Travis Payne’s knife has all the right curves in all the right places.
It’s hard to find anything more beautiful than a shapely woman’s leg, and Travis Payne revisits the concept in knife terms with his Gal Leg fixed blade.
Study the leg handle and you can see how it would be eminently ergonomic. “That was the whole point of the knife—to get a handle shape that both looked like a leg and was pleasing to grip,” the maker from Telephone, Texas, noted.
Travis Payne (inset) said his Gal Leg fixed blade finished second in its category in the knife judging competition at the 2021 ICCE in Fort Worth, Texas. The swedged blade bears Payne’s mark of “T-Bone 21.” Note how the boot toe curls up to form a top single guard/thumb placement area for an enhanced grip.
Leg handles long were favored among manufacturers of antique pocketknives back in the day, but there’s something about Payne’s version with the boot for a bolster, swaybacked handle with the indentation about where the back of the knee would be and the—ahem—handle butt that all comes together.
You might say the knife has a leg up on the competition.
Gal Leg Specs Maker: Travis Payne Knife type: Fixed blade Blade length: 3” Blade material: Pattern-welded steel forged by Alabama Damascus Handle material: Mammoth ivory Bolsters: Copper engraved by Matt Litz Overall length: 7” Maker’s approximate list price for a similar knife: $1,200
Bob Dozier’s Bare Bones Buffalo Skinner is sharp—and comfy, too!
There’s nothing quite like holding a great-feeling knife that makes you want to cut something. Bob Dozier has been making custom knives to be used for over half a century and understands the importance of two major things: comfortable handles and sharp blades. They still have to cut and perform to be carried daily.
Let’s start cutting with the Bare Bones Buffalo Skinner.
Using a dead-blow hammer, the author batonned the skinner into and through thin kindling. The knife proved a solid splitter. No damage occurred to the edge.
The quickest check to see if the knife has a sharp edge is to slice paper. You probably know by now that I use 20-pound bond copy paper for the job. The Bare Bones aggressively sliced into the paper using the knife’s own weight. The skinner is very controllable in use. The high hollow grind slid through the paper.
Moving on to single-walled cardboard for slicing, the aggressiveness continued. You could hear every cut made—the Bare Bones is a very loud slicer. I didn’t have any hang-ups during the test, just full, noisy cuts. The handle shape made controlling the cuts easy.
The knife performed aggressively in slicing single-walled cardboard. The handle shape made controlling cuts easy.
Next up: 8-ounce leather. This is where the Bare Bones was sweet. It zipped through the leather like it was cutting the 20-pound bond paper—just louder. It was super aggressive in slicing the medium, with hardly any resistance. I would love trying the Bare Bones on field dressing whitetail deer. Maybe come fall …
OLD-SCHOOL KINDLE
On to harder material. It was February, and I like to keep a supply of kindling and fire sticks to light a blaze faster. The Bare Bones made tight curlicues in the old pine. The wide blade and high grind worked out great for curling the wood. The handle shape excelled at controlling depth of cut. The single guard protected my fingers from getting splinters. Dozier’s knife embodies top-notch work.
The Bare Bones crunched to 225 cuts. The author stopped at 225, as he didn’t want to risk slicing a finger.
It was time to make some thin kindling. Using a dead-blow hammer, I batonned the skinner into and through the wood. The knife’s solid overall construction prevented vibrations to my hand. The skinner proved a solid splitter. No damage occurred to the edge.
I had to warm up my fingers for the rope cutting. With no heat in my garage and the temperature at 17 degrees, I separated the test into 25 cuts per warm up. The Bare Bones crunched to 225 cuts. As I used the push method, it kept cutting. I stopped at 225, as I didn’t want to risk slicing a finger.
CHANGES
I might add some grooves to enhance grip.
OVERALL
This knife is a beast in the cutting arena. The comfortable handle made control easy. This knife is excellently made and perfect for the outdoors or hunting.
Bare bones Buffalo Skinner Maker: Bob Dozier Cutting edge length: 3.25” Blade material: D2 tool steel Blade grind: High hollow Blade thickness (at the thickest): .25″ Scales: Brown canvas Micarta® Guard: 416 stainless steel Extras: Tapered tang; thong Weight: 8 ozs. (123/8 ozs. w/sheath) Overall length: 8” Sheath: 8-ounce leather, pouch style Maker’s list price: $477
Four U.S.-based companies embrace making military knives stateside.
