Joe Kertzman's Blog

“Bob wanted his knives to be working tools, not just art objects. In his mind, practicality was art to Bob Loveless,” Steve Johnson is quoted by Durwood Hollis as saying in the book Knifemaking With Bob Loveless.

As a young man in the early 1970’s, Johnson worked with Loveless as a junior partner in the business, learning to build knives. In fact, for several months, Steve lived with Bob in the same house. A full-time maker, Johnson freely admits that the time he spent in the Loveless shop made a huge difference in his life. 

Pictured is one of the few knives marked “Loveless Johnson” reportedly still in existence. The image is courtesy of John Denton and the John Denton collection.

The knife Bob Loveless built for Schrade features a stainless steel blade and synthetic molded handle with no guard. The top piece is the Schrade knife, and the bottom is the Loveless semi-skinner prototype from which the Schrade knife was developed. Note the finger-grooved  handle, a feature seldom seen on a Loveless knife. 

The photo is by Hiro Soga and ran across a two-page spread in the book Knifemaking With Bob Loveless.