Cool Customs: Pat Antuzzi's Hand-Knapped Fixed Blade

Cool Customs: Pat Antuzzi’s Hand-Knapped Fixed Blade

BLADE Staff

January 30, 2025

Cool Customs: Pat Antuzzi’s Hand-Knapped Fixed Blade — On a blade knapped correctly, you’re going to see the obsidian with one flake removal after the other, just like the ancients did it. Pat said the Mexican gold obsidian, aka royal Mexican obsidian and/or gold sheen obsidian, is known for its—you guessed it—brilliant gold sheen. Used during Roman times, the Portoro marble for the handle is a beautiful black with “lightning bolts” of a gold color running through it. Pat bought the marble at auction. (SharpByCoop knife image)

When it comes to crafting a knife, Pat Antuzzi works one flake at a time.

“What I do is go back to the Stone Age,” Pat Antuzzi says of his knapped obsidian knives. He has been knapping blades for almost a quarter century.

In that time he has found the best of the best obsidian to be the royal Mexican variety from the state of Jalisco in Mexico, a variety that’s basically been mined out. He used the material for the blade of his straight-edged fixed blade, as well as Portoro marble from Italy for the handle. But it’s the royal Mexican obsidian itself and how it’s knapped that are the keys.

“Every indentation you see on the blade is one flake removal from [the obsidian], and if it’s done right, you’re going to see it one flake after the other, just like the ancients would’ve done it,” he explained. “It’s wicked sharp.”

Hand-Knapped Fixed Blade Specs
Maker: Pat Antuzzi
Blade length: Not quite 5”
Blade material: Mexican gold obsidian volcanic glass from Jalisco, Mexico
Handle material: Portoro marble from Italy
Overall length: 9.5”
Maker’s price for a similar knife: N/A

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