Make no mistake—manufacturing knives in the USA comes with challenges, including regulations, taxes, high costs of doing business and much more. While imported knives often beat American-mades on price, companies that choose to produce knives domestically carry a long tradition of equipping the U.S. military with the best American design and manufacturing has to offer.
Spartan Blades
For Curtis Iovito, with Mark Carey co-founder of Spartan Blades, the tension between creating high-quality knives and keeping costs down has been one of the primary challenges in running Spartan for the past 13 years.
The Silver Line, also known as Pineland Cutlery, is a collaboration between Spartan Blades and KA-BAR to create a more affordable line made in the USA. The Alala is the first collaboration between the two. It has a 3.75-inch blade and a canvas Micarta handle. MSRP: $159.
“We did everything we could to keep our costs down, from buying in bulk, streamlining production and reducing shipping costs,” Curtis observed. “Even with that, we were lambasted by our customers for being ‘too expensive.’ It was our No. 1 complaint. We even received hate mail for it!”
For Iovito—who said those who staff Spartan Blades consider themselves soldiers first and knifemakers second—patriotism was among the top reasons to make knives in Southern Pines, North Carolina, despite the challenges of starting a manufacturing venture there. Another reason is the ability to have fine control over the deadlines and the manufacturing process, he added. That control and the pursuit of quality it allows has enabled Spartan Blades to make knives for special operations forces, the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and “every other three-lettered group out there,” Iovito said.
Located on the backside of Fort Bragg, Spartan Blades has plenty of soldiers stopping by to shop, though there are many who do not have enough money to take home one of the company’s top-tier Gold Line knives. “Every single packing list I have ever seen for a soldier has ‘fixed blade knife’ listed on it,” Iovito said, “and most of the time the soldiers are required to acquire it themselves.”
Consequently, Spartan began offering two other grades of knives. The Bronze Line is manufactured in Taiwan and the Silver Line, also known as Pineland Cutlery, is a collaboration between Spartan and KA-BAR to create a more affordable line in the latter’s facility in Olean, New York. The Alala is the first result of that collaboration.
“We wanted to make a knife that was lightweight, easy to carry and that could be carried on airborne operations,” Iovito said. The Alala is made suitable for airborne operations by focusing a good deal of effort on developing a hard sheath with double retention. It’s been out for about a year now. It has a flat-ground 3.75-inch blade and a canvas Micarta® handle. It weighs just shy of a third of a pound and is ground from 1095 Cro-Van steel, where additional elements such as molybdenum and nitrogen make it tougher than standard 1095 spring steel. As Iovito noted, “KA-BAR has been using this steel for years and has the heat treatment down to a science.”
TOPS Knives
A couple of years ago, TOPS Knives of Ucon, Idaho, figured it hadn’t released any big combat knives in a while, so company president and knife designer Leo Espinoza developed the Operator 7.
Every TOPS knife save one design is manufactured at the company’s shop in eastern Idaho. An example is the Blackout Edition of the Operator 7 in a 7.25-inch blade of 5/16-inch-thick 1075 carbon steel with a Black Traction Coating. MSRP: $240.
“Like most of our knives, we have a tendency to over-build them, so we made the Operator 7 out of 5/16-inch-thick, 1075 carbon steel to ensure that the knife could literally handle anything you need it to do,” wrote Dylan Waters, dealer liaison for TOPS. The Operator 7 and its 7.25-inch blade hit the market in 2018. In October of the same year, the company released the Blackout variation of the knife: Black Traction Coating on the blade and a black synthetic handle with a red border.
There are few cutting tasks that are too large for a big combat knife, a necessity when another knife isn’t an arm’s reach away.
“In a community where a lot of the time the only gear you have is what you carried in, the choice comes down to the individual’s personal preference,” Waters said, explaining why the knife is a good carry for members of the military. “The Operator 7 Blackout Edition is a very capable blade and it definitely has its place in the field.”
For the company known for its use of 1095, TOPS reached for 1075 steel for this project because it better resists impact and sharpens easily. Even the Micarta/G-10 combo handle helps aid in big cutting jobs. “The G-10 is on the bottom layer to help with impact because it is harder than Micarta,” Waters explained, “and the Micarta is on the top layer to help with grip.”
