Hypercut Dharma Hornets Nest Damascus, Serial No. 0010 From CANCON 2025
This Hypercut Dharma Damascus is Serial No. 0010, a button lock automatic that Hypercut Manufacturing built in October 2025. It was a CANCON 2025 exclusive, and we bought it new at the show. Standard production Dharmas carry a CPM-S45VN blade. This one, however, carries a hand-forged Mike Norris Hornets Nest Damascus tanto and Black Timascus inlays on both faces.
Its serial is also a low one. We previously listed the Hypercut Dharma Prototype 3 of 4, one of the four prototypes built before production. Together, the two show the platform from development to its full-dress form.
Hypercut Manufacturing and Dylan Davis
Dylan Davis founded Hypercut Manufacturing in Hendersonville, in Western North Carolina. He came to knives as a master machinist, with a background in aerospace-grade machining. Before Hypercut, he also did OEM manufacturing for Paragon Knives, the Asheville Steel company.
Davis started Hypercut because the good-enough tolerances of mass-production knives did not satisfy him. So every component, from the pivots to the frames, is machined in-house to micro-tolerances. Production stays in the United States, and the plate in this case reads Made in USA by Hypercut Manufacturing.
The Dharma is Hypercut’s flagship button lock platform. It comes as an out-the-side automatic or as a manual with dual thumb studs, both with a 3.2 inch blade. Above it, the Bikkhu represents the highest tier of Hypercut’s machining, as our Hypercut Bikkhu, Serial No. 0066 shows. Meanwhile, the Cretin is a streamlined pocket EDC. The Oracle, a collaboration with Paragon, brings Paragon’s gravity mechanism to a replaceable-blade razor.
That precision has also earned Hypercut collaborative builds with Sean Marfione of Microtech Knives. For Sean’s own hand work, see the Borka Blades x Marfione Custom SBT, which he hand ground.
The Mike Norris Hornets Nest Damascus Tanto
Mike Norris forged the steel, and Hornets Nest is his name for the pattern. He hand-forges the billets from 19C27 Swedish stainless and 302 stainless, with D2 stacked intermittently through the core. Once etched, the layers form a high-contrast, topographic pattern that runs the full length of the blade.
Norris is one of the named Damascus forges collectors look for. Together with the Black Timascus, his steel is what separates this Hypercut Dharma Damascus from a production example. Hypercut uses exotic materials like these on its custom-tier builds: Mike Norris Damascus, Baker Forge steels, Zirconium hardware, Fat Carbon and Timascus.
The blade itself is a 3.2 inch tanto with a 3 inch cutting edge, and it is 0.156 inch thick. A straight main edge meets a curved tip edge at a distinct secondary point. Along the spine, a milled fuller carries a row of seven through-holes that reduce weight. The spine above it also carries milled jimping.
How the Hypercut Dharma Damascus Fires and Closes
The Dharma is a single action, out-the-side automatic built around a button lock. First, press the textured button on the show side, and the blade fires open. Then the lock’s internal piston drops into place and holds the blade open. On this knife, the lock engages with no play.
To close it, press the button again and fold the blade in by hand. Inside, the blade turns on Skiff bronze-cage ceramic bearings. Meanwhile, a Zirconium pivot with a T15 Torx drive holds the assembly, and Hypercut includes a T15 bit in the case for tuning it.
Black Timascus, Titanium and Zirconium
The frame is thick, matte Titanium. Black Timascus inlays fill both the presentation side and the clip side, and their grain runs blue, silver and black. Patrick Famin paired the same material with Zirconium on his G.O.T.F. Mini with Black Timascus.
Along the spine, a Titanium backspacer anodized blue closes the handle. Its extensive jimping gives the thumb traction in a reverse grip. The milled Titanium pocket clip sits on the clip side, while Hypercut’s HC logo is engraved beside the pivot.
Condition and What Is Included With This Hypercut Dharma Damascus
This Hypercut Dharma Damascus is new. It fires crisply, and the lock engages with no play. We bought it at CANCON 2025, and you can read how we record a knife’s provenance.
It ships in Hypercut’s 3D-printed hard case. The Certificate of Authenticity is a plate set into the lid, while the base holds the knife and the T15 bit.
- Hypercut Manufacturing Dharma, Serial No. 0010
- Hypercut 3D-printed hard case with a cradle cut to the knife
- Certificate of Authenticity (COA) plate in the case lid, listing the blade, frame, inlay, spacer, pivot, clip and serial number
- T15 Torx bit for the pivot
- Cleaning cloth
Hypercut Dharma Damascus Specifications
The materials and the serial number come from the Certificate of Authenticity plate in the case lid. Compare it with the rest of our automatic knives.
