Knifemaking is the building of a knife, which includes the blade, handle and other accouterments. Blades are made by either removing metal from a steel blank via a grinder – known as stock removal – and the forging to shape of hot steel into a blade in the process known as bladesmithing. Other parts, including bolsters, guards, pommels, etc., are needed to complete the finished knife.
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In this video, Tom Ward explains how to unfold forged mosaic damascus steel during the Wuertz Machine Works 2019 Hammer In. The event took place in March.
Ward’s overview provides a fascinating look at one of the critical steps in how mosaic damascus is made.
* Learn more from bladesmiths around the world each year at BLADE Show!
BLADE had a blast at the Wuertz Machine Works 2019 Hammer In last month in Arizona. Check out the action with Mike Quesenberry. That’s Neil Kamimura in the beginning, too.
See more of your favorite knifemakers at BLADE Show 2019!
Editor’s Note: The following article by Pat Crawford was originally published in the April 1980 issue of BLADE, but the advice still holds true today.
Any knifemaker can make almost any kind of knife, but some knifemakers are better than others. Knowing where you fit in the scheme of things is important, especially for developing a pricing structure that is compatible with the quality of your work.
Those makers who can command big bucks for anything that leaves the shop have paid a lot of dues for this success. And just because your work looks just as good doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be able to compete with the big names and legends whose work is priced at the higher end of the spectrum.
Remember, even today’s legends got their start by turning out quality work at fair prices.
Decide where you want to compete in the market. Should you specialize in something unique or should you offer a wide range of products?
The latter strategy has the potential of appealing to a larger share of the knife buying public. One example of this approach is the addition of folding knives to many makers’ offerings.
However, this type of market coverage won’t work for everyone making knives. You will have to decide whether diversification will capitalize on your strengths or spread your resources too thin.
Whatever you decide, the wrong choice could end you up making something that nobody wants. “Being there” at the right time with the right product takes as much hard work as it does luck, whether that product is one knife or a whole line of knives.
If you think making knives is a fun, romantic way to make a living, you may be overlooking a very important point. Making knives is enjoyable, but it is hard work.
There is a big difference between hobby knifemaking and doing it full-time. Hobby knifemakers (and there are some super part-timers) don’t have to depend on their knives for a living, while full-time makers do.
And the transition from part- to full-time can be a traumatic experience. For the first time, there’s the pressure of getting the work out and meeting delivery dates just to put bread on the table, and what used to be an activity you enjoyed in your spare time is suddenly a job you must do to exist.
Living with a constant backlog, increasing demands, and monthly quotas takes a certain amount of nerve and self-discipline. Roses wilt and so do some knifemakers under this kind of pressure. But, if you enjoy the challenge of a sink or swim kind of life, you may not want to do anything else for a living.
It’s a business world fact that some products are more popular than others, and what was popular yesterday may be a dog tomorrow. However, makers who are unable or unwilling to make what the people want have seen once loyal customers flock to those who do.
Trends may be spotted by attending the more popular knife shows and events.
People will not automatically knock down your door just because you make knives. You have to let the public know what you have to offer; then if you’re lucky, they’ll knock down your door.
Of course, word of mouth advertising is great and it’s free, but a lot of mouths would have to do an awful lot of talking to reach as many people as are reached by a good magazine in even one issue.
People are more likely to buy your knives if they like you as a person. A personal relationship is one of the most important parts of the custom knife trade.
Knifemakers who are unfriendly, too busy to answer questions, too sold on themselves, or just plain rude to potential customers are shorting themselves as well as other makers.
Even the greatest knifemakers are constantly striving to better their product. Whether it’s a new design, material, or method of construction, there is always something you can do to perfect your product. And believe me, if you don’t, the competition will.
No knifemaker can get away from the fact that he or she is a small businessman as well as a craftsman. Neglecting the business side of knifemaking has probably put more makers out of business than any other single factor.
You don’t have to be a business whiz to know you can’t have more money going out than you have coming in. To keep track of cash flow, accurate recordkeeping is imperative. This includes knowing the cost, both in time and materials, to produce one knife so the revenue from its sale is enough to cover costs and produce a profit.