Every TOPS knife save one design is manufactured at its Idaho shop, and the company brain trust sees little advantage to manufacturing anywhere else. “We are a U.S. company supporting other U.S. companies by sourcing materials from them,” Waters pointed out. “Sure, sometimes prices are higher compared to sourcing overseas but when it is all said and done, the end user has peace of mind that they are getting quality product that they can trust.”
Though the U.S. military announced it is working toward leaving Afghanistan after about 20 years fighting terrorism there, the need for a good quality knife will continue, as the military is constantly training and preparing just in case, Waters said. And if things do go south, TOPS will “rest assured that these soldiers will have tools that are purpose-built and won’t fail when they need them the most.”
Bear & Son Cutlery
From the shipyards near Mobile to missile and rocket development in Huntsville, Alabama plays a big role in the nation’s space and military programs. Sitting amidst the state home to Fort Rucker and Maxwell Air Force Base is Bear & Son Cutlery, which takes pride in creating knives for customers that include troops and government contractors.
Bear & Son first released a version of the Bear Tac CC-110-B4-B in 1999. When the company launched its Bear Ops line in 2011, it brought the knife back because it liked the design with its “strong tip, full tang, solid handle material, non-reflective, easy to sharpen steel, and adaptable sheath,” company vice president Matt Griffey observed.
“We are one of only a handful of knife manufacturers in the United States, and the largest in the Southeast,” said Matt Griffey, company vice president. “Also, we’re a family-owned and operated business, something less common nowadays.”
Bear & Son has long manufactured knives with an eye toward people in uniform. For instance, the company first released a version of the Bear Tac CC-110-B4-B design using D2 tool steel and a Micarta handle back in 1999, a couple of years before 9/11 shifted the nation’s perception of what threats stood against it.
When Bear & Son launched its Bear Ops line in 2011, it brought the knife back because it liked the design with its “strong tip, full tang, solid handle material, non-reflective, easy to sharpen steel, and adaptable sheath,” Griffey observed. In a 1095 spring steel blade with an epoxy powder coat and a G-10 handle, the knife is 10.375 inches overall. The accompanying Kydex sheath is jump ready, meaning not only does the sheath hug the knife in place, it also has a snap for extra security.
Bear & Son makes the knife at its shop in Jacksonville, Alabama, a place where Griffey says members of the community quickly produce knife designs with pride and quality they can control. “A major advantage of keeping our Alabama factory in operation is providing families a career or skill they can be proud of,” Griffey said. “Understanding our products and services positively impact the lives of our friends, family and neighbors is worth the regulations and taxes of operating in the United States.”
For instance, students at a nearby state university gain real-world experiences at Bear & Son. Meanwhile, some Bear craftspeople and designers have 20-plus years of experience working with numerous types of steels and can develop client orders in a timely manner, Griffey noted.
While the mission of the nation’s military may change, the mission at Bear & Son continues to “provide quality made products that service personnel can depend on,” Griffey said. “The market for strong, reliable blades will be steady, though we will see some trends in sizes, shapes and materials move around.”
Winkler Knives
Daniel Winkler of Winkler Knives in Boone, North Carolina, readily admits that if you’re looking for a knife to take camping, his WK Tactical Dagger is not for you. With a 5.5-inch blade and short bevels the dagger has little utility use, he noted, beyond the thing knives can do when the enemy is close. “The design was a collaboration between me and one of the Army special operations team leaders,” he said. “It was a design they needed for their specialized type of fieldwork.”
Made in Boone, North Carolina, the Winkler Knives Tactical Dagger in a black Micarta® handle has the same specs as the WASP-pattern model pictured elsewhere herein. “The handle shape does not hang on clothing as a lot of cross-guard knives do,” Daniel Winkler noted. MSRP: $400.
The 80CrV2 carbon steel offers “the best consistent performance” of any steel Winkler works with, and the blade sits nestled in a lined, Boltaron sheath. “The handle shape does not hang on clothing as a lot of cross-guard knives do,” he noted. “The handle shape also gives good indexing and a flair to assist in removal leverage after use.”
The primary goal of Winkler Knives is to provide tools to first responders, law enforcement and the military, Daniel said, and most of its knives and other edged tools go to people working in those fields. He added that running a company in the USA allows Winkler Knives complete control over the tools it makes, thus ensuring consistency and quality.
