Dallas, Texas. October 2018. Cody Sharp, a Sous Chef for Wheelhouse is the first Texas based chef that I've done work for since moving back in June, but this Black Mamba as one of his cooks has nicknamed it, was ready for a custom handle to reflect its image.
Cody has owned the knife for about 3 years. "I bought it because I was really fascinated by the AS steel and have several other high carbon knives. I pretty much instantly fell in love with it. It’s a knife that if I had to grab one thing for an event or dinner, that’s what I take. It’s my daily driver, I’ve bought other knives since then, but I always come back to mamba.", says Cody.
"I started considering doing a custom handle for it and spent a lot of time researching custom makers, talked to several guys, and at the end of the day I felt like you saw my vision as if it were your own.", says Cody.
So we got to talking, and after learning about his family's love for New Orleans, it just made sense to Mardi this one out! Cody definitely wanted some polished brass accents layered in with green and purple. It needed that magic and that's exactly what I was after!
Handle materials include: polished brass stack with yellow fiberboard atop a violet bird's eye maple ferrule, stacked brass and more yellow fiberboard, reconstituted malachite, a pearlescent pink and purple maple burl hybrid body, a lil bit more yellow fiberboard, some yellow dyed flame birch, and a polished brass end cap. Phew!!!
Saya materials include: Cherry.
"Kind of flashy, but still fun. It’s exactly what I wanted, and the saya just rounds everything out. I also wanted to support a TX based artisan. I work with a lot of local farms and ranchers, so it just made sense." - Cody Sharp