Knife Collecting

BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Pete Gerber knew he was onto something with the FS1, a knife he remembers as “dandy” and one of three in the Folding Sportsman line that debuted with Gerber Legendary Blades beginning sometime around 1980.

“It was just a little heavy,” Pete recalled. “Blackie Collins was working with us on some projects then, and I asked him for help with it. I said, ‘Blackie, this is a nice knife. How can we take some weight out of it and put some pizzazz into it?’”

The knife engineers at Gerber Legendary Blades had been working with Micarta handle slabs, rather labor intensive at the time since the plastic laminate had to be machined to the appropriate shape.

“We had to mill it out and used brass washers with rivets to attach the slabs,” Pete said. “The original LST was the FS1 in-house design, and Blackie was first given the assignment to put moxie into it using the existing parts. He worked on the design and then put an injection-molded handle on it with nice checkering. Those were his contributions.”

As fine as it was, as long as the slab handles were involved the LST had trouble fully living up to the attributes that provided its name, “Light, Smooth, and Tough.” Collins already had contributed some well-known designs to Gerber, including the Bolt Action folder and the Touché belt buckle knife, and the wheels began to turn in his head.

Blackie had a friend in Gastonia, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte, and that friend ran an injection-molding business. Instead of using riveted slabs as handle material, why not try a one-piece injection-molded handle to reduce both the weight and production cost of a knife design that was already selling pretty well? Just to add to the incentive, injection molding would open up the spectrum of handle colors as well.

After some experimentation, the production LST was manufactured with the glass-filled, nylon-reinforced Zytel as the handle material.

“It was the first time a folding knife was made with a one-piece handle, and it worked,” Pete remembered. “The action was so smooth because we went through an operation called ‘match catch,’ where the blade and the catch were kept together until they were assembled and until they were just perfect. When the knife closed, the blade referenced the catch, and it was as smooth as it could be.”

A New Car for a New Knife

Almost as sweet as the story behind the LST, which has sold in the millions since the early 1980s, is the back-story of Blackie’s compensation for his input that led to the dynamic little knife’s eventual success. Pete asked Blackie what he wanted in the way of payment for services rendered.

“I didn’t think it could be a royalty knife since it was a modified in-house design,” Gerber explained. “I asked what he wanted for payment, and I suggested that maybe a new car would be something he would like.”

The story goes that the new car turned out to be a Corvette and that Pete’s check for $29,000 made it happen.

Blackie, a Cutlery Hall Of Famer who tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident in 2011, loved cars and motorcycles and just about anything mechanical, and the idea of new wheels appealed to him. His wife, Jane, remembers well the search for just the right vehicle.

“We went from South Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida, to look at Avanti cars,” she recalled. “He didn’t like the way the new ones handled, so we looked at Corvettes, bought one that was two-tone gold, and drove it home. He owned that car for a few years and then traded it in.”

Pete remembers Collins driving around his hometown in South Carolina in that Corvette with a license plate that simply read, “Blackie.”

Offering items other than money for consulting seemed to work well for Pete, who also once paid Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bob Loveless with an airplane.

While Blackie burned up the roads in the Corvette, the Gerber-Collins partnership took the knife market by storm with the LST.

“Blackie used to say that the LST revolutionized the knife industry,” Jane recalled. “He did a lot of work for Gerber, and he really reduced the number of parts on that knife and put the plastic handle on it to make it lighter.”

Taking the World By Storm

The new lightweight knife was a sensation, and soon other knife companies were taking notice, working on something similar. It was pure gold in itself—with a grand total of six parts to the whole enterprise. Buyers wanted the light, smooth-action, durable and reasonably priced LST, and competitors scrambled to keep pace with Gerber’s trendsetter.

Soon enough, there were similar offerings rolling off assembly lines and onto store shelves. The introduction of LST energized knife manufacturers in a manner seldom seen.

The LST developed its own legacy among the knives that changed knife history, and it is still being manufactured in Portland, Oregon, and sold under the Gerber banner today.

“It was the first true ultralight knife,” explained Dan Delavan of Plaza Cutlery in Costa Mesa, California, “and Gerber had a high-quality blade in that light handle at a good price. You could throw it in the pocket of your swim trunks and go! Lightweight became attractive, and the LST was thin, too. It didn’t bulge in a suit pocket and the checkering gave it a nice grip, just like an extension of the finger. It was the knife that introduced the ultralight, and we sold a lot of them back in the day.”

Lightweight vs. Airweight

Contemporary to the introduction of the LST, Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer A.G. Russell was producing ultralight knives of his own in the Airweight series. Like other knife manufacturers and designers, Russell also worked with Blackie.

He remembers the concept of the ultralight as the shape of things to come in the 1970s.

“I wanted strength but little weight in a knife, too,” Russell noted, “and my Airweight was using a Micarta handle. Blackie had that great idea of molding the handle instead of shaping it, which would have suited an operation like Gerber perfectly. The LST was extremely lightweight and it sold in the millions.”

