Rock and Roll
A Typhoon 
by
Dennis Greenbaum




"Wait a minute," you might protest, "That blade doesn't look anything
like the blade in the kit!"  And you're right.  Dennis Greenbaum began 
by replacing the hum-drum standard blade of brushed AUS8 steel with 
something special:  a very original design, which had been "floating around"  
in his head for some time.  He used stainless steel Damascus from famous 
Damascus maker/artist Mike Norris.  The pattern is called "Modified 
Snakeskin."   And believe it or not, this is "officially" the first time that 
Dennis has made his own blade!  He tells me that he only made and 
discarded about two dozen "practice blades" of cheap weld steel, in 
preparation for the one you see here.  

The careful grinding and meticulous carving of the unique blade began 
with weeks of practice grinding, and hours of design and redesign.  
This included planning for the proper positioning of the two pivot holes 
and two stop pin holes so that the "wings" would hit just right 
whether opened or closed. Along the way, Dennis inadvertently 
created a $100 "scrap" piece of Damascus, when one of the 
four drilled holes was found to be off by a few thousandths.


    






When we talked about the making of this balisong, Dennis told me, 
"Drilling those 4 holes precisely was the toughest part of the knife
 for me,...I doubt if most guys have any idea of just how perfect the 
stop pins on a balisong need to be in relationship to the pivot pins.  
Any more than a slight deviation, and the blade will sit askew of the 
handle."

In all, this knife took Dennis over 140 hours of work, not including the 
many hours spent on practice.  

The carved wings on the tang are incredible in their detail and 
make excellent use of the Damascus steel's pattern.  You can also see 
the eight musical notes individually carved out of 416 stainless steel, 
and then carefully inlaid, all at the same angle, between small pieces 
of presentation grade snakewood.  Snakewood is one of the most
beautiful of exotic woods, and also one of the most difficult to work with. 

Dennis calls this knife, "The Rock 'n Roll Typhoon."  

The musical theme was  inspired  by Dennis's next-door neighbor, 
who happens to be the road manager  for "Hall and Oates."