If you’re serious about getting into knifemaking, there’s only one place you need to be: BLADE Show. See you in Atlanta.
Click an image for a closer look. (All images submitted by Kate Opre)
Kate Opre, of Montana, is still in high school, but she’s taking up scrimshaw in a way that’s catching the attention of many in the knife world. Who says the kids aren’t all right?
Opre wrote to BLADE about why she’s interested in this rich tradition, and she sent in some of her work. Who are we to keep such feats to ourselves? With her parents’ permission, we’re running her submission here.
For Opre, the permanence of scrimshaw is part of the appeal.
“I love all forms of art, but scrimshaw is really special,” she wrote in an e-mail. “It’s a challenge because you can’t really erase; if you mess up you have to sand off the whole thing and restart.”
That requires focus, something it seems is in short supply in today’s technology-drenched world.
“It takes a lot of patience to scrimshaw. Some pieces take days, but others could take months to complete,” Opre wrote. “Not very many people know about scrimshaw anymore. Hopefully, I can have the opportunity to show people what scrimshaw is.”
She trained under Thomas and Debi Rucker (Knives By Thomas), and she makes knives in addition to handling the scrimshaw. Horses are a favorite design, and she displays her work at horse shows.
By the looks of things, BLADE expects a rewarding career to come. Keep going!
Opre’s website is artbykateopre.com.
Avoiding safety complications in a knifemaker’s shop is essential. BLADE® polled some key players in the knife supply industry to see if there are any trends in motion in the area of shop safety. While everyone can agree that common sense is a good thing, and that certain stand-by items as fire extinguishers and safety glasses will always be among knife shop essentials, there has been somewhat of an evolution in this area.
“I think the biggest advance is really progress in bringing safety awareness to the knifemaking community,” observed Shanna Kemp, marketing manager at Jantz Supply. “For example, we see a marked increase in the use of respirators as makers come to understand that breathing in even small amounts of wood dust might not seem like a big deal, but over time it can really affect your lungs.”
She added that some woods, such as ebony, release small amounts of arsenic, so an increase in awareness of the dangers of particulates and resins is a good trend.
A new addition to the line of Jantz safety products is the Benchtop Downdraft Sanding Table. The 20 x 40-inch dust-collection system is about 6 inches tall and connects to the maker’s vacuum system to help capture dust.
“I feel like everyone is more conscious of their health these days than they used to be,” agreed Shannon Edgington of Knife and Gun Finishing Supplies. She said that while there isn’t anything new or cutting edge in her inventory, she definitely agreed that particulate concerns have become more of an issue.
One budget solution K&G offers is the 3M N95 Respirator for Vapors that features the Cool Flow Exhalation Valve that reduces heat build-up inside the respirator.
As buyers jump from budget-friendly dust masks to the newer, more effective respirators, they don’t have to be replaced as often.
“The technology has definitely come along so that people don’t have to replace as much,” she said. “It’s not like the old paper respirators that people are constantly replacing, which don’t filter out that much anyway.”
K&G and Jantz both offer the 3M 7500 Series Half-Face Respirator Mask, which features a better seal around the nose and mouth, and replaceable filter canisters for a better level of protection.
In the area of high-end respirators, Jeff Mutz, product consultant at Tru-Grit, has high praise for one particular model that he said solves a couple of problems for contemporary knifemakers. For starters, he noted that the concept of “form follows function” even applies to current personal fashion trends.
“One thing I was impressed with,” Mutz said of the 3M Ultimate FX Full Facepiece Respirator, “is that it works a lot better for guys with facial hair, which is a big thing these days. I’ve seen more and more guys using the full-face respirator, so it’s apparently becoming a popular thing.”
He recalled that a lot of guys who visit his shop have longer and/or larger beards, and he noticed they have trouble getting a good, tight fit with a regular dust mask, or even the half-face respirator. The 3M Ultimate FX isn’t fool proof for those who choose to wear beards, he admitted, but the full face piece keeps out a lot more particles than the others.
“Of course, they say to create a seal you’ve got to shave off the beard, but a lot of guys aren’t willing to do that,” Mutz laughed. “So this is the next best thing.”
