Original Traditional Filipino Butterfly Balisong Knife Brass Engraved with Damascus Handle Top Rated Knife Gift USA Made | BMK-2011

Description

Most of our engraved balisongs keep the pattern where you can see it cut. This one does not. The BMK-2011 puts etched laminate steel into the handle scales as well as the blade, framed in engraved brass, so the figure carries from tip to butt whether the knife is open or shut. Eight inches, forged and fitted in Memphis, and firmly a collection piece rather than a working tool.

Damascus in the handle, not only the blade

Most patterned balisongs put the layered billet where you can watch it cut and use plain metal everywhere else. This build carries etched Damascus in the handle scales as well, so the pattern runs the whole length of the knife open and keeps running when it is shut. It also means twice the etched surface to look after. An etch is shallow chemical relief living in the top few thousandths of an inch, and it can be removed by accident. Wiping these handles with an abrasive cloth or a polish wadding will flatten the figure permanently.

What the brass framing is for

Brass acts as a fence around the steel. It is the softer of the two, so it absorbs the knocks a dropped balisong collects, and it comes back with a rag when it does. The engraving is cut into the brass rather than into the Damascus for the same practical reason: brass chases cleanly, while a graver crossing layered steel skips at every hard band and leaves a ragged line.

Who should skip it

Anyone planning to flip this hard, outdoors, every day. Damascus handle scales scuff and show it, and the 1095 in those scales will spot if you sweat on the knife and put it away without drying it. If you want the same 8-inch engraved frame in a material that shrugs off handling, the buffalo horn build in this series is the wiser purchase and costs more, because horn is harder to fit than steel.

Weight, and what it does in the hand

7.23 ounces on an eight-inch frame is substantial, and putting steel scales into the handles rather than a lighter natural material is most of the reason. The knife feels solid at rest and deliberate in motion. Rotations start with a little more effort than a horn or bone build asks for, and once they are going they carry themselves. That suits controlled, close work and does not suit fast aerial sequences, so set your expectations accordingly.

Blade and edge

The blade is drawn from the same forge-welded stack of 1095 and 15N20 as the scales, ground with a flat primary bevel, hardened in oil and drawn to the high fifties before the final edge goes on by hand. Carbon steel of this kind takes a genuinely fine edge and gives it back sooner than stainless does, and it responds quickly on a stone when it dulls. It arrives sharp enough that we would rather you handled it by the spine until you have got used to the action.

Made in Tennessee

Billet through to final assembly happens on our own benches in Memphis, including the engraving. It leaves here boxed and protected, under a lifetime warranty. Rules on owning this style of knife vary by state and country, so please check yours before ordering.

Model: BMK-2011