This knife was given to my grandfather. I love this knife. It was the first of its kind I have made. The blade is pattern welded Steel also commonly known as Damascus steel. I have been bit by the damascus bug many years ago and through many attempts of trial and error I have done it. I have had no teacher but a few books a good website and parents who put up with my banging and my mess for so long. This blade is made from Wire rope (crane cable) that has been fire welded in my Blacksmith forge into a steel bar then forged into a knife. The handle is deer bone with oak and burned and coated in olive oil (to prevent rust and give it the deep wet shine). there are leather spacers between the bone and the wood (a little trick to make things fit tighter is to put somthing that can be compressed to fill any imperfections). The pattern in the steel is due to the variations of carbon content in the steel. oxygen combines very readily with the carbon in the steel at red hot temperatures. This very quickly decreases the carbon content at the surface of each wire strand, leaving an interesting pattern when the welding is done and the steel is acid etched. Acid etches steel at differnt rates depending on carbon content, heat treatment, and alloying elements. The bright shiney areas are in between eatch strand as you can see on the knife these areas are almost pure iron (if all the carbon is burned out of steel it becomes just iron, and no longer steel). I went to sell this knife but I couldn't part with it. I knew there was a greater purpose for it, as it was the first of its kind I had made. So I gave this knife to my grandfather. I knew he could appreciate all the work and frustration over the years I had done to get to where I am today, along with the blood, sweat, and tears that go into each blade. he has seen each knife I have made since I was making them from rocks I found in his garden from the time I was four years old. As far as copyrights are concerned. I made this knife for my grandfather spring 2006. the photo I took not long after its completion. and the knife currently resides in Ohio with my Grandparents.