Sal Manaro Dlx. XL Bullseye - Blade Stock by Chad Nichols

From Sal's Table at the 2010 Tactical Invitational Knife Show.

Every part of this knife is exceptional...

• The Quality, Color, and Size or the Pre-ban Elephant Ivory is magnificent! the fluting is functional, but more so highlights both the Ivory and Sal's remarkable abilities
• The beautiful Chad Nichols Mosaic Bolsters
• Sal Hollow-ground the Mosaic Pen-Type Pocket Clip out of a single bar

But the most exceptional part of the knife is the blade--created by 2 masters

1. Chad Nichols first sandwiched a .025" thick piece of Stellite between 2 bars of his San Mai Stainless Damascus. The process involved extreme heat and extreme pressure and extreme care...the art being able to control the heat and apply the pressure so that the Stellite runs straight down the length of the stock (it naturally wants to wander.) When finished Chad had created an incredible .220 thick (almost 1/4") bar with the Stellite core running incredibly true to center.
2. Over the next year or so Sal Manaro meticulously removed about .050" from each side of the blade stock. Again exceptional care and abilities were required to assure that the Stellite Core remained centered. Lot's of time and lot's of belts--it became his personal challenge.  

Chad's and Sal's exceptional efforts can be seen in the finished knife. Of course it is 1000-times better in person, but I hope my pics show a little bit of what when into making his work of art and craftsmanship.