Dmitry Malakhov

Silver Leaf

In private collection

Owner's feedback:

The knife I received (The Silver Leaf) from Mr. Malakhov was originally interesting to me from, I'll admit, a mostly aesthetic point of view. I could tell from the photos on the website that it was extremely well finished and beautiful, but I couldn't appreciate just how functional that beauty was until I actually had it in hand. There is no "wasted space" anywhere on this tool. The grip shape is a natural extension of the overall lines of the knife and seems inevitable just like a piece of a sculpture or painting, but then also--almost casually--is extremely ergonomic and naturally indexes in your hand so as to be ready to work. You pick it up and it just feels "right" like a classic firearm or your great-grandfather's handsaw--back when they understood ergonomics far better than we do now, even though they didn't have a word for it. The same built-for-function idea was used for the rest of the knife as well; from the steel choice, to the distal taper and full-flat ground blade geometry, and soldered blade/guard juncture. In use, it is a very solid-feeling tool and seems overbuilt, but at the same time is very well balanced and never clumsy. And yes, it cuts very, very well. The sheath, too, is superbly crafted and beautiful, and keeps the knife very securely in place. My overall feeling on this knife is that it exceeded my expectations in every way, and those weren't low to begin with. Good as they are, the pictures don't do justice to this man's work. I have owned and used many custom knives over the years, and while most have been extremely well crafted pieces, there are a very select few that I would call heirloom quality, and this certainly ranks among them.

Warren Higgins

This knife has:

6-1/2" long blade made from 1/4" thick piece of A2 tool steel hardened and tempered to 58HRC.

5" Black Walnut handle.

Engraved nickel-silver bolster and engraved nickel-silver pommel piece

The sheath is made form the same piece of Black Walnut and has the nickel-silver throat and tip.

Designs on the blade, bolster, pommel piece and sheath components are hand drawn and engraved.

It has simple leather harness to carry the knife on a belt (not shown).

This knife is One-Of-A-Kind hand made piece and I guarantee that no copies will be made.

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