BLADE Magazine

Cool Custom: One-Armed Alaska Ulu

BLADE Staff
Custom Ulu

Josh Wisor had never made an ulu before, so he found out his customer’s needs and searched the Internet for various examples of ulus to arrive at his design. The 41-year-old has been making knives part time almost five years and earned his ABS journeyman smith stamp at BLADE Show 2022. He plans to go for his master smith stamp as soon as he’s eligible, which should be sometime in 2024. (Jocelyn Frasier knife image edit)

Josh Wisor makes a special knife for a special customer.

If you think Josh Wisor’s Alaska Ulu looks a bit different, that’s because it is—Josh built it for a customer who lost an arm and suffered nerve damage to the other as a result of a farming accident.

Josh made the ulu open-ended so the customer can more easily grip the handle and thus use it more easily as well with the hand of his nerve-damaged arm. The customer uses the knife for food prep and even on deer in hunting camp.

Josh’s customer demonstrates how the Alaska ulu’s open-ended design enables him to easily grip the handle.

A big fan of damascus, the customer wanted a pattern-welded blade, so Josh accommodated him with one of 1084 carbon and 15N20 nickel-alloy steels heat treated to a Rockwell hardness of 60-61 HRC. In other words, it is equipped to do some serious cutting.

The result is a noteworthy using knife for a more-than-satisfied customer.

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