He recalled a conversation with Scott Sharpe, owner of Tru-Grit, about the younger generation, which seems more conscientious about safety. Scott said that when younger guys walk into his shop while he’s grinding, often they will pull their shirts up over their noses out of concern for what could end up in their lungs.
Another good thing about the 3M Ultimate FX Full Facepiece Respirator is a better field of view. Mutz said when he wears a half-face respirator and safety glasses, the glasses interfere with the nose piece because they are not designed to work well together.
“I’ve noticed that the best way to solve that is to tuck the safety glasses under the half-face respirator, which is worse because you’re inhaling even more dust,” he explained. “With the full face, you get a large field of view and you don’t have to worry about the safety glasses interfering.”
Kemp said a lot of people may be surprised by two of Jantz’s best-selling safety supplies: two types of tape. The first is basic 3M Blue Masking Tape, which is used to cover the blade edge to avoid cuts from sharp edges. She added that a bandage wrap by Guard-Tex called Self Adhering Safety Tape is also popular in the area of hand protection. It is used to protect skin when grinding, sanding or polishing, while also not being as restrictive as full gloves.
However, in the area of hand protection Mutz warns against the inevitable trade-offs. He recommends that if you wear hand protection, especially gloves, choose Kevlar rather than cloth or rawhide because the properties of the latter don’t play well with heat and moisture, which are both aspects of grinding in the shop.
Mutz recalled when, years ago, he tried grinding while wearing gloves and noticed the gloves got wet when he dipped the blade into a bucket of water to cool it. The heat from the blade quickly transferred through the water into one of his hands.
“I couldn’t get my glove off quick enough,” he remembered. “I’ve rubbed my hand against a 36-grit belt before and that doesn’t feel good either. It’s kind of a double-edged sword.”
Another problem he pointed out was that makers should want to feel the steel. If it is getting warm, be aware of it and cool it off before the heat compromises the structure of the material.
“Especially once it’s been heat treated,” he stressed. “You don’t want to soften the steel.”
Mutz teaches knifemaking classes and discusses safety with his students. He stressed that he’s pro safety, of course, but as far as hand protection goes he’s probably not the best guy to consult.
“If you look on Tru-Grit’s website we’ve got this thing called Alligator Skin, which is a protective tape. Then you’ve got the finger guards that are made out of canvas. I’m not going to tell my students not to wear them, but these are the things you’ve got to look out for,” he concluded.
Safety is and should be a concern for those who spend long hours in a knife shop, and all three sources for this story agreed that common sense is the foundation, which, Edgington laughed, “over the years hasn’t always been in great supply!”
In the northern Mississippi town of Blue Springs, in a rural area between Tupelo and the Tennessee border, a company called Chad Nichols Damascus is forging steel that is taking knives to a new level. The company’s owner and namesake, Chad is an easygoing Southerner who created a damascus product called MokuTi that boasts a stunning combination of shapes and colors.
The name explains it perfectly. It is mokume that includes titanium laminates. MokuTi adds an exceptional visual boost to a knife, with swirled or mosaic tones of blue, gold, orange, silver and pink, depending on the composition of the materials used.
In his affable manner, Chad assured that Chad Nichols Damascus did not invent the colorful titanium laminate; the company just came up with a new way to achieve it—which, he noted, was not an easy task.
“We haven’t invented the wheel or anything,” Nichols said of MokuTi. “I don’t have to be the first one doing anything. I just want to be the last one doing it. We run this like a business, not an ego trip.”
It would figure that something that looks as good as MokuTi would be difficult to produce. Nichols said it took several years to figure out.
“That’s not blowing it out of proportion,” he laughed. “I messed with it for a while, then I just put it away because I kept failing.”
He remembered getting tunnel vision trying to figure out why it was not working.
“You keep doing it and it’s insane,” he said, “because if it didn’t work the first three times and you didn’t do anything different, it’s not going to work the fourth time.”
Through trial and error he was finally able to figure out how to bond titanium with the other metals, but he is understandably tight-lipped about his proprietary secrets.
“I’m not going to tell you how we do it,” he admitted, “but there’s things we do that might seem minute to some people. However, we found those things to be critical.”
