Anaguma No Iori

The Sabatier Required a Scabbard

Large handmade Sabatier-style knife with patterned steel blade and black-and-white handle

I was requested to make a “machete.”

So I started with a length of 1095 high-carbon cable, consolidated it, and put three folds into the billet. Then I started shaping it. As I proceeded, it got longer and wider—which is good for a machete—and took a nice distal taper.

But it looked for all the world like a giant Sabatier chef’s knife.

So I leaned into the design the fates had given me and made the handle to match the overall style of a post-apocalyptic chef’s knife.

Except no chef’s knife has a quarter-inch-thick spine.

Large handmade Sabatier-style knife with patterned steel blade and black-and-white handle
A chef’s knife which appears to have made certain preparations.

For the scabbard, I solvent-welded ABS plastic, reinforced it with wraps of steel wire, and added leather accessory holders, buckles, and post-apocalyptic bling.

Large Sabatier-style knife secured in a black post-apocalyptic scabbard on a leatherworking bench
The completed scabbard. Subtlety was considered and rejected.
Close view of the layered patterned steel finish on the Sabatier-style knife blade
The blade finish, close enough to show the layered activity in the steel.
STATUS: COMPLETE
CLASSIFICATION: CHEF’S KNIFE / MACHETE / QUESTIONABLE

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