Despite the taxes and other challenges of manufacturing domestically, Winkler said, “The advantage is we live in the greatest country on Earth. Taxes and regulations are sometimes tough but still better than any alternative I can see. We have been very fortunate to find great staff.”
When hiring people, Winkler usually passes over knifemakers as he wants to train workers to make the edged tools his way. Some of the folks working there have backgrounds in foodservice and construction fields. Staff must work well in the team and have integrity, he added.
Most design work is kept in-shop too, as most Winkler Knives customers are seeking out Winkler designs. In the end, Daniel does all his manufacturing for his military customers in the USA. As he concluded, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
With the end of the travel ban, exhibitors from nearly every continent are slated to converge on BLADE Show 2022.
On the heels of the cancellation of BLADE Show 2020, last year’s 40th Annual BLADE Show was the smash success everyone in the knife business longed for, got and celebrated with the most pointed of passions. However, one thing was missing: due to pandemic travel bans, many international knifemakers were unable to attend.
That is no longer the case with this year’s show set for June 3-5 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
Top makers from every continent but Antarctica were scheduled to exhibit at press time, all bringing their latest and greatest knives. Due to the show’s cancellation in 2020 and last year’s travel bans, for many it will be their first BLADE Show since 2019.
Sponsored by Smoky Mountain Knife Works, the BLADE Show is year-in and year-out the world’s biggest and most important knife event, where more knives—new, old, custom, factory, etc.—are exhibited, bought and sold than any other knife show. Over 900 exhibitor booths and tables featuring factory and custom knife, sharpener and other knife accessory makers, knifemaking, steel and handle material supply companies, knife collections, knife purveyors and other cutlery entities too numerous to mention will showcase their wares as the world knife community descends on the Galleria Centre. All will renew friendships, make new ones, and visit with the living legends of the knife industry, today’s knifemaking stars and those of tomorrow.
The latest, hottest custom knives, factory knife debuts (page 24), the educational knife instruction class schedule of BLADE University (see sidebar) and action-packed free demos (see sidebar) await the hordes of show patrons that will descend on the Galleria Centre. The BLADE Magazine 2022 Knife-Of-The-Year® Awards (see sidebar), the custom knife judging competition (see sidebar) and the knife collection display competition are others. The ABS Knife Auction (page 34), the formal inductions of the latest members of the BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame® (see story beginning on page 50), and some of the best knives the ABS and the Knifemakers’ Guild and unaffiliated makers in general have to offer are still others.
And don’t forget The Pit, the after-hours meeting place in and around the sunken bar of the host hotel, the Renaissance Atlanta Waverly, where show patrons and exhibitors will congregate into the wee hours beginning the night before the show through the end of the weekend to compare knives, swap lies and otherwise celebrate the year’s most momentous cutlery weekend.
For the above and other show features, check the following pages and the BLADE Show Section on pages 50-65 for the sharpest three days anytime, anywhere.
When it comes to custom knives, the best utility hunters have many of the features outlined herein.
Countless articles have been written about hunting knives. Primarily, the stories discussed which knife is best for which game.
The two main features that get the most coverage are the blade-style/shape and the length. The knife referred to commonly as the hunter is more than likely a utility hunting knife.
No matter where you are, if you are using a guide—hunting or fishing—more than likely your guide is the one doing the dressing of the game. Chances are, he is using a utility hunting knife with some of the following features.
Blade Steel
If you ask 100 people what the best steel is for a hard-use field knife, you probably will get at least 50 different answers. Why? End users are very loyal to a steel that has proved itself in the field.
Karis Fisher (inset) is the daughter of ABS master smith Josh Fisher (see adjoining image). Karis not only earned her ABS journeyman smith (JS) stamp in March, she also won the Joe Keeslar Award for the best knife submitted by a JS applicant. The 4-inch blade is 1084 carbon steel and the handle is vintage Micarta®. Guard: 416 stainless steel. Overall length: 8.5 inches. Sheath: custom-made of leather. Fisher’s price for a similar knife: $375.
Steels are made primarily for commercial applications—very few are made specifically for knives. Knife blades have been made from saw blades, files and even railroad spikes. If the steel has enough carbon and can be hardened to hold an edge, somewhere in the past several hundred years someone made a blade of it.
