Discover the craftsmanship behind unique designs, from carbon steel to mosaic damascus, and learn what makes a perfect hunting knife.

The primary trend that has emerged in custom forged blades over the past 18 months is the growing popularity of the hunting and utility knife. The options seem limitless, from forged carbon steel and Micarta® to mosaic damascus and ivory.

The best seller among the group is the carbon steel hunter featuring a Micarta handle. An excellent example is from award-winning ABS master smith Josh Fisher—world-class craftsmanship at an affordable price. Designed for serious work, this knife will last, if properly maintained, for the owner’s lifetime and beyond.

One of my favorites is a hunter from Slovenian knifemaker Jan Hafinec featuring the unique hamon of his Bonfire Hunter. Jan’s hamon looks like flames streaking across the blade. He achieves the distinctive look by cleaning the grind and normalizing the blade. He then applies Satanite* clay to the blade in the desired shape for the hamon. After drying the clay, he puts the blade in his electric kiln. Upon removing it from the kiln, he plunges the blade into fast-quenching oil to give the hamon its fiery look.

Maker: Wess Barnhill
Model: Drop-point hunter
Blade Length: 5”
Blade Material: San-mai of 1075 carbon and 410 stainless steels
Guard and Buttcap: Stainless steel 
Handle Material: Sambar stag 
Overall Length: 9.75”
Sheath: Leather model custom made by Wess Barnhill
Knife to know: Wess is an ABS journeyman smith 
His price for a similar knife: $825
(Robertson’s Custom Cutlery image)

A steel construction that has been a favorite of collectors for several years now is san-mai. A hunter by ABS journeyman smith Wess Barnhill has a great example of a san-mai blade, featuring a carbon steel core sandwiched between outer layers of stainless steel. One of my favorite aspects of this type of laminated blade is that each one is unique, encouraging collectors to have more than one in their collection, if they so choose, as no two are the same. Barnhill’s blade material of choice is a 1075 carbon steel core sandwiched between two pieces of 410 stainless steel. He likes to zip-weld all the edges together, as this keeps out the oxygen while forge welding. He sets the temperature to 2,350 F° for 10 minutes to produce his san-mai blades.

Copper San-Mai

Maker: Dan Lewis
Model: Drop-point hunter
Blade Length: 4.5”
Blade Material: Forged san-mai w/a core of W-2 tool steel, an outer layer of damascus and a middle layer of copper
Guard Material: Bronze
Handle Material: Desert ironwood
Overall Length: 9”
Sheath: Leather model custom made by Dan Lewis
Knife to know: Dan is an ABS journeyman smith
His price for a similar knife: $550
(Robertson’s Custom Cutlery knife image)

Seeing the work of ABS journeyman smith Dan Lewis at the 2024 BLADE Show, I was immediately drawn to it. His unique copper damascus san-mai features carbon steel, damascus and copper. He also offers the same style of blade with nickel if you prefer. He explained that monosteel and damascus blades are forged to shape and taken through a precise heat treatment. Copper san-mai blades are a different story.

“Once I create the billet—layering high-carbon steel with pure nickel damascus and copper—I do very little forging beyond drawing out the tang. The rest is done through careful grinding,” he explained. “Precision is everything. The billet must be measured exactly to keep a consistent core of high-carbon steel, with even layers of damascus and copper on each side. Copper looks great but it doesn’t belong on the cutting edge. I always use a high-carbon core for strength and sharpness. When it comes to etching, combining pure nickel and copper allows me to use a stronger, proprietary acid. The result is a deep, dark etch in just seconds, creating a bold finish that highlights every layer.”

Dan combines the copper damascus san-mai with blued fittings and desert ironwood to create an eye-catching work of art at an affordable price.

Maker: Josh Fisher
Model: Drop-point hunter
Blade Length: 4.5”
Blade Material: 1084 carbon steel
Blade Finish: Satin 
Guard Material: Stainless steel 
Handle Material: Vintage Westinghouse Micarta®
Overall Length: 8.75”
Knife to know: Josh Fisher is an ABS master smith
Sheath: Leather model custom made by Josh
His price for a similar knife: $550
(Robertson’s Custom Cutlery image)

I saw ABS journeyman smith Bob Earhart’s knives on the internet while working on my checklist for the BLADE Show. I contacted him several months before the show to discuss his knives. In addition to his excellent knifemaking skills, the use of a blued guard and bronze spacer in conjunction with presentation-grade desert ironwood gives his hunter a stunning look. Instead of using a forge press die, Bob grinds a ladder pattern into his steel billet. Grinding toward the edge, he cuts deeper and then hammers out the grooves, creating a complete ladder pattern throughout the blade.

