Meteorite, dinosaur bone and wootz folder

A

ArsMachina

Joined
Dec 2, 2007
Messages
50
Hi there,

this is my first post and I want to show you my new knife I got just yesterday from it's maker, Steffen Dammann.

Some time ago I got a pair of fossilised dinosaur bone scales and Steffen had a nice slide of the russian Seymchan meteorite.

So why not making a folder out of these materials, adding a blade made out of polished wootz from Achim Wirtz?

And here it is:

MeteoSaurus_14.JPG


MeteoSaurus_02.jpg


meteosaurus_01.jpg


MeteoSaurus_03.JPG


MeteoSaurus_05.JPG


meteosaurus_06.jpg


meteosaurus_07.jpg


meteosaurus_10.jpg


I think I do not need to tell that this knife is more a sculpture than a user :)

Jochen
 
Last edited:
I like this. It reminds me of jewelry pieces that were never meant to be worn.
 
A extremely interesting folder from both a materials list and design prospective.
 
Last edited:
I like it, and I realize that it is not going to be a user, but the edges and corners of the handle and bolsters look way too sharp to me.
 
Great materials. That is really nice dinosaur bone and I like the meteor, but it looks unfinished to me.

I can understand if the maker was making an artistic statement by leaving it with all sharp angles.

Peter
 
I like it, As art it shows the materials off very nicley. Nice and clean.
Welcome to the forums.
\Mace
 
I'm not sure what to think of this. I like it, but it's so impractical. I'm having an internal conflict with this one.
 
For some reason, I like this one. Everything from the rare materials, to the artistic impression. It looks well executed, in a sort of minimalistic way. I think the shape compliments the materials well. To me it looks finished...I can see what the maker intended for this piece....and that's striking beauty. Just my opinion and perception.
 
Simple form, elegant materials, it lets the textures of the materials stand out while still representing a clean folding knife. Lacks warmth but not clarity.
 
Thanks for your kind comments !

This knife was intended from the very first beginning to be a piece of art and not a daily user because of the fragile 3mm thin bone scales and the sharp edges of the handle design.

Some time ago I was able to purchase these wonderful dinosaur bone scales (no, unfortunately I do not know the species) and a little bit later I heard from Steffen Damman, a well known german knifemaker, that he has a slide of the Seymchan meteorite, which he wants to use as material for some folders.

Here is a picture of this meteorite scale and when I saw it for the first time I knew that it must be combined with my dinosaur scales, because the patterns of these two materials are having something common:

Saurier_01.jpg


For not taking away the attraction from these two distinguished materials one needed to use a blade material which is also extravagant but does not disturb the combination of the other two materials.
I believe using polished wootz forged by Achim Wirtz was the right decision.

And also the design of the folder should not take away any attraction from the main materials and their wonderful patterns.
Here Steffen was exactly the right man.
His style is always very clean with straight lines.
He will soon show some of his work here and you will see.
So I asked myself why not using the cleanest straightest design I can imagine, a cuboid.

To me this folder does not look unfinished in any way, every detail is very well planned and finished and it took more than a year to get it all done.
Perhaps have a look at the dinosaur scales, there are no screws fixing them to the titanium liners - and they are also not just glued to them.
The scales are having two holes at every side. The meteorite bolsters are having corresponding holes at their inner sides and the dinosaur scales are fixed to the bolsters by cylindrical studs put inside these holes.

When we started this project I did not expect that the very hard and breakable dinosaur scales will survive all necessary grinding until the end - but fortunately they did.

Here are two more pictures of the knife:

meteosaurus_11.jpg


meteosaurus_12.jpg


And here comes a picture from the very early production process:

Saurier_02.jpg


Best wishes Jochen
 
Last edited:
you cant just not finish a knife and then say.....well its meant to be an art not a user. it looks like an unfinished knife no matter how you word it.
 
I can understand that it was created as an art piece and that it was probably desirable to remove a minimum of material. However, I am curious if there is any lock mechanism or if the blade moves somewhat freely.

The aesthetics are quite becoming and with the rare material, it makes for an elegant piece. On a personal note I would have gone with a user friendly design.

I like the poetry of dinosaur / meteorite... ;)
 
severedthumbs said:
you cant just not finish a knife and then say.....well its meant to be an art not a user.
Click to expand...

and why couldn't one say that? Is there a rule book I should know about?:p

Keep in mind that YOU are the fella who thinks it looks unfinished, not the guy who designed and commissioned the knife- who just stated that the knife IS finished and took a lot of time to make, to his design. The design is intended, and that's what it's all about.

Like many knives whose existence came about as the fulfillment of an artistic vision, this one is not intended to use. That's ok. The custom knife world is richer for it.

There are plenty of knives available which are made primarily to use, and this is obviously not one of them, nor does it intend to be- hence the choice of the rare materials employed in its construction, and the austere and stark shapes employed. Reminds me of Mondrian's artistic efforts.

The only criticism that I have is the same old one I pull out most times I see it, and that is that the fasteners are showing. I understand how difficult it is to assemble a knife without having them show, but it is possible to do, and given the materials involved and the artistic intention behind it all, I think it would have been worth doing on this piece. I find the fasteners to be very distracting.
 
Thanks Lorien for your measured reply. I had a much less polite one ready to go but you saved me the effort. :)

I like the handle but would have liked to see a little more of the geometric influence carried into the blade shape as well.

Everything looks very nicely fitted and it's obviously well thought-out. Perhaps hidden screws for the bolsters would have enhanced the look a bit but I find they don't really detract very much.

Edit: Stu, it looks like an "inlaid" liner lock to me:

MeteoSaurus_02.jpg
 
I dig it. As a user, yes it would be uncomfortable, but as an art piece, it's great. Love the simplicity of design contrasting with the complexity of the materials. :thumbup:

severedthumbs said:
you cant just not finish a knife and then say.....well its meant to be an art not a user. it looks like an unfinished knife no matter how you word it.
Click to expand...

Since you're not the maker, who are you to say it's unfinished? Taste is subjective.

Stu Gatz said:
However, I am curious if there is any lock mechanism or if the blade moves somewhat freely.
Click to expand...

Looks like a liner lock.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top