Max Knives TIKNU4 — Impact Skull, natural titanium one-finger tool

Overview

The TIKNU4 group leaves behind the geometric outline of the first three for a figurative design: a skull, machined in titanium. The piece measures 58 mm long by 35 mm wide, with 11 mm of thickness on this natural version, and comes in at 38 g. The light grey of bare titanium, with no shade added, lets the modelled volumes show rather than covering them over. A tungsten carbide glass-breaker tip completes the whole. It is the heaviest and most sculpted reference in the series.

A skull machined in titanium

Going from a geometric outline to a skull changes the whole machining job: it is no longer a matter of cutting a silhouette, but of hollowing eye sockets, marking a brow and freeing a jaw in a material known to be awkward to work. Those features carry on as hollows and rises that give the finger purchase where a smooth plate offers none. The skull motif has belonged to the vocabulary of cutlery for a long time; in 11 mm of solid titanium it becomes a display object as much as a pocket one.

Technical specifications

One-finger impact tool in titanium, natural finish, machined in the shape of a skull. Length 58 mm, width 35 mm, thickness 11 mm. Weight: 38 g. The nose carries a tungsten carbide glass-breaker point. The two other Impact Skull finishes, the anodised TIKNU4+ and the crazy anodised TIKNU4+C, carry the same design at 12 mm thick.

Care

The hollows of the modelling hold dust more than a flat surface does: a soft brush, of the toothbrush kind, is enough to clear them before the cloth goes over. A little warm soapy water deals with marks in the eye sockets, and drying must be thorough, inside corners included. Natural titanium asks for nothing else, no oil and no varnish, and the carbide tip dries along with the body.

Legal notice. Impact tools are restricted or prohibited in a number of countries and are frequently refused in aircraft cabin baggage. Check the law that applies where the order is delivered before purchasing.