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

The Winning Bid is $86!

Blade: 7 1/2″, Handle: 6 1/2″

These are letter openers not “daggers”. No, seriously, a combat knife needs a much thicker blade/tang to withstand the weight of a body. Also, did you know that making a “dagger” in Pennsylvania is a felony, if they choose to prosecute you for it? (i.e: if you’re already in prison or you’re not white) It’s plenty sharp and fun to sharpen – it’ll whip through an envelope or take tape off a box like nobody’s business. I am sure you could poke an eye out with it, so be careful.

This blade is made of low-layer-count 1095 and 15N20 twist damascus, with a handle of bog oak and synthetic ivory.

There are some flaws on the blade – a few spots on the center-line where there is forge scale that I couldn’t grind out without thinning the thing too much. Diamond grind/dagger grind is a tricky grind to perform and unless you’re using a CNC machine or a jig, there will be slight irregularities. In this case, there are a few traces of faceting on the sides of the blade, from there I flattened the planes. There are also a few scratches in the steel that I did not polish out because doing so would have ruined the bevels. It is what it is.

Rules: [NOTE CHANGE IN RULES]

I have switched to including a “reserve price” in my auctions. That means, that bidding starts at the reserve price. I will try to keep it reasonably low, but my old auction system had a flaw in which someone could stomp a high bid and win the item for $1. Thank you all, collectively, for not exploiting that.

Bidding starts at: $50

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 letter opener 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 $50 – the bidding start price. 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 Monday, June 29 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.