LST Materials

Pete Gerber recalls using 440A stainless blade steel in the early LST, and says the knife had a good, husky blade that he never saw break—and it was complemented with a nicely polished tang.

“Many other companies were copying it, trying to figure out what we did and how the LST worked so well,” Pete said. “Many of those companies made knives that were quite similar to the LST long after ours was successful. I don’t believe we had a patent on it at all; I don’t think we could get one. The patent area was out of my expertise, but I told our folks to get one whenever we could.”

An Enduring Legacy

After almost 40 years, the staying power of the LST is undisputed, and its place as a milestone in the progressive development of knife design is secure. Along with other innovations attributed to Blackie, it stands out among its peers with a timeless depiction of design sense and simple user friendliness.

During the past four decades, the LST has been manufactured in several variants.

DuPont recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its nylon plastic with a commemorative run of LSTs handled in the company’s Delrin material.

Not long ago, Pete was in a company store in Lincoln City, Oregon, and one of the clerks showed him a Mini LST with a bright green handle.

“I had never seen that bright green before,” Gerber laughed. “It just goes to show you that things can develop that you don’t even know about.”

When the LST hit the market in 1981, the time was right. Since then, it has given Gerber and the knife industry a continuing boost.

“It has sold in the seven figures,” Pete reflected, “and I think it gave us a hell of a shot in the arm.”

Gerber LST Specs

The standard LST sells today on the Gerber company website for a modest $23. The knife weighs a remarkable 1.2 ounces with a drop-point 420HC stainless steel blade of 2.63 inches and a closed length of 3.61 inches. The handle is described as tactile, textured and made of lightweight, synthetic glass-filled nylon.

Light, smooth, and tough, Gerber’s LST has earned its place among the elite products of the modern knife industry.

What Other Knives Changed the World? Find Out With This Download

In honor of National Learn About Butterflies Day (you are celebrating, right?), BLADE presents these three balisongs for your consideration. Get ready, nation, to learn about butterfly knives!

Why Do Knife Enthusiasts Enjoy Balisongs/Butterfly Knives?

What is it exactly about the butterfly knife that is so captivating? It is a distinctive breed of folder with handles that freely rotate, allowing experienced butterfly users to deftly manipulate the handles in a fancy manner to expose the blade. There is more than a little bit of flash and rock ’n roll to these knives.

As folders have progressed through the years with the use of high-end materials, ball bearings in the pivots and more, so have butterfly knives. Many premium models feature the same blade and handle materials found in high-end tactical folders, and some butterflies have pivot bearings for glassy-smooth handle rotation that you must experience to believe.

Microtech Tachyon III

Microtech’s Tachyon III is the third iteration of the company’s Tachyon butterfly, done up in true Microtech fashion through quality materials coupled with top-notch machining and overall craftsmanship.

“It mimics the design and engineering of the ever-popular Marfione Custom Tachyon III, other than the hidden pocket clip,” says Jason McCoy, Microtech’s government and military sales manager. “The handle materials are T6 aircraft-grade aluminum, and we decided to go with Bohler ELMAX blade steel to make it a very durable, affordable cutting tool.”

About 10 inches long overall, the Tachyon III is impressive. The slight recurve of the edge gives the blade enhanced slicing abilities. The milled-in fuller lends a bit of an aggressive appearance, along with the unsharpened swedge. As with some upper-end butterfly knives on the market, the Tachyon III employs pivot bearings for that addicting, glassy smooth action. The handles have machined-in decorative recesses that aid in knife manipulation, giving you a tactile reference point as to blade orientation during flipping maneuvers.

Another noteworthy feature of the Tachyon III is the spring-loaded handle latch, an uncommon feature on butterflies. From the closed/secured or open handle positions, squeeze the handles and the latch pops loose. Moreover, the spring-loaded latch does not bang on the other handle as more conventional, non-spring loaded latches do during flipping exercises.

A steel clip carries the Tachyon III in the pocket very comfortably—a nice feature many butterflies do not have.

Bear Song IV

Bear & Son Cutlery offers the Bear Song IV butterfly knife in two sizes and several blade styles. The Bear Song IV Model B-450-ALCF-B is a nice, compact knife. It offers the only non-stainless-steel blade among our featured butterflies—2 7/8 inches of 1095 high carbon steel in a stain-resistant, no-glare black powder coat.

Approximate closed length: 4.25 inches. Weight: 3.5 ounces. Skeleton holes in the blade match those in the handles, which are T6 aircraft-grade aluminum with a nice carbon-fiber graphic finish.
Also the smallest featured butterfly, do not discount the Bear Song IV’s compact size in terms of its quick manipulation.

