This for the FtB legal defense fund. See [go fund me] for details. Rules are below:

Sold to Azrael for $151! Thank you for supporting FTB!

If the previous knife was simple and solid, this is a bit flashy. One of my friends who commented on this knife as I was building it started calling it “Serenity” so, Serenity it is.

This is a Left-Handed chef’s knife. If you look at Japanese knife-makers’ catalogs, the left-handed grinds are fairly rare and mostly custom and expensive. Did I ever mention to any of you that I was very dyslexic as a kid and worked hard to grow out of it? Sometimes I still get turned around. When I started grinding this blade I already had the bevel set and was chewing away at it when I noticed that the tang was pointing right instead of left. Oops. It doesn’t bother me, though, it just means that you have a chance to make some left-handed chef happy!

This is a fusion of my “chef’s pwning knife” shape with a Japanese sushi knife aesthetic. It’s strong, light, and it wants to dance in your hand and cut things.

*Left-Handed Only* – this is chisel-ground on one side and it’ll be hard to use cleanly in the right hand. The blade is highly polished (ridiculously polished, really) on the cutting edge and the other surfaces are left coarse-ground. I happen to think it looks very nice that way and any accusations that I did it out of laziness are fake news.

The bolster is state-of-the-art fake ivory. It’s absolutely gorgeous stuff. Some patient person figured out the right mix of colors and layering to get polyurethane resin to have a texture and internal life that looks enough like real ivory that I wouldn’t take this knife near a customs agent.

The handle is a very bright white maple with surreal patterning in it. This knife has all kinds of subtlety and sparkle to it which is very hard to photograph. Look at the slight luminousity in the fake ivory; it even transmits light like the real stuff. But no elephants were hurt to make this knife.

The blade is W-2 tool steel; it’s not fancy damascus, it’s mono-steel but it’s hammer-forged into shape. Look at that temper line! The hamon is very crisp and elegant.

Specs:  Overall length is 13″ (330mm) blade is 7.5″ (190mm), W-2 tool steel, fake ivory and white maple. The blade shape is a tip-swept rakish curve – what I call a “pwning knife” with a very thick tang and a long, narrow handle.

This one’s special. I was so happy when I finished it that I took a week off, because I don’t want to compete with myself when I know I’m going to lose. Don’t ask me if I can make another of these – I seriously wonder if I can.

Did I mention that this is Left-Handed Only?

Rules:

You can bid in the comments, or bid by emailing me [link]. If you email, I will assume that you wish to remain anonymous and will post a comment in the bidding section that reads: “Anonymous bid in the amount of $___”

Whoever bids the most for the commission wins it for $1 more than the second highest bidder bid. For example, if I bid $75 and Joe bids $5 and I’m the highest bidder, that makes Joe the second highest bidder, and I win the thing for $6. This is a variation of the Ebay bidding algorithm and, while it is less effective at milking money from the bidders, it discourages people from feeling that they need to log in at the last minute and try to bid over someone else. At the time when bidding closes, whichever bid is the highest, whether it’s email or a comment, wins.

The winner is expected to donate the agreed-upon amount to the defense fund and send me suitable proof (a screenshot or whatever) and give me a shipping address, at which point I’ll box it up and send it along!

Since we don’t have an automated bidding system like Ebay, I’d like to discourage “auction sniping.” If you want the thing, bid what you’re willing to pay for it and just see what happens. If you simply must have it, bid $1million for it and if the second highest bidder bids $50, it’s yours for $51.

If you do not win, you owe nothing!

AUCTION CLOSES Dec 7, AT 10:00AM EST

My comment settings require manual approval for the first comment from a person. If you comment and don’t see it, I’ll get it, fear not. If you email me and do not get an acknowledgement, and you are gmail user, check your spam box. Google’s spam algorithms don’t like me for reasons I have never cared to figure out.