Handmade Karambit Balisong Butterfly Knife | High Polished High Carbon Steel | Rose Wood Handle with Brass Bolsters and Leather Sheath BF-174

The BF-174 is a karambit balisong in high carbon steel, mirror polished, with rose wood panels and brass bolsters, $225. The finish is the expensive part of this knife and it is worth explaining why.

Why a curved blade is harder to polish

On a flat blade you can back the abrasive with something rigid and take the whole surface down evenly. Every pass covers the same ground and the scratch pattern stays uniform.

A karambit belly has no flat anywhere. The surface changes angle continuously from the ricasso to the tip, so a rigid backing rides high on the outside of the curve and never touches the inside. The abrasive has to be flexible enough to follow the shape and firm enough not to round off the grind lines.

Get it wrong and you can see it immediately: the polish is bright at the spine and dull in the hollow, or the grind line wanders. There is no way to hide either.

What that means for you

Practically, that the reflection stays continuous as you turn the knife. Run your eye along the belly and the highlight should sweep smoothly rather than breaking into patches. That is the test we use before a knife leaves, and it is a fair test to apply to anyone’s polished karambit.

Rose wood on a knife you hold through a ring

A ring changes how a handle is gripped. Your index finger is anchored, so the rest of the hand is doing less work than it would on a straight knife, and the handle mostly needs to not rotate and not get slippery.

Rose wood is well suited to that. It is dense and naturally oily, so it keeps a soft grip even when damp, and its close grain means it does not swell and shrink much with the weather. It is also hard enough that the ring end, which takes most of the knocks, does not dent easily.

It will darken. Rose wood moves from orange brown towards a deeper red brown over years, and that happens faster where hands touch it.

Brass bolsters, and where they sit

The bolsters are at the pivot end, which is where the load is. Brass machines cleanly, holds a tight pivot fit and will not corrode into anything that seizes.

They will lose their brightness. That is oxide forming, it protects the metal, and against rose wood it looks considerably better after a year than it does new. Polish it if you disagree; it takes a minute and nothing is harmed.

Specifications for this rose wood karambit balisong

Ordering the BF-174

Sharpened, tuned and checked by hand, with a fitted leather sheath cut for this frame and a gift box. High carbon steel, so wipe it dry and store it outside the sheath.

Or take it as a trainer instead. Identical frame, identical weight, no cutting edge, and the price does not move.

Laser engraving is $29, chosen on this page. Free shipping inside the United States, flat $49 worldwide.