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For Sale - Martell 270mm CPM154 Gyuto

Discussion in 'JapaneseKnifeSharpening / Dave Martell Knives' started by Dave Martell, Jun 26, 2017.

  1. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Stats

    Length - 270mm

    Height (at heel) - 60mm (ish)

    Steel - CPM-154 (Crucible Particle Metallurgy aka stainless powdered steel)

    Hardness - Rc61-62

    Handle Style - Yo (hidden tang western)

    Handle Materials - Metal (copper) bolster, premium grade Thuya burl, copper/G10 spacers, & copper/nickel silver mosaic pin



    This handle is a BIG upgrade to what I normally offer. [​IMG]

    I've maybe only made a few metal bolstered knives yet never one in copper. In fact, copper is rarely seen used as a bolster material by any maker, and for good reason - it sucks - to work with, but damn can it look special if done right. I'm currently at the point of shaping the bolster and mounting the wood, and this takes time, no rushing here. And speaking of the wood, this thuya burl was supplied by Mark at BurlSource who mentioned at the time (years ago) that this was some of the best thuya burl he'd ever seen and based on my interweb searches I've come to believe that it's a rare thing to find in this quality.

    This knife is the first example of a new level of work I plan to provide and is priced accordingly.


    *Note -This knife is not finished but it is 60% of the way there. If you're interested, and wish to buy it now, I'll discount the price by $25. If you'd prefer to wait and see what she looks like before purchasing that's OK fine by me too, just shoot me a PM and I'll put your name down for first refusal, and so on. Just please understand that should someone else wish to purchase the knife in the meantime (before it's made) I will sell it without consulting you. I'm trying to be as fair as possible, hope you can understand.



    Price - $825 (shipping included to USA / International will pay all costs over $25)



    If you're interested in purchasing this knife please contact via PM or email along with your Paypal email address (for the invoice). If international, please specify country.

    Thanks for looking!

    Dave
     
  2. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

  3. MattS

    MattS Founding Member

    Oh snap. Well done. Copper makes me happy.
     
  4. Jim

    Jim Old Curmudgeon Founding Member

  5. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

  6. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    This is easily the nicest knife that I've made to date, and likely the costliest too. I really took my time on this one and used the best materials I had. I would say that I realized 95% of what I had in my mind to achieve and I'm about 99% happy with that. [​IMG]

    The knife has a nice blade heavy feel with a beautiful shift in balance in just the right spot and nice heft. This will surely be a nice cutter.




    *Notes...

    1. The blade height is shorter than what I listed (60mm) it as coming in at 58mm. It's still a tall gyuto, just not as tall as planned.

    2. One of the pins in the bolster show in some lighting, mostly direct sunlight. I can't get this to blend like the other one so it's staying this way being nothing but cosmetic and even then not something that can be seen in most lighting. In fact I couldn't even capture it in pictures. Full disclosure and all that.

    3. The wood is a premium example of hard to acquire Moroccan Thuya Burl. I sealed it as best as I can but this wood has a lot of resins and doesn't take varnish and/or oil well. The owner will want to wax and/or oil the handle when it appears to dry. The handle has a nice cedar smell to it, very unique.

    4. The copper bolster will patina/darken over time and with use. The owner can chose to let this happen as it wishes or clean it with a metal polish (like Flitz), etc.


    So now that's all out of the way, here's the knife that's for sale..... [​IMG]


    See the Original Sales Post for purchasing details


    P1010005.JPG P1010006.JPG P1010008.JPG P1010009.JPG P1010010.JPG P1010013.JPG P1010017.JPG P1010020.JPG P1010022.JPG P1010024.JPG P1010001.JPG P1010007.JPG
     
  7. handle looks special
     
  8. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Can you see how the bolster/tang are constructed?

    [​IMG]

    The tang runs through the bolsters at full size and is then machined down to a hidden tang where the spacers and wood are paired up cleanly.

    This not only looks nice but it makes for a really sturdy feeling platform. I was surprised by this aspect, nicely surprised of course. [​IMG]
     
  9. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    I've been thinking a lot about this knife, how much I like it, what it means to me, and all that. I feel that it needs something else to make it complete....it needs a saya.


    So, let's SWEETEN the deal here, shall we?! [​IMG]



    I got in contact with Cody Paul (The Ginger Ninja Saya Master) to arrange for a custom saya to be made for this knife. [​IMG]

    In case you're not familiar with Cody, he's quickly become a master of the custom saya, making them for all sorts of high end knives to include Michael Rader's, etc. He's no slouch, and in fact, the only person I currently know of that I would trust one my knives to be sheathed by.



    Caveats:

    1. Cody is a very busy man, and to make it worse, he's going to be travelling through most of July and then moving soon after. We've figured out that I can offer to cover the cost of the saya work and that the owner of the knife can contact Cody directly to make arrangements for the work to be performed in the future. Cody is not going to be available for this work until at least August and even then this will have to be worked out between the two parties. Don't worry though, I hear he's very fast and ultra reliable, so you won't wait long once he's on the move and working.

    2. Thuya burl will be out of the question since finding this wood in the size needed, and quality, is nearly impossible so a matching saya will not happen. Redwood might be something to consider to get close in appearance but then maybe there's something else that would interest you? I've seen non-matching sayas on two Raders (done by Cody) that looked great to me, very well suited. I have no worries about Cody's ability to do a match up here or to work with you on this issue.

    3. I offer $100 towards the saya costs, I will pay Cody directly. Anything beyond that amount will have to be covered by you. Cody believes that he can make a saya for this amount and mentions he'd only ask for additional costs should you require wood that brings the costs up for him, or maybe something special ordered, etc. Shipping will be extra.




    So let's summarize....

    If you purchase this knife you will receive a free custom saya, how does that sound? [​IMG]


    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2017
  10. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Oh, I almost forgot, the saya offer ends July 4th. It's a 4th of July sale thing! [​IMG]
     
  11. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

  12. A saya from Cody sounds like a superb bonus
     
  13. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

    Yeah he kicks saya ass!
     
  14. Dave Martell

    Dave Martell Professional Craftsman Founding Member

  15. MattS

    MattS Founding Member

    Nice. Whoever purchased...you need to show it once the saya is done as well. I keep on coming back to look at that bolster. Great stiff. Should look cool with some patina too.
     

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