Marfione Custom Sigil: The 2015 Munroe Collaboration
The Marfione Custom Sigil is Deryk Munroe’s design built in Tony Marfione’s shop. The certificate dates it to September 2015. The frame is 3D milled carbon fiber, the hardware is Trillium copper, and the blade is hand-rubbed satin Elmax. It weighs 3 ounces. Condition is excellent, with no visible wear and no flaws.
Three ounces is the number that surprises people. An eight inch folder with a titanium lockbar and copper hardware should not be that light. The carbon fiber frame is why it is.
Eleven years have passed and this one shows none of them. Our guide on how to choose a custom knife covers what separates a custom shop piece from a production run.
Anthony Marfione and Deryk Munroe
The certificate names both men as makers, and that is the right way to read this knife. Munroe has been building since 1984, and the Sigil is his pattern. Marfione founded Microtech in 1994 and runs the custom shop under his own name.
The division of work shows in the knife. The blade geometry, the slot opener and the handle shape are Munroe. The triangle fasteners, the copper hardware and the clip are Marfione house signatures. See the rest of the shop’s work on the Marfione Custom Knives brand page.
The Sub-Frame Lock Microtech No Longer Makes
This is a frame lock, but not the usual kind. A full frame lock needs a metal handle slab to act as the lock. Carbon fiber cannot do that job.
The sub-frame lock solves it. A titanium lockbar sits inset into the carbon fiber frame. The lock gets titanium strength and the handle stays light. Microtech’s own model history describes the mechanism and records that they later phased it out.
That matters for a 2015 knife. The lock on this Sigil is one the company stopped building. Two more details ride with it. The lockface carries a hardened steel insert, so titanium never rubs directly on the blade tang. A copper overtravel plate stops you bending the lockbar too far out. See the rest of our folding knives for comparable lock work.
Trillium Copper, and Why Knife Hardware Is Never Pure Copper
Trillium copper is Marfione’s name for the copper used across the custom shop. It turns up on the Star Lord, the Matrix, the Combat Troodon and the Siphon pens. On this knife it is the fasteners, the pivot and the backspacer.
Collectors understand it as a free-machining copper, the tellurium copper family the custom trade relies on. Pure copper is unusable for this work. It is gummy under a cutting tool and it clogs the cutter. It is also far too soft to hold a fine thread.
Adding tellurium changes that. The chips break short and clean instead of stringing, which lets a lathe cut fine detail without tearing. The alloy is harder and stronger in tension, so a threaded fastener takes assembly torque without stripping or shearing.
It still behaves like copper where you want it to. It oxidises. Over months in the hand it moves from bright salmon toward brown and bronze. The pattern it takes is particular to the person carrying it. Compare it against the Marfione Jungle Wear Fat Carbon Socom Elite Warcom, another carbon fiber folder from the same shop.
Marfione Custom Sigil Blade, Deployment and Clip
The blade is Elmax, hollow ground to a wharncliffe and finished hand-rubbed satin. Hand-rubbed is not the same as machine satin. The lines run with the grind and the surface has a depth a belt cannot give it.
A wharncliffe puts the edge on a straight line and drops the spine to meet it at the tip. That geometry gives a fine point and full edge contact when you cut on a flat surface. Blade length is 3.5 inches with 3.40 inches of cutting edge, at 0.16 inches thick.
It opens two ways. There is a flipper tab, and there is a long slot cut through the blade that works as a hole opener. Munroe’s slot is part of why the knife is recognisable at a glance.
The pocket clip is recessed and levered. Push up on the top of it and the bottom lifts away from the frame. It sits flush the rest of the time, so there is no hot spot under the hand.
Condition and What’s Included with This Marfione Custom Sigil
Condition is excellent. There is no visible wear and there are no flaws. We inspected it thoroughly before photographing it. Our published grading standards let you check this description against what arrives.
This one came out of a private collection rather than direct from the shop. Eleven years is long enough for most knives of this tier to show something. This one does not.
The kit is complete and correct for a 2015 Marfione custom. Dealer listings from that year describe the same five pieces we have here. Read how we handle provenance on pieces that arrive with full paperwork.
