20 Custom Knives Moms Want For Mother's Day

20 Custom Knives Moms Want For Mother’s Day

Erin Healy

May 11, 2017

20 Custom Knives Moms Want For Mother’s Day — 14. This Thai-inspired kitchen knife by Todd Stracener is similar to a Japanese bunka. The 6 1/2-inch blade is made of 1095 steel and the handle is made of wenge wood with a resin inlay, The knife is 11 1/2 inches overall. $ Contact on Instagram @thezeep or message on Facebook at Stracener Knives.

Tim Lambkin of Chops Knives made this lightweight EDC knife with flame-anodized titanium scales. — 1. This everyday carry folding knife by Tim Lambkin is lightweight at 3.2 ounces. It measures 4 inches closed and is 3/8 inch thick. Tim welded the pattern, did the filework inside and out and flame-anodized the titanium scales to add the wow factor. The screws are the types used in hip replacements, anodized for color! The thumb stud is mother of pearl. Makers List Price: $900-$1000 Contact http://chopsknives.com, tim.lambkin@gmail.com,903-926-7447. (Ericka Lambkin image)

Has a card, flowers and brunch become the routine for Mother’s Day? Maybe you’ve tried getting creative with gift-giving but it wasn’t well received, so you’re sticking with what works. Dull! Where’s your sense of adventure? What about giving the mothers in your life something sharp and pretty? Just like her! Let’s look at 20 custom knives moms want for Mother’s Day, or any day for that matter.

Isn’t that like giving a vacuum cleaner or an iron?

Yes and no. We’re not talking boxed sets of table cutlery or mass-produced blades, regardless of their quality and usefulness. We’re talking 100-percent hand-crafted custom knives. If you decide on a chef knife, for example, it could be construed as encouraging cooking, but the knife will be so beautiful, so smoothly made, so significant in her hand, she’ll overlook the “get cooking” aspect and start searching for things to julienne. You may find her looking for ways to display her knife not only as an easily accessible tool, but as a work of art. It’s not going to be tossed carelessly into a drawer, that’s for sure.

Hmmm. I’m not so sure.

Ok. What about knives for self-defense? Or engraved knives in pearlesence or vivid colors that mom will want to hold, admire and show off? Knives for shaving? The cowgirl in your life could use a custom livestock castration knife.

Excuse me!

Just look. These 20 custom knives will be well received by all types of mothers. Trust me. Now these knives take time to make, so if you see something you like, contact the maker and if he or she doesn’t have one ready, put in an order for a birthday or the holidays. It’ll be worth the wait. I promise.

Neck Knives

Neck knives are compact blades that are drawn in a downward motion from a sheath on a necklace-length lanyard or looped onto a bra like a gun holster. Moms can use this for self-defense or as an everyday carry knife. Various blade styles are frequently offered.

Pete Sloan allowed for laynard attachement with this design. — 3. Pete Sloan’s neck knife is made from 440C stainless steel with a cleaver-Wharncliffe blade design. The handle was crafted using stabilized pink curly maple. Maker’s List Price: $150. Contact www.sloancustomknives.com, sloancustomknives@gmail.com, 731-225-9209 or message on Facebook at Sloan Custom Knives.

Travis Fleming made this trailing-point tanto bladed necker out of Nitro-V, a new AEBL from New Jersey Steel Baron. — 4. This neck knife by Travis Fleming has a trailing-point tanto blade design made from Nitro-V, an AEBL steel by New Jersey Steel Baron. A pink sheath completes the set. Makers List Price: $160. Contact flemingsfabrications@gmail.com or message at Fleming’s Fabrications on Facebook.

Denny Furey of Furey's Urban Combat Knives makes a three-finger knife that's designed to ensure you don't fumble a knife when you need it most. — 5. Denny Furey makes these three-finger Quick Defense Knives with an index finger ring for sure pistol-grip draw from under a top or from between buttons on a blouse. The 2.5-inch blade is made of high carbon 1095 with a blued and polished finish. The handle is made out of Voodoo Resins with brass pins and lanyard tube. Makers List Price: $160, includes sheath. Contact dfurey71@yahoo.com, 405-642-2198 or message on Facebook at Furey’s Urban Combat Knives.

Pretty Knives

Sometimes it’s all about the eye candy. Holding something pretty, showing it off, is a luxury mom is unlikely to allow herself either in time or cost. But, hey, beautiful knives can also cut a piece of string or open a box, and every time she studies the engraving, the jewel- and pearl-like finishes, the intricate designs in the pattern-welded steel, she’ll be reminded of how much she is treasured.