Additionally, Bob has the one skill that many knifemakers lack: effective communication. He encouraged me to provide my input and kept me informed about the knife build every step of the way. When I buy my first knife from a knifemaker, I really appreciate that.

Frame-Handle Jewel

Maker: Steve Randall 
Model: Frame-Handle Hunter
Blade Length: 4.75”
Blade Material: Feather-pattern damascus 
Guard and Frame: Feather-pattern damascus  
Handle Material: Mastodon ivory
Overall Length: 9.5”
Sheath: Leather model custom made by Steve Randall
Knife to know: Steve is an ABS master smith
His price for a similar knife: $1,400
(SharpByCoop image)

The frame-handle hunter is arguably one of the more difficult knives to build. Add mosaic damascus and ivory to the equation and it becomes even more challenging. Given the complex nature of ABS master smith Steve Randall’s frame-handle hunter, I asked him to explain his process for building the knife.

He starts by making a billet of a W’s-pattern damascus. The layer count and stack are personal preferences. The lower the count, the wider the pattern. Once the billet is formed to the preferred layer count, Steve cuts it into pieces, restacks the pieces, and forge welds them back together. He splits the resulting stack in half using a dull wedge and welds the two halves back together to create a feather damascus billet. The splitting process with the dull wedge is what drags the hot steel to make the feather design.

Steve pointed out that increasing the layers also increases the potential for flaws. Often, the flaws don’t reveal themselves until the blade is being ground. If flaws are discovered, the blade must be thrown away and all those work hours are lost. (Author’s note: Please understand that due to the increased degree of difficulty and risk of blade failure, any mosaic-type of damascus used in the knife’s construction will increase the price. All damascus is not equal!)

Steve said the most challenging part of a frame-handle knife is connecting the frame to the guard or ferrule so there are no gaps and the fit appears seamless. Also, how the handle is attached to the blade is key. There are various ways to attach that can add to the complicated nature of a frame, for example, hidden pins, hidden finial, external finial, etc.

Changing Conditions

Maker: Jan Hafinec 
Model: Bonfire Hunter
Blade Length: 5”
Blade Material: Forged C105 carbon steel w/double hamon
Guard Material: Bronze
Handle Material: Desert ironwood
Overall Length: 10 1/8”
Sheath: Leather model custom made by Jan Hafinec
His price for a similar knife: $600
(Robertson’s Custom Cutlery image)

In the March BLADE®, I wrote about the matrix I use to determine which knives to buy. Before that story was published, BLADE Editor Steve Shackleford asked me what conditions would cause me to adjust my matrix. One condition would be a change in the popularity of a market sector, such as custom fighters, gut hooks, stilettos, etc. With a current slowdown in damascus bowie sales, primarily due to the bowies’ price point, an alternative emerged, offering many of the same options at a more affordable price: the forged hunting knife.

One of the best aspects of attending a knife show is the ability to compare knives, apples to apples if you will. This year’s BLADE Show resulted in me updating my matrix with regard to custom hunting knives.

Before the show I provided a set of parameters to 10 ABS journeyman and master smiths, both domestic and international, to build a damascus hunting knife to my specifications Those parameters were: a 4.75-inch ladder-pattern damascus blade, damascus guard (no pattern specified), and a wood handle (no wood specified). The smiths’ quotes ranged in prices from $600 to $1,250 per knife.

Still think you don’t need your own matrix?

*CAUTION: When using Satanite hamon clay, “wear protective gloves, outfit, and face and eye protection. If on skin, wash with soap and eater. If on eyes, rinse with water for several minutes. If eye irritation persists, get medical attention.”

More Custom Knives:

• Pat Antuzzi’s Hand-Knapped Fixed Blade
• Matt Aaron’s Blacksmith’s Automatic Folder
• Jordon Berthelot’s Integral Hunter
• Rhidian Gatrill’s Safety Hunter Reproduction