He explained a myriad of variables when bonding the layers in presses and rolling mills, including oxygen, heat and surface texture.
“Without getting into too much detail as far as bonding the layers, I’ll just say it’s tricky and it doesn’t always work,” Nichols allowed. “If I don’t make MokuTi for a month or two, I kind of count on the first two tries being crap.”
The experimental journey to fruition brought Nichols’ shop down some rocky roads.
“We recently made some MokuTi and threw zirconium in there,” he noted. “We love bonding titanium to other metals, but you just can’t do anything with [titanium and zirconium]. They just won’t bond because I guess the ductility is too different and the metals move at different rates during forging. It was a disaster, so we quit trying.”
It is all part of the ride, he said, and you cannot be scared to “just throw something in there” and see what happens.
Another variable that affects producing MokuTi successfully is the atmosphere. While forging carbon damascus is fairly predictable, Nichols said forging MokuTi is much more complex.
“When you get into stainless and even Mokume, with the copper and brass with the nickel silver in it, and especially with the MokuTi, it gets complicated,” he continued. “What people don’t understand about forging, especially down where I live, is that with humidity of 100 percent is going to get hotter than if it’s 50 percent the next day.”
Nichols searched for the words to explain his approach. Maybe it is a feeling, maybe it is a sixth sense, and maybe it is just exposure and experience.
“I hate saying this but you just get in tune with what’s going on. It’s like using the word ‘organic.’ I hate it when I have to use that word, but sometimes there’s no other word to describe it,” he lamented. “We made a new pattern a couple weeks ago called ‘Boomerang’ and some guy goes, ‘What’s it like?’ and, between groans, I said, ‘It’s very organic looking.’”
“I’ve used MokuTi on a variety of styles,” said Michael Burch, Missouri knifemaker and owner of Burchtree Blades. “It’s like putting a tie on a knife—it just adds some class.”
Adding MokuTi as an accent is a common way to integrate the material into a knife without breaking the bank. Still, it is not cheap. The more of it the maker adds to the knife, the more it adds to the sale price.
“I charge twice as much for MokuTi bolsters as I would titanium bolsters due to the extra finishing time with polishing and heat coloring,” explained knifemaker Peter Carey. “I use MokuTi on all my folders because it’s strong and has an exotic look.”
Carey said he also uses it as an accent material on his knives, such as for bolsters, pocket clips, back spacers, thumb studs and pivot rings. He said accenting with MokuTi injects some color and flash without overwhelming the knife. A good example of employing MokuTi is as a pivot collar on a stonewashed framelock, Burch added.
“It makes for great contrast and can really dress up a user folder,” he observed. “It’s costly but if customers saw what went into making it, it would seem cheap.”
“It appears that everyone likes the material and it usually ends up on my higher-end knives,” Carey said. “Some of my customers ask for it as full scales or for a framelock, so I use it that way also.”
As Carey noted, MokuTi comes from Nichols Damascus as a billet that must be worked to shape and then colored.
“[Chad] usually colors it so you can see the pattern, but that gets ground off when you work it,” Carey said, explaining that it is a surface color that does not go all the way though the material. “When you get it to final shape and finish, you have to heat color or anodize it to the colors you want.”
“The other cool thing about MokuTi is dealing with Chad,” he maintained. “He’s a great guy, a friend, hard working and you can’t beat his customer service.”
Editor’s note: All images are courtesy of their respective manufacturers.
Today’s sporting cutlery market is flooded with some very good foreign-made knives, and it may seem USA-made models are threatened in terms of quality, but nothing could be further from the truth. The American knife industry is still the leader of the pack.
Emerson Knives, Inc., and president/founder/custom knifemaker Ernest Emerson are unabashedly pro-American made. Emerson founded the company in 1997 on the principle of designing and building the best USA-made production tactical knives anywhere.
Along with his wife Mary, Ernest has consistently grown the company by listening to what consumers want. Emerson knives are 100 percent made in the USA, right down to the screws. Emerson is an ardent supporter of the military, law enforcement and other first responders, another good reason why it’s so important that the company’s knives be made entirely in the USA.