“It has ideal weight and balance for flipping with its stainless steel handle spacers to provide continued momentum for performing tricks,” says Matt Griffey, Bear & Son vice president. Phosphor bronze washers facilitate smooth handle rotation. “It has been the number-one-selling butterfly in the Bear OPS line,” Griffey states. “It’s a nice complement to add the next step up for a higher-end butterfly to our entry-level butterflies.”

The Bear Song IV line offers clip-point, tanto and single-edge dagger blades along with Sandvik 14C28N stainless in addition to the 1095 for blade material choices. There is also a high-definition damascus option for some models.

Marty McFly

The aptly named Marty McFly butterfly knife from Quartermaster Knives is a nod to the year of the knife’s release, 2015. Twenty-fifteen is the year when the main character of the movie Back to the Future, Marty McFly, sets the DeLorean time machine to travel forward in time. When the movie was released in 1985, 2015 did indeed seem a long way off.

The Marty McFly resembles many other butterfly knives, but it is what you cannot see initially that is special. Incorporating Quartermaster’s BladeExchange feature, the blade can be swapped out of the handles and replaced with one of three other blade styles to tailor the knife to the task at hand.

“The knife is able to quickly and easily exchange its blade shape, color or sharpness level without any tools whatsoever,” says Lee Price, Quartermaster Knives co-founder. With a simple press of a button at each handle’s pivot, you can slide the handle away from the blade and replace it. “This is useful when training, as users can easily switch to a dull trainer blade so as to not cut themselves while attempting new manipulations,” he notes.

Quartermaster uses D2 tool steel for the blades and CNC-machined titanium for the handles, catapulting the McFly into high-end butterfly territory. “The QBS-1 and QBS-2 Marty McFly knives are among the all-time best-selling models for us,” Price states. “We plan to introduce new blade styles and updated handles, which will of course be compatible with all prior blades and handles.”

Price adds that the QBS-1 Marty McFly is the company’s initial foray into the butterfly market, and is something consumers have embraced enthusiastically.

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Locking folders have been part of the cutlery scene for centuries. As for the lockback, some form of it has been around since the mid-1800s, when it started out as a tabbed lock and progressed over time as the more user-friendly detent style most of us know today.

The simple yet effective lockback mechanism got a massive shot in the arm in 1964 when Buck Knives introduced the now legendary Model 110 Folding Hunter.

These back-locking stalwarts have never left the folding knife scene, they have just been overshadowed by newer locking mechanisms. Lately they’ve been making a nice resurgence and are more diverse than ever.

Spyderco Manbug Salt Lightweight

The Spyderco Manbug Salt Lightweight is a small, pocket carry model bent on defying its weight class. The smallest of the test knives, the Manbug Salt is a scant 4.4 inches extended with 1.9 inches of the total focused on a wicked, fully serrated sheepfoot blade. Spyderco knives come extremely sharp out of the box and this small lockback was no exception.

The bright yellow handle is the company’s classic, molded FRN synthetic, accoutered with the same, bumpy pattern found on its popular Delica and Endura models. The Manbug Salt’s rustfree blade of “corrosion-proof” H-1 work-hardened steel makes for pocket carry worry-free from sweat and moisture. Its midlock positioning is located halfway up the rear handle spine, and there is a lanyard/neck cord hole in the base. MSRP: $79.95.

The Manbug Salt Lightweight is not designed to be a serious knife user’s primary blade, but it is a great secondary carry loose in the pocket. I tested it for a week around the office opening boxes, ripping through corrugated board and other daily functions. The blade is extremely sharp, as Spydercos typically are, and slices through packing tape with ease. I stacked up three layers of heavy-duty reinforced packing tape and it sliced through it like butter—and after a week the edge was as effective as ever. In the pocket you hardly know its scant .8 ounce is there. I also like it as a last ditch hideaway knife should I ever need one. That little 1.9-inch blade is bigger and badder than it looks.

Bear & Son Cowhand Lockback

The Bear & Son Cowhand Lockback has the look and feel of a modernized version of the traditional copperhead pattern. The 3.75-inch handle sports rosewood scales sandwiched between nickel silver bolsters, with the lock located at the lower rear base.

The slender 1095 carbon steel blade, a California clip point, is 2.875 inches long and accessed via an ovate thumb hole. On the back side is an ample 2.5-inch stainless steel pocket clip positioned for tip-down carry, or if you like you can remove the clip and carry the Cowhand loose in the pocket. At about 3 inches closed and tipping the scales at 2.3 ounces, the Cowhand is a medium-size folder that won’t bog you down. MSRP: $70.95.

I gave the Cowhand an initial run on some 550 paracord. The blade sliced through one, two and three lengths of cord with ease on both flat surfaces and pull-through strokes. I moved up to some much tougher waxed quarter-inch lasso rope on a flat surface. Applying pressure, I had no trouble slicing the rope in single strokes. Pull-throughs required multiple strokes but this extremely dense material gives most knives fits. Of the three folders in our lineup with pocket clips, the Cowhand’s is the deepest fitting. If you’re an aficionado of traditional folders, you’ll enjoy the feel of Rosewood in your hand as opposed to a synthetic.

