[Kenney]

I have a "Damascus 5" assisted folding fighting knife", god that's a mouth full, in the works right now and was wondering If anyone had any ideas for making it an eye catcher. The blade is Damascus and the handle is matte stainless steel. I want the blade to be aggressive and the handle to be rather tame by comparison. Question is how to do that. Thanks in advanced.

[W. C. Quantrill]

I would use heat anodized titanium for the handle.

[Kenney]

I'm not sure my guy could do that, but I'll talk to him about it. Any thoughts for the blade?

[Ploofy]

A folder, eh? So it has to be one sided? Do you want it to be modern or traditional? Any cultures you want more than others? Function or appearance? Also, what shape is the handle?

[Kenney]

Originally Posted by Ploofy

A folder, eh? So it has to be one sided? Do you want it to be modern or traditional? Any cultures you want more than others? Function or appearance? Also, what shape is the handle?

It's based directly off the Spartans blades Ares, which is a drop point recurve hybrid type. It's definitely modern, all metal (maybe g10). I want appearance as long is it doesn't get in the way of practical, but I'd like too keep it relatively simplistic. I'd like to change the spine of the blade a bit, and was thinking of getting it fluted. As for the handle, any suggestions?

[Ploofy]

I got this. First of all, I'd recommend checking out Mr. Richard Derespina's knives. He's a forum member, and has several advanced designs, both architecturally and ergonomically. Mr. Arpad Bojtos has several knife designs with the same basic blade shape that you already have, but the beauty of most of his knives comes from the etchings and blood channels in his knives, as well as the theme of the handle, but a simplified version of his blade would have it's own appeal. I'd recommend mimicing his "The Unicorn", minus the etchings. Jose de Braga's "The Elder" is rather minimalistic on the blade in the way of etchings, but has a shape that could transfer to a folder pretty easily with what I think would be attractive results. John L. Jenson's "Strata Dragon" also has a pretty amazing blade shape, and would be just as impressive minus the adornments on it. As far as the handle goes, a design like Celtic Knotwork would be pretty attractive combined with your Damascus steel so that they both almost mimic each other while having two very different shapes in their designs. Past that, I'm not sure what could be done with a folder/fighting knife. If none of these work for you, give a little more clue to what you'd like and I'll do my best.

[Kenney]

These three are my favorites. The guy I was talking to unfortunately had to shut his doors, and most everyone else doesn't want to go through the the trouble of making a 5" assisted... so I'm figuring I might just go for a fixed blade with the same materials and a few upgrades. I got a $1000 spending limit, so If you can suggest anyone who can make a knife that can go through hell and back it'd be greatly appreciated. The handle can be relatively plane, in fact I'm still thinking about using brown g10 in place of matte titanium, but the blade has to be pretty unique and nice in shape without the use of etching or any kind of picture (this is a fighting knife and will see all kinds of abuse). The recurve style is a must as far as I'm concerned, but the almost cliche combat knife look of the silver one is really appealing. Does this help any?

[Ploofy]

I do believe it's time for you to find Mr. Derespina. You've described his niche and he's well within your price range. His website appears to be down right now, and I haven't seen him on the forum in a while so I don't know if he's still working or not, but if he is, he's your man. Especially since you were asking about karambits in a different thread.

http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/f32/knife-pic-thread-39441/index17.html#post570577

Some of his works. Do a Google image search for "Derespina Knives" and you'll find some more. His Falzenhorn (I probably misspelled that) is the best folding fighter design I've ever seen, so I would definitely find a way to contact him if you can.

[Kenney]

His blades seem incredibly aggressive. I sent a pm. Hopefully he'll get back to me soon. I certainly hope he won't have a problem doing something as tame as what I'm looking for.

[Ploofy]

I don't know if he still gets on here, so ask around. He does a lot of combat knives, some simpler ones too. His site is still down, so I don't know if he's still working or what.