This is a very light and agile blade, best suited for prepping smaller quantities and is the size of knife my wife and I use the most in our kitchen.
The 5” blade is comprised with several hundred layers of modern scrap sawmill bandsaw steel mixed with antique sawmill buzzsaw steel, manipulated through several forge-welding operations into a heavily forged “feather damascus” pattern.  
The resulting billet of steel is carefully hand-forged to shape and heat treated to 62 Rockwell hardness with a 5 step process to maximize the balance between hardness (edge retention), and toughness (flexible and resistance to chipping).
It was then ground with a very thin “S” curve cross section (large hollow ground primary bevel, small convex secondary bevel) for low friction slicing and quick food release from the blade.  Hand sanded to 400 grit and etched to bring out the pattern and help prevent rust.
The 4 1/2” handle is carved with a tapered octagonal cross section for comfort, indexing, and versatility in mind.  The wood came from heirloom old-growth bird’s-eye maple from West Virginia, passed down through my family, and chosen to compliment the feather damascus.  It is treated with Danish Oil.  
*****Made from high carbon steel which requires special care (hand wash AND hand dry immediately after use) in order to prevent it from rusting. (NEVER PUT IT IN A DISH WASHER) 
Natural wood requires an occasional coat of oil to help preserve it.