Cold Steel Grik

As cool looking lockbacks go, the Cold Steel Grik rates an 11 out of 10. Cold Steel has been a longtime proponent of the lockback and uses the trademarked name Tri-Ad Lock™ for its mechanism. The aggressively styled Grik is a mid-sized midlock folder—6.875 inches overall, 3.875 inches closed, 3.3 ounces—with a tactical-looking handle profile and a 3-inch spear-point blade of AUS-8 stainless steel.

Adding to its attitude is a heavy, ramped and checkered lug-shaped thumb stud on each side for ambidextrous access. Another cool feature is a tip-up pocket clip that spans the width of the GFN injection molded handle. Left -hand conversion is available for southpaws. MSRP: $59.99.

I liked the Grik’s wide, deep-bellied blade and put it to the test on slicing up sausage for a pot of red beans and rice. The links were approximately 1 inch in diameter and, while the Grik doesn’t have a long blade like a chef ’s knife, it had no trouble whatsoever taking off clean, consistent slices. Similar edibles such as carrots and shallots would be no problem.

As an EDC the Grik would be useful performing other daily chores around the office, and its wicked, double-ground blade can offer up a sweet bit of protection should the occasion arise. If you desire a thoroughly modern mid-sized lockback with a wide range of capabilities, the Grik will serve you well.

KA-BAR Folding Hunter

The KA-BAR Folding Hunter is, simply stated, a modern tactical take on the legendary Buck 110 and KA-BAR’S subsequent Model 1189. The overall design and dimensions are very close, but the new KA-BAR version takes off from there in a hurry. About 5 inches closed, the KA-BAR Folding Hunter has a gray, nonreflective 3.87-inch clip point blade of 420 stainless steel with matching bolsters and black G-10 scales—which combined give it a very stealthy look.

The blade has ambidextrous thumb studs along with an optional long-pull nail nick on the front side for opening. On the backside is a 2.25-inch tip-down reversible stainless steel pocket clip. The cross-section of the handle is a trim .5 inch across, cutting down on weight and signature. The KABAR Folding Hunter is affordably priced at an MSRP of $24.21.

KA-BAR’s Folding Hunter was the only large-sized lockback in the pack and, like its predecessors, has the ability to perform tough tasks. I tested the blade on some 1/16-inch suede leather to see how well it could take off nice, clean strips. Laying the suede down on a flat wooden surface, I used the knife to slice through the material in easy, even strokes. The blade sliced equally well through 3/8-inch rappelling rope. Skinning, meal prep and shaving wood would be no problem with the KA-BAR Folding Hunter.

Lockback Knives are Back

Very much alive, the lockback folder is more diverse than ever, and choices abound. The Spyderco Manbug Salt Lightweight can fulfill many daily chores and also prevent wear and tear on your larger EDC, if so desired. The Bear & Son Cowhand and Cold Steel Grik give you a choice between a lockback with traditional styling versus a modern tactical one. If you want a full-size carry capable of more heavy-duty chores, the KA-BAR Folding Hunter will do the trick.

Choose your lockback!

Learn More About Spyderco Knives

Some people are bolstered by success, and others create bolsters to help them succeed. In the latter category would be knifemakers fashioning folders with bolsters, whether for utilitarian or aesthetic purposes, or both.

Gawie Herbst

South African knifemaker Gawie Herbst knew just the person to engrave the bolsters of his art folder, his son Thinus, yet it was Gawie who scrimshawed the elephant ivory handle, and complemented it with a damascus blade and blued-titanium liners.

Scot Matsuoka

There are no straight lines on Scot Matsuoka’s titanium frame-lock folder, not on the titanium bolsters, the carbon fiber handle scales, nor the 3.75-inch, hollow-ground CPM 154 blade. The folder also features the IKBS (Ikoma Korth Bearing System) and Rick Hinderer Lockbar Stabilizer. (SharpByCoop image)

Jeremy Marsh

Mokumé bolsters provide a nice respite between the claw-like damascus blade and carbon fiber handle scales of Jeremy Marsh’s compound-ground folder. (SharpByCoop image)

Bill Duff

Bill Duff chose mosaic damascus bolsters for his locking-liner folder in a 3-inch, fileworked 440C blade and mammoth ivory handle scales. (Chuck Ward image)

Norman Sandow

Knifemaker Norman Sandow blackened the titanium bolsters of a locking-liner folder showcasing a damascus blade, a jade-inlaid damascus thumb stud and mammoth ivory handle scales.

