stainless nuts, bolts, and fasteners. Into the bolsters, I engraved an overlaid leaf pattern with cross-hatch shading for a bold and distinctive pattern. The bolsters are dovetailed and bed a pair of Fossil Cretaceous Algae Jasper gemstone handle scales. This fossil comes from 145 million to 65 million years ago, the time of the great age of the dinosaurs before the great extinction event. It's fascinating to wonder in what circumstance this algae was growing before it was covered over and replaced by quartz rock, one cell at a time. This is a very hard fossil, jasper, and has taken a bright, hard finish with fascinating patterns reflecting the once-living mass. There are bits of white and transparent agate in the matrix, and the tan-brown overall appearance is handsome and rich. The blade feels very light, with the balance point at the middle finger in forward grip, and the knife feels cool and solid in the hand.
• Sheath: For the sheath, I wanted to continue the overlapping leaf pattern I did on the bolster engraving, so I carved this into the sheath front, back, and belt loop. I then dyed the leather by hand in successive color overlays to get the color tone and density I wanted, and dyed the rest of the sheath body black. The leather is heavy 9-10 oz. shoulder, and I stitched it together with heavy black polyester, then sealed the entire sheath for longevity. The knife sits deep enough into the sheath to protect the blade and wearer, but leaves a nice bit of the handle exposed and displayed.
• A very sleek, graceful, and handsome knife and sheath for use or collection.

Thanks, D. H.!