Timur

The pchak (from the Uzbek word pichoq – knife) is a traditional knife of the Uzbeks and Uyghurs, widespread with minor differences in detail throughout Central Asia. Pchaks traditionally feature a single-edged, full flat ground blade set into a narrow handle with a round cross-section. The narrow tang extends from the blade flush with the spine. These are utility knives meant for kitchen work, though among the Uyghurs, the pchak was a symbol of manhood, so it must have also been used as a weapon. Pchaks were made from various materials; for the wealthy, they were richly decorated knives made of the highest quality steel, and that is exactly the kind of piece we are dealing with here. Timur belongs to the type known as kayke – the tip of the knife is upswept above the spine line. The blade was made of locally produced Damascus steel, rather than ordered from Russia. Uzbek Damascus steels are hardened to a lower Rockwell rating than Russian ones, but they are by no means inferior in terms of aesthetics. The steel billet includes R260 steel (or its local analogue), high-carbon tool steel, and nickel (the silver lines on the blade). It might seem strange that I do not specify a concrete steel grade here, but this is a normal situation for knife making in Central Asia. The local blade masters - blacksmiths specializing in knife blades - do not refer to steel by specific grade names. Instead, they say: "railway track plus handsaw". The handle, apart from the decorative gülband (the bolster characteristic of pchaks, here adorned with mother-of-pearl), is made entirely of a super-expensive material: stabilized mammoth tooth. The leather sheath features a shape traditional for knives from this region, complete with a decorative embossed pattern.

Overall length: 290 mm
Blade length: 167 mm
Blade width (max.): 36 mm
Blade thickness (max.): 4 mm