Fellhoelter/Horton

A collaboration between Brian Fellhoelter and Jeremy Horton, the “FTR” features a 3.5-inch fullered blade. Niobium bolsters help set off the piece, as do carbon fiber handle scales and a one-side-only titanium frame that doubles as the frame lock. (SharpByCoop image)

Dan Chinnock

Appropriately named the “Fish Tail” for its handle and pommel shape, Dan Chinnock’s locking-liner folder parades a 2.75-inch Chad Nichols damascus blade and bolsters, blue mammoth-ivory handle scales, a sapphire-inlaid 24k-gold thumb stud, gold screws and anodized titanium liners. (Chuck Ward image)

See More High-Quality Photos of Custom Knives

Too often, it seems, the mediocre is celebrated. Descriptive terms like “legendary” and “timeless” are handed out with reckless abandon. But few would argue that the terms are fitting when applied to BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame© member R.W. “Bob” Loveless and the dropped hunter.

Also known as the drop-point hunter or simply the drop point, the knife grabbed the attention of the world of knives more than half-a-century ago and has remained in the limelight ever since.

“Bob Loveless didn’t invent the drop point but he sure made it popular,” remembered longtime merchant, knife advocate and Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer A.G. Russell. “Loveless was different. Loveless was magic. When his knives sold for $650 and other makers’ knives sold for $200, he said his knife was worth $200 but the mark was worth $450.”

Russell points to an article that appeared in Guns & Ammo magazine in the 1960s. It thrust Loveless and his custom knives, along with those of Harry Morseth and Merle Seguine, to the forefront.

“It made Loveless the most renowned knifemaker in America,” A.G. recalled. “In handmade patterns nobody surpassed Loveless’s drop point. Not just because it was copied, but everybody was copying it—kind of like the Randall Model 1 was copied.

“It wasn’t his best or most useful model. It was simply the most popular. His best was the semi-skinner, with a better point and belly,” Russell opined.

Global Impact of Loveless Knives

John Denton is one of the world’s foremost authorities on Loveless knives.

He has been an avid collector for decades and a purveyor of Loveless knives for many years, following in the footsteps of his late father and purveying legend J.W. Denton.

“The first time I saw a drop-point hunter was in BLADE® Magazine in the ’80s,” he recalled. “If you didn’t get BLADE Magazine, you did not know about anything in the knife world. Also, it seems that every time I liked a knife I saw in a photo I would read below it, and it would say, ‘made by R.W. Loveless.’ So there must have been something special if a photo catches you over and over in books and magazines.”

Loveless and his knives were immensely popular in Japan, and Denton surmises that the drop point was the catalyst for the Loveless explosion in the Asian market.

“The fact is that the drop point was meant to be a using tool, just like Hamada Pottery. It was utilitarian and useful. That’s the reason he was so huge in Japan, his simple design, and nothing was wasted, and the fact that it was so well balanced in the hand—never square—so that you did not feel any [unnecessary] sharp surface when working with it. Pure brilliance!”

Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer B.R. Hughes met Loveless through A.G. Russell, who had met Bob a year earlier while on a tour in 1967 that included stops at the shops of several custom knifemakers, including Loveless’s in California.

“I first saw a Loveless drop-point hunter in the dead of winter in 1968,” Hughes smiled, “when my good friend A.G. Russell called and told me that he was hosting a California maker named R.W. Loveless, who was doing some pretty special stuff with his knives, and invited me to come up for a visit.”

The roads between Hughes’ home in Texarkana, Texas, and Russell’s business in Arkansas were covered with snow at the time, but Hughes prevailed on a friend, Bill Murdock, who owned a plane and flew him over to the airport in Fayetteville.

“A.G. and Bob picked us up at the airport, and we drove to a small diner, where we had coffee and ate,” Hughes recalled. “Bob laid out several of his knives on the table and he talked. I was most impressed with the workmanship and the design of the knives, notably the extremely thinly ground blades, the full tangs, the handle design, and the tapered tangs. The overall workmanship was some of the best I had seen up to that point. Indeed, the only knifemaker of that period I would say was comparable in terms of workmanship would have been D.E. Henry.”

Loveless evidently struck a chord when he revived an old design and added his personal touch. The result was an utter phenomenon. His authorship was unmistakable and his mark became prized the world over.

“The drop point is not hard to make,” Denton noted. “Loveless told me that he did not like making sub-hilts because by the time he made one sub-hilt he could have made 10 or more drops. But that’s what makes his double grinds so nice. They are rare and took time to make. But Bob said 90-percent plus of his production was some sort of hunter, and of those, [mostly] the drop. He went years sometimes never making a Big Bear [sub-hilt].

“Bob is most likely the best designer to ever produce a knife, as design after design was just right,” Denton continued, “the Big Bear, the boot, New York Special, Hideouts, Chute knives. All amazing. He is much like the Ferrari of the knife world. He did it so well that everyone copies it and wants to make a drop-point hunter when they start out making knives, or they want to certainly own one if they collect knives. I just recently sold a Loveless knife to rock legend Eric Clapton. So, Loveless designs are known all over the globe.”

