Psilomelane on a Damascus Buck 110

[Redrummd]

First, this is SOLD. The buyer might drop in once I let him know it is finished. I was sweating blood working on this knife as this stone can shatter without any reason so the knife alone was at high risk and it was not from my inventory.

This is the most brutal work I have ever finished. The stone is incredibly rare and absolutely unforgiving of the slightest mistake. Working Psilomelane this large to perfection was BRUTAL. I should have charged a lot more!

I have probably 16 hours into this one and it is as close to perfect as my skills allow.

 

[BG42EDGE]

Wow......we're starting to run out of superlatives when attempting to comment on the beauty of your knives, Red.

The art of this......the blending of scale and blade patterns.....is just incredible.

:thumbup:

 

[Flatlander1963]

Red that is just BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[kidcoyote]

very damn good looking.

 

[RAZORBLADES]

The damascus looks like its reflecting onto the handles,thats wicked man,you know your stuff thats for sure!

 

[ohen cepel]

Sweet! Extremely well done!

 

[postfallsidaho]

Thats a fantastic looking custom! NICE job!!!

Thank you for the pictures! Beautiful!

 

[imafritz]

Looks like fosilized linen micarta-wow what a great looking knife:thumbup:. How safe will it be not that it is finishe, I mean, must it be kept as an extremely Safe Queen?

 

[kuliarang]

amazing....:thumbup: nice:thumbup: ... nice:thumbup:... and nice:thumbup:!!

 

[Redrummd]

The Psilomelane has a MOHS hardness of 7 which is hard enough to easily cut glass. This knife would easily stand up to EDC as long as it does not get dropped onto a hard surface such as concrete as the stone could get chipped or crack if it lands badly. The stone will not come off without destroying it.

 

[I4Bucks]

That is one very sweet looking knife. Who ever it belongs to is one very lucky person. HL

 

[Phil Brown]

What a material. From the Greek psilos and melas, smooth and black. That sums the piece up perfectly, I think.

Dare I ask how much a chunk of psilomelane that big cost?

 

[edbeau]

Very nice job, thank you for sharing before it gets picked up.

 

[wolfdog]

That is awesome! The Damascus is perfect for the stone.

 

[Redrummd]

The stone alone cost is in the range of $100. It is really hard to tie it down specifically as there is breakage in cutting and a bunch of other bad things that happen when trying to work this stone. I bought about 30 pounds of it as it is no longer being found and the mine is closed.

Crown of Silver Psilomelane

Very rare-very hard to get-and very messy to cut! This is Psilomelane-AKA Crown of Silver Psilomelane from the Silver Crown Mine in Chihuahua, Mexico.
This wonderful stone (pronounced si-lah'-mi-lane) is a type of manganese ore. Crown of Silver Psilomelane is manganese oxide in cryptocrystalline quartz. It is a shiny metallic black with silver banding and swirls, hence the name.
The Crown Of Silver mine was opened in 1940 for the war effort and was closed in 1947. In the 1950s the mine was reportedly worked by old Mexican miners for the lapidary market before it became unsafe to enter the mine. It was pilfered for a few years and then reopened in 2003, but I understand it was forced to be closed from too many cave ins.

 

[peterinct]

BEAUTIFUL Michael! That stone compliments the damascus perfectly.

Peter

 

[moonman]

Beautiful!

 

[jb4570]

"quote" I have probably 16 hours into this one and it is as close to perfect as my skills allow. "end quote"

Hi Michael,

I'd say perfect is what your work of art is! The time, and your effort shows in the finished knife, truly stunning. A clone of that one is now on my wish list I have to find an old DM blade first.
jb4570