Originally from Indonesia, the karambit is a handheld knife whose design is said to be insired by the cat’s claw. The karambit features in the popular computer game Counter Strike. I made this cosplay karambit knife for #1Son. The blade is made from black acrylic sheet and the handles from 6mm plywood. The parts are cut out on a CNC laser cutter.
Template files are available to download at the top of the page.
First published on www.robives.com

Step 1:

Viewed through the tinted window of the HPC3050 laser cutter, the handles of the karambit are ready to pop out of the 6m plywood sheet.

Step 2:

The blade is cut from 3mm thick black acrylic. I purchased the cross dowel nuts & bolts from Screw Fix in the UK. They are both M6 x 12 size. Parts numbers in the Screwfix catalogue (UK) Bolts 88785. Nuts 83501.

Step 3:

As the knife is for cosplay not for actually killing people, I have not sharpened the blade, that said, I did put a small chamfer on it with a half round file, purely for looks.

Step 4:

A couple of coats of woodstain seals the handle pieces. Paper clips and a roll of kitchen paper make an excellent stand for hanging the handles out to dry. Give them a few hours to dry completely.