According to Denton, Loveless started making hunting knives in the 1950s and conceived his additions to the genre.

From there, John says, the rest is history. By the 1970s and ’80s, Schrade, Gerber and Beretta were among the companies offering reproductions of the drop-point hunter, so the knife’s influence captured the mass-production market as well.

Bob Loveless: Larger than Life

Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer D’ Holder treasures his personal relationship with the late Loveless.

“I had seen Loveless drop points in several magazines in the late ’60s,” Holder said, “but saw my first up close and real in 1973. Dan Dennehy was raising money for his move to Del Norte, Colorado, and had a Loveless drop point on his gun show table for sale. It was at the Yuma, Arizona, gun show and he was asking $125. It had stag handles and a gold escutcheon on top of the blade with [Loveless’s] name engraved in it. On the side of it was engraved, ‘To my good friend Dan, from Bob.’”

D’ bought the knife that day and owned it for 15 years before selling it to Al Williams, a renowned Loveless collector, for $1,800. Holder says he should have kept it and that it would bring at least $10,000 today.

“I would sit in my easy chair and fondle that knife for hours trying to figure out what was so special,” D’ mused. “I never came up with a clear answer other than it was a Loveless.”

For years, D’ stopped by Bob’s Riverside, California, shop while on his way to one of the West Coast knife shows.

They exchanged varying opinions of topics of the day, and even when those opinions diverged they shook hands and looked forward to the next visit.

“The last time we had our usual discussion and it came time to leave, I extended my hand as always,” Holder said, “and he brushed it aside and gave me a big hug, and told me how much he appreciated the visits. Several years later he came to Phoenix and spent the day with me in my shop. It was one of the highlights of my career. He was a perfect gentleman. I miss the opportunity to visit with him. I miss his personality, his gruff exterior and his friendship.”

Hughes agrees that the drop point was not the most difficult knife to make, but its impact has been enormous. He recalls Loveless taking a moment during that first meeting at the diner in Arkansas, running the edge of one of his knives against pressure. As he moved it, the edge actually rippled, something B.R. had never seen before.

“Subsequent events indicated that it was not too difficult to turn out knives of this style and quality,” Hughes remarked, “because in a relatively short span of time at least half the stock-removal knifemakers in America were turning out pretty close copies of Loveless knives. He had an instant impact on knifemaking, almost overnight. My article on Loveless and his knives appeared sometime later in the long defunct GUNsport Magazine, of which I was shotgun editor at the time. Other articles appeared in other gun magazines. Remember, there was no BLADE, no Knives Illustrated in those days.”

In the pantheon of great custom knifemakers, Hughes says the knives of Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bo Randall were the most copied until Loveless came along. Then Loveless and Cutlery Hall-Of-Famer Bill Moran became the most influential cutlers in America and perhaps the world.

“Moran virtually singlehandedly saved bladesmithing from extinction, and Loveless transformed stock-removal knifemaking,” he concluded. “Anyway, that is my take.”

The drop-point hunter stands out among the rest because of the times, the look, the feel, the mark, and of course, the source of it all—larger than life—Bob Loveless himself.

Discover the Secrets to Bob Loveless’s Knives

Dominick Gold

After going to knife shows for a few years, Dominick Gold of Manchester, New Jersey, had to try making a knife himself. He started reading and learning.

“I couldn`t believe how all the makers I met were willing to help the new guy,” Dominick noted.

He met Joe Szilaski at a New York knife show and took classes with him on stock removal and forging.

“I worked in the wholesale seafood industry out of the Fulton Fish Market in New York [City] and really learned how to use a knife,” he stated.

• Best-selling knife patterns: skinners, hunters, bird-and-trout and mini tactical tomahawks
• Preferred blade steels: 1095 for hamon, CPM 154 for hard or outdoor use, and AEB-L for fine edge holding in a slicer
• Blade grinds: flat w/convex edge and hollow
• How he tests his knives: paper slice, cardboard cut, 4×4 wooden post chop and user feedback
• Favorite handle materials: koa, redwood, maple, also Micarta®, G-10 and the occasional resin pinecone
• Price range: $200-$400
• Knife shows he attends: Northeast Cutlery Collectors Association, Mystic, Connecticut; Lehigh Valley Knife Show, Easton, Pennsylvania; Great Middletown Firearm and Knife Show, Middletown, New York
• Online purveyor selling his knives: artknives.com
• Forums he participates in: Northeast Cutlery Collectors Association and the knife gods Group on Facebook.
• Dominick does everything in house except heat treating stainless steel, which he leaves to Paul Bos. He hand-stitches his sheaths.

The Knife

His skinner has a 3.5-inch hollow-ground blade of AEB-L stainless steel. The knife has dovetailed brass bolsters with a satin finish, red linen Micarta scales and is finished with a 550 paracord fob.