- Marfione Custom Sigil folding knife
- Original Marfione Custom box
- Marfione metal Certificate of Authenticity
- Marfione zippered knife pouch
- Marfione metal velcro dagger patch
- Marfione metal zipper pull tab
Marfione Custom Sigil Specifications
The model, blade finish, materials, build date and serial status all come from the metal certificate that ships with it.
- Overall length: 8 in
- Blade length: 3.5 in
- Cutting edge: 3.40 in
- Closed length: 4.5 in
- Blade thickness: 0.16 in
- Blade material: Bohler Elmax stainless
- Blade style: Wharncliffe
- Blade grind: Hollow ground
- Blade finish: Hand-rubbed satin
- Lock type: Titanium sub-frame lock with hardened steel lockface insert
- Overtravel stop: Copper plate
- Action: Manual
- Deployment: Flipper tab and blade slot opener
- Handle material: 3D milled carbon fiber
- Hardware: Trillium copper
- Backspacer: Copper, with integrated lanyard loop and Marfione dagger logo
- Pocket clip: Recessed levered clip, flush mounted
- Weight: 3 oz
- Date of birth: September 2015
- Condition: Excellent, no visible wear and no flaws
- SKU: 00201-MCK-SIGIL-TRILLIUMCOPPER-20150901
This piece is preowned and came from a private collection. Browse our other preowned knives.
Video Description: Marfione/Munroe Sigil
The Marfione Custom Sigil is a preowned custom folding knife in excellent condition. Deryk Munroe designed it and Anthony Marfione built it. The blade is Elmax, hollow ground to a wharncliffe and finished hand-rubbed satin. It is 3.5 inches long with 3.40 inches of cutting edge. The frame is 3D milled carbon fiber, dated September 2015.
The lock is a titanium sub-frame lock with a hardened steel lockface insert and a copper overtravel plate. Hardware is Trillium copper, including the backspacer. It opens on a flipper or the blade slot. The pocket clip is recessed and levered. Overall length is 8 inches open and 4.5 inches closed, at 3 ounces. It ships with the box, metal certificate, pouch, patch and pull tab.
Frequently Asked Questions
What separates the Marfione Custom Sigil from a Microtech production knife?
Microtech is the production company Tony Marfione founded in 1994. Marfione Custom Knives is a separate business he markets his own work through. The customs are built in limited numbers and carry refinements he designs and applies himself. That is why they trade at a different level from factory models sharing the same silhouette.
What is a sub-frame lock?
A standard frame lock uses part of the metal handle itself as the lock. That only works if the handle is metal. A sub-frame lock insets a titanium lockbar into a handle made of something else, so a carbon fiber knife can still lock like a titanium one. Microtech used the mechanism on several custom models and later phased it out.
What is Trillium copper?
It is Marfione’s name for the copper used across the custom shop, on the Star Lord, the Matrix, the Combat Troodon and the Siphon pens. Collectors understand it as a free-machining copper of the tellurium copper family.
Pure copper cannot be used for knife hardware. It is gummy under a cutter and too soft to hold a thread. Tellurium copper machines cleanly and takes assembly torque, while still oxidising into the warm brown patina collectors buy copper for.
How does the recessed pocket clip work?
Push up on the top of the clip and the bottom lifts away from the frame. Let go and it returns flush. Because it sits inside the frame rather than on top of it, there is nothing standing proud to press into your hand while you are using the knife.
What does hand-rubbed satin mean on an Elmax blade?
The finish is worked by hand rather than run across a belt. The lines follow the grind and the surface reads with more depth than a uniform machine satin. On Elmax, which is a hard powder stainless, that takes time and it is one of the things the custom shop is known for.
Does this Marfione Custom Sigil come with its certificate?
Yes. The metal Certificate of Authenticity is included and it records the model, the blade, the handle materials, a date of birth of 09/2015 and both makers by name. The original box, pouch, metal velcro patch and metal pull tab are all present as well.
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 Marfione Custom Sigil
We inspect every knife in hand and photograph it ourselves. See what else is available on the Marfione Custom Knives brand page. You can also talk to us about selling your collection.