Johnny Stout's wife has taken ownship of this knife and enjoys the reaction of friends when they see how beautiful it is. — 6. This Johnny Stout LeGrande Fine Folder has a 2 1/2-inch pattern-welded blade, gold lip mother of pearl handle scales, engraving by Alice Carter and a precious rubies inset in the backspacer and in the thumb stud. Closed, the knife measures 3 3/8 inches. Makers List Price: $3200. Contact http://stoutknives.com, johnny@stoutknives.com or 830-606-4067.

7. Karen Jones made the
3-inch blade on this Work Pony out of raindrop-patterned steel. The bolsters are green abalone, the spacers are brass and the scales are elk antler. The 7-inch knife is “made to be used and abused in real life. Pretty is as pretty does,” Karen added. Makers List Price: $250-$275. Contact sixgunskj@gmail.com, 682-777-1193 or message at ThunderHorse Blades on Facebook.

Devin Bliss is used to working with wood so the walnut in this 3.75-inch Bobcat knife is beautiful to look at and hold. — 8. This Devin Bliss Bobcat has a 3.75-inch blade made of 1095 steel, walnut handle with mosaic pins and silver wire inlay and a nickel silver bolster. Its overall length is 8 inches. Makers List Price: $560. Contact devin@devinbcustoms.com, 903-736-3052 or message at DB Custom Knives on Facebook.

Ben Kabisch made this knife for a nurse who worked at night. She wanted something pretty and concealable. — 9. Ben Kabisch made this for an emergency room nurse who works the night shift. She wanted something “cute, light and concealable.” The blade was made from 1084 carbon steel and the scales are an acrylic abalone. The blade is 3.5 inches and the overall length is 7.5 inches. Makers List Price: $175 Contact 940-733-6404 or message on Facebook at Ben Kabisch.

Raymon E. Hunt made this slip-joint folder with pattern-welded steel and pre-ban elephant ivory. — 10. This Raymon Earl Hunt Swayback Jack has a 2 3/4-inch Wharncliff-style blade, hand-finished and with a swedge. The handle scales are pre-ban elephant ivory with gold pins and stainless bolster. The inlaid engraving is by Bruce Christiansen. Maker’s list price: $1800 with sheath or purse pouch. Contact 214-507-0896, Raymon.hunt@3hsknives.com, or visit www.3hsknives.com.

Kitchen Knives

Whether the kitchen is in an urban apartment or at a campfire in the woods, chef knives that make food preparation more enjoyable, either by their ergonomics or their beauty, preferably both, are welcome gifts at Mother’s Day or on any holiday. This category also includes skinner/meat processing knives for the huntress in the family.

You can find these slim but hard-working skinners at Lindstrand Custom Knives on Facebook. — 12. Nichole Lindstrand’s Modoc model knives are made from 15N20 steel with a drop-point blade, ideal for skinning and processing game. Overall they measure 7.25 inches with a cutting edge of just under 3.5 inches. The handles on these two are made of olivewood and Bone Micarta with blue G10 liners and carbon fiber pins. The makers list price is $165. Contact nicholelindstrand@gmail.com, 530-515-6082 or message on Facebook at Lindstrand Custom Knives.

Carson Riley Marquis makes 7 1/2-inch kitchen/skinners that are ideal for smaller hands. — 13. These 7 1/2-inch kitchen/camp knives by Carson Riley Marquis are made with 1095 steel with a differential heat treatment, acid etched/stonewashed finish and hammered-texture flats with flat grinds. The handles are dyed and stabilized zebra wood bolsters with Ivory Paper Micarta laid atop and divided by Natural Linen Micarta. Pins and lanyard tube are also Natural Linen Micarta. These are right-sized for meat processing and food prep. Makers List Price: $195 each with leather sheath. Contact http://crmarquisknives.bigcartel.com, 903-316-2824 or on
Instagram @C.R.Marquis.Knives.

Todd Stracener made this Thai-inspired kitchen knife to be as beautiful as it is functional. — 14. This Thai-inspired kitchen knife by Todd Stracener is similar to a Japanese bunka. The 6 1/2-inch blade is made of 1095 steel and the handle is made of wenge wood with a resin inlay, The knife is 11 1/2 inches overall. $250. Contact on Instagram @thezeep or message on Facebook at Stracener Knives.

Everyday Carry Knives

Everyday carry, or EDC, knives are ones that you carry on your person or in your purse for both self-defense and general common use. They can be of the fixed-blade variety that you keep in a leather, Kydex or other molded-plastic sheath. Or they can be of the folding type and come with a clip that you can use on your pocket or inside a skirt or pant waistband. EDC makers strive for thin, small and light. They’re often tactical looking, but mom-friendly models come in everything from natural tones to bold and subtle colors.