“There isn’t a straight line on the knife,” Dominick added. Maker’s list price: $250.
Contact Dominick Gold, 908-309-7541, [email protected] and on Facebook at Dominick Gold.

Wayne Meligan

Wayne Meligan didn’t know why knifemaking came so easily to him, he just knew it did.
When Wayne was a boy, his father would pick him up after school with a change of clothes and they’d go fishing. He’s been carrying a knife ever since, fishing from the backwoods swamps to the Gulf of Mexico. After high school Wayne earned his bachelor of science degree in nursing, and today works full time as an assistant managing nurse in a critical care open-heart unit. He’s married with a 3-year-old at home, so his time for knifemaking is limited.

And yet, he spends every minute he can in his shop. Then his grandmother mentioned that his great-granddad used to make knives, and so did his grandfather.

Yet, nobody else in the extended family had picked up the craft, just Wayne. It all made sense—the compulsion to make knives was in his blood and had just skipped a generation.

• Best-selling knife patterns: drop-point hunter, ringtail cleaver
• Favorite blade steels: 5160 for its workhorse qualities, 1095, 80CrV2
• Blade grind: flat
• How he tests his knives: push-cut newspapers for chef’s knives; sportfish, hunt and camp for camp knives; cut a nail for heat-treat check on all models, or run through sheet metal
• Favorite handle materials: local hardwoods like snakewood and walnut
• Price range: $200 and up
• Forums he participates in: Bladesmithing for Beginners Groups on Facebook

The Knife

This hidden tang all-around knife has a 7-inch blade of ladder-patterned steel from Alabama Damascus Steel. The angled integral guard is brass. The walnut handle looks wet because once the rough sanding is completed, the finish sanding goes from 220- to 2,000-grit. Finally a coating of Danish wood oil is applied.

Maker’s list price: $350.

Contact Wayne Meligan, 850-503-3335, [email protected] and Pirate Forge on Facebook.

Rob Ratliff

Knifemaker Rob Ratliff specializes in fashioning gemstone handle knives, specifically using stone, minerals and fossils.

“My inventory consists of material from nearly every place on earth,” he claims. “I especially enjoy embellishments, such as filework and a variety of knife finishes. All of my work is in house with the exception of engraving.”

• Best-selling knife patterns: semi-skinner neck knives, drop-point hunters, gentleman’s folders and flipper folders
• Preferred blade steels: D2 for edge retention, CPM steels for corrosion resistance and performance, and stainless damascus because of its beauty and overall performance
• Blade grinds: hollow, flat and convex, depending on the knife’s intended use
• How he tests his knives: rope and paper cutting, feedback from customers, and edge flexes
• Favorite handle materials: gemstones for their unique, colorful, durable finishes, as well as Micarta®, wood and other materials upon request
• Price range: $100 and up for neck knives, and $400 and up for folders
• Knife shows he attends: BLADE Show, Gateway Area Knife Club Cutlery Fair and the Mt. Vernon Knife Show
• Member of: Gateway Area Knife Club
• Forums he participates in: bladeforums.com and jerzeedevil.com

The Knife

“My background in woodworking and a career as a welder and in ornamental iron fabrication made my transition into knifemaking feel natural,” says Ratliff, who started making knives in 2007.

The wharncliffe-style, locking-liner folder sports a 3.25-inch Mike Norris damascus blade, dinosaur bone scales, fileworked titanium liners, “orange-peel-finished” titanium bolsters, and a dinosaur-bone inlaid titanium thumb stud. Ratliff’s list price: $1,050.

Contact Rob Ratliff , Dept. BL2, 4318 Martyridge Ct., St. Louis, MO 63129 314-581-1691 [email protected], facebook.com/rob.ratliff.

Marty Jelinek

Knifemaking is a new pursuit for Marty Jelinek. His 14-year-old son asked if he could help make a hunting knife for him, and the passion grew from there. Marty has no formal knife training but a background in fabrication helps.

“For heat treating and tempering I have taught myself using TTT [time-temperature transformation] charts and gleaning information from steel makers’ guidelines,” Marty explained.

He lives in the outback where Internet access is spotty, TV reception is poor, and there is nobody nearby to lean on or compare and contrast with.

“My day job is as a farm hand on a crop farm, and this leaves little spare time, but it does allow me the opportunity to field test my blades in the tough Australian outback conditions.”

• Best-selling knife patterns: 3-inch everyday carry drop-point, 4-inch drop-point hunter and the occasional kitchen knife
• Preferred blade steels: SUP9/5160 in the form of recycled planting discs; also 12C27, 1095, 15N20, 1075 and D2
• Blade grinds: full flat with a 25-degree secondary and the occasional zero-degree
• How he tests his knives: field testing around the farm, hunting, cooking
• Preferred handle materials: stabilized burl, G-10, horn and, by customer request, inlace acrylic. “The harsh Australian conditions call for tough hard-wearing handles, especially on working knives.”
• Price range: $250-$300 with hand-tooled sheath
• Forums he participates in: Assorted ones on Facebook, and Australian Blacksmith and Knifemaker

The Knife

“I am just a bloke in the bush having a red-hot go, making a few knives to pay for equipment to make a few more knives, Marty added.

