For Sale: 13" integral keyhole hamon kukwie. "Antonina." SOLD.

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Oct 20, 2008
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I know it can be taken as pretentious to name a knife, but I felt like this one deserved it. I held it and looked at it, and what came to mind was “Antonina.” That’s the dark, beautiful and vampiric seductress from Tanith Lee’s “The Book of the Damned.” You don’t have to keep the name, but try the book!

It’s a kukri/bowie fusion with a slim aesthetic and a lean forward chopping feel to it.

The blade is forged from W2 steel and clay hardened. It features an integral bolster and “keyhole” handle type. That’s African blackwood pressed into the bolster steel. The block has been pinned in vertically for added strength with a stainless rivet that’s been ground flush.

Here are the specs in a nutshell:
18” overall. 13” tip to bolster front. 13.5 oz. weight. Handle ½” thick. Blade 1-5/8” wide at heel and widest point of swell. Blade thickness is .204 at thickest point where the grinds meet, and .180 at the ricasso/bolster junction. The clip is 10-1/4” long and is sharp for 7-1/2” of that length.

The blade has a base finish of 1000 grit hand-rubbed, with a subsequent selective polish to bring out the hamon. The bolster and handle overall are sanded to 600 grit and lightly buffed. The wood has been teak oil finished.

NOW SOLD. I have not made a sheath to go with it, as if it gets one I’d like to see it put in top shelf clothes, but I’d be willing to make a good serviceable scabbard at added cost upon request.

I found this knife very difficult to photograph- the best lighting was outdoors but I still had to take a bunch of shots to try to capture as many aspects from different angles as I could. The blade has got some well defined utsuri, of a gunome-type shape. I took the pics at the end just to pick that out better. Pay particular attention to the photo of the maker's mark- it's reasonable but could have come out with more even depth. For those who like that sort of thing, this knife comes with a WIP thread of its build…

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