Precision Cut, 2021

Artist: Andrew J. Burkhardt
Materials: Structural steel, wood, leather
"The knife’s steel is recovered structural steel used on the construction of the new Proton Therapy 2 building currently under construction on South Campus. The first step was to cut, shape to approximate dimensions and heat-treat the steal. Heat treatment is a multi step process of heating and super quenching the steel to harden it to an appropriate state to maintain qualities of toughness and hardness. Then final shaping, sanding and polishing occurred. Next the steal was etched using an electrolysis method to remove material and leave my makers mark and the MD Anderson crossed out “C”. Following etching, the metal was “blued” in a hot chemical bath of sodium hydroxide and sodium nitrate, afterward receiving a final buffing and polishing. The final step was adding the red cross out the “C” using enamel paint.
The handle scales (wood part) is recovered tree bark from a giant sequoia redwood tree. The bark was recovered from a tree that had fallen and was already returning to nature. The bark was stabilized in a vacuum chamber using resin. This process allowed the resin to enter into the pours of the wood by removing the air, when heated and hardened it transformed the soft stringy wood into a hard and durable material appropriate for a knife handle. Shaping and sanding followed by sealing the wood with Cyanoacrylate Adhesive (super glue). The final steps include sanding to a 12,000 grit followed by more buffing and polishing.
The sheath is the only part not made of recovered material. After looking for year, I could not find a recovered material durable enough that would work for this application. The sheath is completely custom to the knife and hand made; I used a fold over design to give a slightly more western and rustic look to the knife and to complement its curves. The leather was first cut to size then a pattern laid out and hand tooled using punches. Next comes dying the leather dark brown, I chose that color to try to complement the handle of the knife. Holes are punched into the seams and the entire sheath is hand sown together. Following this, the sheath was wetted down and formed to the knife for a custom snug fit. Final finishing involved coloring touch-ups, smoothing out rough areas and sealing the leather with oil and bees wax."