His kitchen carving knife has a 7-inch blade with blued 5160/SUP9 steel. The inlace acrylic handle includes G-10 liners and spacers. Overall length is 12 inches. Maker’s list price: $300.

Contact Marty Jelinek, +61 4 28 299 690, [email protected], on Facebook at Handmade Knives by Marty Jelinek.

Rudy Dean

Edmund Davidson, friend and mentor for over 25 years, sparked Rudy Dean’s interest in knifemaking.

Rudy was taught the art of pattern-welding steel by Herb Derr, who also encouraged him to make knives. American Bladesmith Society master smith Jim Crowell was Rudy’s instructor in the ABS Intro to Bladesmithing class, continues to guide his forging techniques and supervised Rudy’s journeyman smith performance test.

After 27 years as a retail store owner, Rudy retired in January and has become a full-time bladesmith. He also enjoys farming, beekeeping and sharpening his bushcraft skills in the mountains of the Shenandoah Valley.

• Best-selling knife patterns: hunters and tomahawks made with patternwelded steel, and forged bowies
• Preferred blade steels: his own forge-welded steel using 1084 and 15N20, 1075 for hamon, D2 for stock removal and CPM S30V for kitchen knives
• Blade grinds: flat and the occasional hollow
• How he tests his knives: wood and rope cutting, occasional destructive tests
• Favorite handle materials: burls and spalted woods for natural beauty, vintage Micarta® for ruggedness and cast materials by J. Hue Customs
• Price range: $250-$900
• Knife shows he attends: BLADE Show, International Custom Cutlery Exposition, the Moran Association All Forged Show and the Shenandoah Valley Knife Collectors Show
• Member of: ABS, The Knifemakers’ Guild, William F. Moran, Jr. Museum and Foundation, Shenandoah Valley Knife Collectors Club and the North Carolina Custom Knifemakers Guild
• Forums he participates in: ABS and BladeForums.com.

The Knife

Rudy runs a “sole authorship” shop, performing all aspects of his builds in house.
In his Urban Cleaver Rudy incorporates 261 layers of pattern-welded 1084 and 15N20 steels in a 5½-inch, partial-hollow-ground blade. The knife is 10 1/4 inches overall with amboyna burl Blood Drip scales from J. Hue Customs. Maker’s list price: $500.

Contact Rudy Dean, 540-487-8777, at [email protected], at www.rudydeancustomknives.com, @rudydeancustomknives on Facebook and @rudydeanknives on Instagram.

Tim Flack

Tim Flack’s bladesmithing journey began when he saw the Western approach to traditional Japanese fine metalwork in pieces made by South Africans such as Ford Hallam and Tiaan Burger.

“I loved the traditional approach they took using hand chisels—called tagane—to carve metal,” Tim noted.

He lost his job a few months later and Pokémon GO was out, so he made a few sterling silver pendants of Pokémon and realized it paid the bills.

A friend asked him to make a knife and he called the local knife club for help. Rick Afonso introduced him to his mentor and friend, Stan Hohowsky.

“I forged my first knife, a kozuka, and that had me hooked,” Tim said.

Stan and friend Brad Woollon have mentored him ever since. Both studied under South Africa’s only American Bladesmith Society master smiths, Kevin and Heather Harvey.

• Best-selling knife patterns: ultra-thin kitchen knife co-designed and manufactured with Woollon, his yanagiba, drop-point hunter and bowie
• Preferred blade steels: O1 and 5160 for ready availability in South Africa. “I’d love 52100 for my kitchen blades, but it’s hard to get in flat bar and we forge it out of bearings here,” Tim explained.
• Blade grinds: flat on kitchen blades for push cutting
• How he tests his knives: wood chopping, push cutting ropes, bottle chops
• Favorite handle materials: local woods like camphor bush burl, stink ebony and wenge
• Price range: $60-$300
• Knife shows he attends: local shows in Cape Town
• Member of: The Cape Town Knife Club
• Forums he participates in: Facebook Groups

The Knife

His kitchen knife has a 7.38-inch flatground, convex-edged blade of Bohler K460 steel. Overall length is 11.81 inches. The handle is made of treated zebrano wood and fastened with mosaic pins.

Contact Tim Flack at +27 60 6054562, [email protected], on Facebook at Tim Flack; on Instagram @journey_of_a_metalsmith and on Twitter @tim_meh87.

Find More Custom Knifemakers with BLADE‘s Directory

A full directory of custom knifemakers around the world can be found in the Knives 2018 book.