- Joined
- Feb 26, 2014
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- 76
The Hydra. A serpentine water dweller found in Greek mythology. With the fluidity of the design, it is not hard to see why Lee chose the name.
Overall specifications:
4" Hakapella Damasteel Blade
5.5" Handle
9.5" Overall Length
Mother of Pearl Scales
During the various discussions that I had with Lee, I brought up that I always loved the uniformity that the Hakapella damasteel brings to the knife. After some initial testing, we decided on that pattern. Flawlessly executed, Lee calls this his "Polished Etched" finish. It is deep etched and then finished on a buffing wheel. I've not seen this finish on any other knife and it is truly representative of the level of attention he places on the details. Any scratch during the finishing to 4k grit would result in painful rework.
Time-consuming? Most definitely. The end-result? Spectacular. I'll let the pics speak for themselves.
The titanium rods in the tapered backspacer are yet another signature of Lee's and one that I simply would not do without. The dovetailed mother of pearl inlay? Icing on the cake. Oh, did I also mention that there is also a thumb-relief cut on the back of the knife? I've definitely been spoilt by this build.
Slapping down expensive materials like Timascus, Zircuti and Mokuti would certainly beautify a knife most of the time, but the line between dressy and overdone is a thin one. The philisophy that Lee and I discussed during the year leading up to this build was that this was to be a classy piece, with the pearl being the highlight.
How would one achieve that? By removing all distractions so that the eyes focus on the highlights. The scales and the pivot collar command the eye's attention subtly but hauntingly, which was the reason why we went with the hidden hardware construction on this build.
Mother of Pearl, being a natural material achieves what the man-made materials fall short of. The iridescence
of the mother of pearl is simply not found on the abovementioned forged metals. I still find myself staring blankly and admiring the nacreous adornments often, amazed at how what we envisioned over a year ago has materialized. I say we because Lee's customer service is truly second to none. The incredible customer involvement and his friendly disposition make this a knife that I feel proud to call a collaboration.
When fully open, it becomes apparent that the amount of effort that went into this knife was astounding. There was a total of over 120 hours spent on this build. Every single surface has been painstakingly contoured. There are no hot-spots on this knife. Absolutely ZERO.
Lee knew that I valued symmetry in my knives highly. Strength of a Framelock? Check. Symmetry? Check. Voila! We've arrived at the Bolsterlock design. Always a more technically challenging lock design, many a maker shy away from doing it on their knives due to the unforgiving tolerances demanded of the maker.
I leave you with some pictures for your viewing pleasure. The mirror images best show the multifaceted nature of the hydra. Enjoy! :wave:
Thank you Lee, for your relentless pursuit of perfection. As a friend and collector, to me, there is no greater knife out there more deserving of the title "Heirloom".:smile:
**Edit** The pictures were taken professionally and not by me.
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