Sunspike Handmade Damascus Push Dagger with Stabilized Maple Burl Handle, Stainless Bolster & Leather Sheath | Collector Knife | BMK-1193

Description

Warm wood, cold steel

Sunspike is what happens when you take a fighting shape and dress it for a display case. A four inch double-edged Damascus blade, a polished stainless bolster acting as a bright collar between blade and handle, and a T-grip of stabilized maple burl in ambers and browns with a mosaic pin set through the centre of it. The contrast between the cool figured steel and the warm figured wood is the entire point of the design.

The burl

Burl is the lumpy, knotted growth a tree throws out after damage or infection, where the fibres wander in whorls instead of running true. That chaos is what produces the eyes and the shifting figure that appears to move when you turn the handle in the light. Left raw it would be soft and prone to splitting, so the blank is stabilized: dried, put under vacuum, and infused throughout with acrylic resin that is then cured solid. Afterward it takes a polish like stone, ignores humidity completely, and will not absorb anything you spill on it. The mosaic pin at the centre is a bundle of brass and steel rods soldered into a pattern, sliced across and peened flush, so the little rosette runs all the way through the handle rather than sitting on the surface.

Forged pattern steel

The blade is pattern-welded Damascus. Two alloys are stacked, welded into a billet under the hammer, drawn out, folded back and reworked until the layer boundaries wander into long flowing lines. Grinding the double bevels cuts those boundaries at an angle and an acid etch darkens one alloy more than the other, so the figure stands out in relief. It is internal structure made visible, not a coating — the pattern is present at every depth in the blade. Our piece on how Damascus billets are forged walks through the process from stack to etch.

Both edges are ground symmetrically to a spear point, with a raised spine running down the centre of each face to keep a thin double-edged blade rigid. The polished stainless bolster caps the front of the handle and gives the whole assembly a clean, jewel-like junction where wood meets steel.

Why a push dagger holds like that

The handle sits across your palm and the blade exits between the middle and ring fingers, so you are closing a fist rather than gripping a lever. Force runs in a straight line from the shoulder to the point and nothing about the hold depends on grip strength. It is the most secure way there is to hold a fixed blade, and it is also the reason the shape has always attracted collectors as much as carriers. If you are unclear on where a dagger sits among the other blade families, the difference between a knife and a dagger is worth a read.

Sheath

Veg-tan leather cut and wet formed to this blade and to the underside of the T, saddle stitched by hand in cream thread, with a keeper strap over the handle and a broad loop behind. The knife drops in to the bolster and comes out with a deliberate pull.

Looking after it

Damascus is a carbon steel, and the etched relief on it is only microns deep. Clean it with warm soapy water and a soft cloth, dry it fully, and keep a thin coat of oil across both faces; never use a scouring pad or an abrasive metal polish, both of which will flatten the pattern. Wipe fingerprints away promptly. The stabilized burl needs no oil or wax; wiping it over with a clean rag will do. Keep the blade out of its sheath between outings, and sharpen both edges early rather than late, on a fine stone worked along each bevel.

Push daggers are separately regulated in a number of states. Check your local rules before carrying rather than after.

From our Memphis bench

Billet forged, blade ground and etched, bolster fitted, burl shaped and pinned, sheath cut and stitched — all in Tennessee, by the people whose names are on the shop. Pattern and figure both vary from blade to blade because both are natural products of the process. For the same silhouette in mirror-polished tool steel with brass instead of stainless, see the rosewood Bronze Fist. Say the word while ordering and it goes out in presentation packing. Every piece is guaranteed against faults for good, and the review total has passed 2,000 verified five-star entries.

Model: BMK-1193