- Maker: Hypercut Manufacturing, Hendersonville, North Carolina
- Designer: Dylan Davis
- Model: Dharma, custom configuration
- Serial number: 0010
- Date made: October 2025
- Provenance: CANCON 2025 exclusive, bought new at the show
- Country of origin: USA
- Overall length: 7.3 in
- Blade length: 3.2 in
- Cutting edge: 3 in
- Closed length: 4.4 in
- Blade thickness: 0.156 in
- Weight: 3.6 oz
- Blade steel: Mike Norris Hornets Nest Damascus, hand-forged from 19C27 and 302 stainless with intermittently stacked D2
- Blade profile: Tanto with a milled fuller and seven through-holes
- Edge: Plain
- Action: Single action, out-the-side automatic
- Lock: Button lock
- Deployment: Push button on the show side
- Pivot: Zirconium, T15 Torx drive
- Bearings: Skiff bronze-cage ceramic bearings
- Frame: Titanium, matte finish
- Inlays: Black Timascus, presentation side and clip side
- Backspacer: Titanium, anodized blue, with extensive jimping
- Pocket clip: Milled Titanium
- Condition: New, fires crisply, no blade play
- SKU: 00233-HYP-DHARMA-0010-HORNETSNEST-20251001
- Included: Hypercut 3D-printed hard case with COA plate, T15 Torx bit, cleaning cloth
Video Description: A Dharma Unlike Anyother
This is the Hypercut Manufacturing Dharma, Serial No. 0010, a CANCON 2025 exclusive in new condition. It is a single action, out-the-side automatic with a button lock. The 3.2 inch tanto is hand-forged Mike Norris Hornets Nest Damascus, with a milled fuller and seven through-holes. The matte Titanium frame carries Black Timascus inlays on both sides.
The blade turns on Skiff bronze-cage ceramic bearings around a Zirconium pivot with a T15 Torx drive. A blue anodized Titanium backspacer carries extensive jimping, and the clip is milled Titanium. Overall length is 7.3 inches, closed length is 4.4 inches, and it weighs 3.6 ounces. It ships in Hypercut’s 3D-printed case with the COA plate, a T15 bit and a cleaning cloth.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Hypercut Dharma Damascus button lock work?
A button lock uses an internal piston connected to the button on the handle. On this single action automatic, pressing the button fires the blade, and the piston then drops in to lock it open. To close it, press the button again and fold the blade in by hand.
What is Mike Norris Hornets Nest Damascus?
It is a stainless Damascus pattern forged by Mike Norris. His billets combine 19C27 Swedish stainless and 302 stainless, with D2 stacked intermittently through the core. Once etched, those layers form the high-contrast, topographic Hornets Nest pattern you see on this blade.
Is Damascus a good knife steel?
Damascus is only as good as the steels inside it and the heat treatment behind it. Here, 19C27 is a hardenable Swedish stainless, and D2 is a wear-resistant tool steel. The 302 stainless layers, by contrast, stay bright after etching, so they give the pattern its contrast.
How is this Hypercut Dharma Damascus different from a standard Dharma?
A standard production Dharma carries a CPM-S45VN blade in a Titanium frame. Serial No. 0010, by contrast, is a custom configuration of the same platform, built as a CANCON 2025 exclusive. It adds the Mike Norris Hornets Nest Damascus blade and the Black Timascus inlays, and its serial number is a low one.
Where did this Hypercut Dharma come from?
We bought it new at CANCON 2025, where Hypercut offered it as a show exclusive. Hypercut built it in October 2025. It ships complete with its 3D-printed case, the COA plate, the T15 bit and a cleaning cloth.
Is a button lock automatic legal to own?
It depends on where you live. Laws on automatic knives vary by state, county and city, so check your own before ordering. The Automatic Knife Legal Notice at the end of this listing points to current state-by-state information.
Does We Buy Knife Collections actively support the broader knife enthusiast community?
Yes. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, We Buy Knife Collections is a curator and purveyor of fine custom made folding and fixed-blade knives. We are dedicated to the high-end custom knife community and we support knife rights advocacy.
Following our commitment upgrade in April 2026, we are proud to hold an AKTI Premier Membership, supporting the American Knife & Tool Institute’s vital advocacy and lobbying for knife owners, makers, and the future of the industry.
Buy This Hypercut Dharma Damascus
We inspected this Hypercut Dharma Damascus and described it as it is: new, Serial No. 0010, complete with its case and COA plate. See more of Dylan Davis’s work on our Hypercut Manufacturing page. If you are refining a collection of your own, we also buy knife collections.
Automatic Knife Legal Notice
This is an automatic knife. Laws governing purchase, possession, and carry vary by state, county, and municipality.
The buyer must know and follow the laws that apply where they live before ordering. We do not give legal advice. For current state-by-state information, consult the American Knife and Tool Institute.
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