High Carbon Steel Filipino Balisongs Butterfly Brass with Stainless Steel with Dye Bone Black Mamba Knives World Class Knives | BMK-608

Description

Dyed bone panels in an amber and olive drift, set into steel channels, behind a Damascus blade and a Damascus guard block.

Owner profile: collectors of traditional Filipino work, and flippers who want a full-length handle in a natural material. Bone is warmer to hold than steel and considerably less slippery than polished metal once your hands are damp.

The proportions

Handles of 4.7 inches against a 4.4 inch blade means the handles are longer than the blade, which is the traditional ratio and the reason the blade sits fully enclosed when closed. Long handles turn slowly, so this is a forgiving knife to learn on and a sluggish one to show off with. The spear-shaped blade puts the point on the centreline, which makes a horizontal opening feel balanced rather than tip-heavy.

Dyed bone, honestly described

The colour is a dye taken into porous bone, not a surface paint, so it goes deep and will not flake. It does fade. Years of strong sunlight will pull the amber towards straw, and every panel starts out slightly different because bone density varies within a single piece. Solvents are the real hazard: acetone, brake cleaner and strong alcohol will lift colour out of the surface in seconds. Soap and water only.

The guard block

The Damascus tang block sits between the handles when the knife is closed and takes the impact every time you snap it shut. It is the part that wears first on a heavily flipped balisong, showing as bright marks on the pattern where the handles land. That is use, not a fault, and it is worth knowing before it happens. Parts of a knife explained names the rest of the components if any of this is unfamiliar.

Care: the Damascus is high carbon and rusts if it stays damp, so dry the blade and the tang block after every session and keep a thin film of oil on the pattern. The bone wants nothing at all beyond a wipe. Oil left sitting on bone attracts dust and dulls the finish. Keep grit out of the pivots and put one drop of thin oil into each one when the action starts feeling gritty rather than smooth. Our note on what 352 layers means explains the number in the table above.

Questions before you order

Are both edges sharp? No. The blade is spear-shaped but sharpened on one side, with a false edge on the spine.

Will the bone match the picture? Closely, not exactly. Dye takes differently into every piece.

Is there a metal-handled version? The engraved copper handle balisong covers that ground.

Model: BMK-410