Brian Nadeau is working on another knife at present, but www.knifelegends.com still has this particular knife. — 15. Brian Nadeau’s Cyclone Bowie Flipper has a 3.5-inch blade made of CPM S35VN steel. The pivot is constructed with a stainless ball thrust bearing with AEB-L lock. It has a textured, anodized-titanium frame and aggressive gimping for a secure grip in any weather. The pocket clip is 410 stainless steel. Makers list price: $995. Contact www.knifelegends.com, www.sharpbydesign.com or b.a.nadeau@gmail.com.

Shane Hill of Hill Knife Works made his cocobolo-handled knife for a lady who wanted to keep a knife in her vehicle. — 16. Shane Hill made this knife for a woman who wanted to have a knife in her car with her. The 3-inch drop-point hollow-ground blade is 1095 steel; the handle is make of cocobolo wood. Overall length of just short of 8 inches. Makers list price: $165. Contact hillknifeworks@gmail.com or message Hill Knife Works on Facebook.

Hawk Custom Knives offers 4 1/2-inch Mini Me skinners that make great purse-carry knives. — 17. These Mini Me knives by Charles Hawkins have 2-inch hollow-ground blades made of pattern-welded steel from Alabama Damascus Steel. The top one has an Alumilite resin and wood handle with carbon fiber bolsters. The bottom one has a terminate wood with box elder handle with Alumilite resin bolsters. Although these knives are technically skinners, at 4 1/2 inches overall and with a clip-on sheath, something tells me they’re more likely to be used as an everyday carry. Maker’s list price: $100-$125 each. Contact www.hawkcustomknives.com, 325-947-7875.

The Right Knife For The Job

To do the job right, you need the right tool. You wouldn’t use a router to mix cake batter, right? (I can tell you’ve thought about it though.) You wouldn’t use a flat brush to curl your bangs, right? OK, maybe. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. Well, it’s the same with knives. Aside from a survival situation, you wouldn’t bushcraft with a paring knife or filet a fish with a tomahawk. Here are just a few of many specialized knives that might be perfect for a mom in your life.

Lost Wood Knives makes a dramtic-looking chopper for chores on the ranch or farm. — 18. Eland Green made this GOLIATH chopper from 5160 tool steel and left the flats black after the heat treatment. The handle is a wood-resin combination. This is a worker for the gardening mom or for chores around a camp, farm or ranch. Makers list price: $600. Call lwknives@yahoo.com, 940-736-8333 or message on Facebook at Lost Wood Knives.

Rafter M Knives offers pretty and plain castration knives for women managing lifestock on the ranch. — 19. Becky McFall Rodriquez made this teardrop-handled livestock castration knife from a Travis Payne idea. Its 3-inch blade is acid-etched O1 tool steel. The handle is fashioned from blue-dyed box elder burl. The knife is 6-inches overall. When a lady’s doing dirty work, she should have a pretty tool. Makers list price $220-$250. Contact mcfall.rafterm@gmail.com or message on Facebook at Rafter M Custom Knives.

Wet shaving is making a comeback and this lady's straight razor is custom made to be and look sharp. — 20. Wet shaving is making a comeback, mainly for men, but also for women. Bruno van Dooren makes a 7/8-plus-inch wide round-point blade from O2 carbon steel with a half hollow grind. The length of the cutting edge is just under 2.5 inches. This shorter edge makes the razor more maneuverable for female shaving. The point is rounded to prevent accidentally poking through the skin. The scales are Kirinite Starlight Pink with Kirinite Glow in the Dark spacers. The pins and washer are brass. Makers list price is $325; pattern-welded or wootz steel versions are higher. Contact Bruno.van.dooren@gmail.com, www.snailforge.be or message on Facebook at Snailforge.

Bonus

Inside the heart of that special mom there lurks both a queen and a warrior princess, a diplomat and an avenger. She’s a lady with a hard edge and a soft inner core. She may be just the one to wield the Tactigal.

Tobin Nieto at Stonehaven Knife Works hand-forges what he calls his Tactigal, the perfect gift for the warrior mom. — Bonus: Tobin Nieto forged his Tactigal out of 1084 steel to an overall length of 8.75 inches. The blade is a 3.25-inch drop-point style. The pink underlay is 550 paracord while the black cord has had the inner strands removed to allow for a flat Mongolian-style cross wrap. Maker’s list price: $175 with sheath. Contact Stonehaven Knife Works on Facebook or on Instagram @stonehavenknifeworks.

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