Nonetheless, there are downsides.
“There are very few advantages in building a manufacturing operation in America,” Emerson says, citing state and federal taxes and ever-increasing regulations. It’s actually tough for a business to remain competitive here. However, I believe it’s worth the effort, restrictions and extra burden because I will do anything for America. I know my business is putting Americans to work with American wages who can earn a living in this country.”
He adds that the taxes he and his employees pay go directly to supporting the country and the U.S. military and its infrastructure.
“We have to manage our business smarter, more efficiently and more strategically to ensure a profitable and viable existence,” he stresses.
It’s the same attitude that makes the Commander and CQC7 models the company’s best sellers. The CQC7 is durable and comes in three sizes and two distinct blade shapes. A sexy piece with its ergonomic handle paired with a recurved clip-point blade, the Commander is a formidable cutting tool that comes in five iterations, each varying in size. Maintaining the popularity of these knives down the road is important to Emerson.
â”In order to stay viable,” he notes, “I believe the future lies in the industry’s ability to design and build knives that the consumer really wants.”
CJ Buck, president of Buck Knives, says a major advantage to having knives made in the USA is owning the integrity of the manufacturing processes.
“Consistent processes create consistently performing products,” he begins. “It also ensures product quality improvements are held as processes evolve.”
Another advantage is heightened flexibility and responsiveness.
“We can fix a design or quality issue quickly or adjust to spikes in our forecast since the partnerships between our factory and our USA vendors can be aligned immediately,” he explains.
On the other hand, domestic production carries its own set of challenges.
“When importing, if you need to add capacity you simply contract with another factory or, on the other side, cut a factory off,” he explains. Stateside you have to invest in more equipment, people and buildings. Consequently, as Buck laments, “If you are forced to reduce your output, the pain and loss of investment is in laying workers off.”
As for the future of American knife manufacturing, Buck is optimistic.
“The United States continues to lead in innovation,” he states. “Our culture and national character give us a substantial, sustainable advantage in that area.”
Microtech Knives built a solid reputation in the 1990s on designing and making some of the market’s most progressive production tactical folders, and continues to push the envelope. Why manufacture in the USA?
“So we are able to keep flaws to a minimum and catch mistakes early on,” reasons Hank Greenberg, the company’s custom shop manager, adding that if a company offers a solid made-in-the-USA knife with quality materials, then consumers will have no problem paying a fair price for it.
Americans build Microtech’s knives, such as the Ultratech out-the-front (OTF) auto and Socom Delta tactical folder.
HTM Knives is based in Forney, Texas. An acronym for Hand Tech Made, HTM was founded by knifemaker Darrel Ralph as a result of an ever-growing demand for his custom models. HTM allowed him to offer his designs to more people at a lower price and accelerated delivery times.
According to Ralph, HTM makes its knives in the USA “to take care of Americans and to take care of the people who take care of us. By having our knives made in the USA, we have total control on quality.”
Ralph says the Gun Hammer and Mad Maxx are HTM’s best-selling knives. Both began as full customs, so it made sense to produce them under the HTM banner. For the Gun Hammer alone, HTM offers several iterations in varying blade shapes, finishes, steels and coats.
“The military likes both knives and guns made in the USA,” Ralph notes. He says his Gun Hammer and 18 X-Ray automatic are among HTM’s best sellers with military customers. The company also offers designs by such makers as Kirby Lambert and Greg Lightfoot.
Ralph indicates there is a 23 percent scrap rate for knives made overseas.
“You have to figure in for that rate,” he says of foreign-made knives. By having their knives made in the USA, he reasoned, the HTM brain trust has total control over the processes, and can rectify any production issues that might arise before they become a problem.
When it comes to the advantages of knives made in America, Ralph says U.S. companies have access to the best steel and high-end materials.
It should come as no surprise then that Ralph says there is a huge upswing in companies manufacturing knives stateside. He specifically cited Buck Knives, who has been returning some models to “made-in-USA” status after previously being off shore produced. He also noted a growing trend of custom makers offering mid-tech/semi-production knives.
“They are growing the American market instead of stealing from it,” he observes. “That’s what we need in the knife industry.”