The two primary choices for blade steel are carbon and stainless. Each has its pros and cons. Stainless steel’s biggest advantage is that it is rust resistant, meaning it will require less maintenance. Stainless is not code for “no maintenance.” Yes, stainless steel will rust.
Carbon steel requires maintenance. Many things will make carbon steel rust, several examples being the blood from the game that is being processed and some types of vegetation, including vegetables. However, the rust can be held to a minimum or eliminated simply by cleaning and oiling the knife after use. Keep in mind that storing your carbon steel knife in a leather sheath can also cause rust, especially a wet blade, as the tannic acid used to process the leather can cause rust spots.
Winner of Best Utility Hunter at BLADE Show 2018, ABS master smith Josh Fisher’s model has a 4.25-inch blade of 1084 carbon steel, a ringed gidgee handle and a guard of brushed stainless steel. Overall length: 8.75 inches. The knife comes with a custom-made leather sheath. Maker’s price for a similar knife: $685. Josh (inset) earned both his ABS master smith (MS) stamp and the B.R. Hughes Award for the best knife submitted by an MS applicant at the same time his daughter Karis earned her JS stamp and the Joe Keeslar Award (see adjoining image). (Eric Eggly/PointSeven knife image)
While carbon steel can rust, it does have advantages over stainless steel, including two if the blade is forged. First, a number of bladesmiths forge distal taper into their carbon steel blades. The taper removes weight from the blade, thereby making the knife lighter in weight and thus easier to carry and manipulate. Second, carbon steel blades can be differentially heat treated to give them a hard edge for sharpness and a softer back for malleability, the latter resulting in a blade with greater flexibility that is much more likely to bend rather than break under high stress.
The steel you choose for your utility hunting knife should be one that can be sharpened in the field and fit the requirements for what you want your knife to accomplish. Remember—it is always best to resharpen your knife before it gets dull!
Handle Material
If you are looking for a group of custom knives that have diverse handle materials, utility hunting knives lead the way. Synthetics, wood, ivory, bone, antler, mother-of-pearl and others—you name it, utility hunters have it.
The 5-inch blade of W2 tool steel with hamon headlines a utility hunter by Jim Crowell (inset). The handle is black canvas Micarta® and the guard is stainless steel. Jim made the leather sheath. Overall length: 10 inches. Knife to know: this knife belongs to the author. Current price: $850. (Impress By Design image)
When many outdoorsmen dress their knives to impress, they want stag. Unfortunately, stag is experiencing two things simultaneously, and neither is good. Because of lack of supply, the quality is going down and the price is going up to the point that the ancient ivories are now becoming an alternative. After talking with knifemaker Mike Malosh at BLADE Show 2021, I have started to order some hunting knives with elk. While not as popular as stag, it is a great handle material and has a nice look.
My experience in the field has made me a true believer in synthetic handle materials. The two most popular are Micarta® and G-10. Canvas Micarta is my personal favorite. As the name implies, there are bits of canvas included when the Micarta is made. This gives the handle a little more grip when wet. Westinghouse Micarta is gaining in popularity. Often it’s referred to as vintage or antique due to the fact most of it was made before 1960.
Mike Malosh opts for elk antler with black and maroon Micarta® and stainless steel spacers for the handle of his utility hunter. The 6-inch blade is W2 tool steel and the guard is stainless steel. Overall length: 10.75 inches. The knife comes with a leather sheath by Malosh. The maker’s price: $390. (Impress By Design image)
Carbon fiber is five times stronger than steel, twice as stiff and lighter in weight. This gave rise to numerous commercial applications, eventually finding its way into the custom knife market. Initially used by custom makers for scales on folders, you can now find them using it for fixed-blade handles, too.
The advantage of synthetics over natural handle materials is synthetics don’t shrink and, for the most part, are impervious to the elements. That said, natural handle materials can dress up a knife.
Guards
For the most part, integral guards are utilized as a quicker, less expensive way to make knives. Most are simply squared off to give the illusion that they are somehow protecting your index finger/hand. I learned the hard way that such a guard is not meant for hard work. If you are going to use a knife with this type of guard, wear a glove.
Ben Breda won Best Utility Hunter at BLADE Show 2019 for his model in a 4-inch blade of W2 tool steel with hamon. The handle is sculpted African blackwood with a bronze “S” collar and the blade is stainless steel. The knife comes with a leather sheath by Breda. Overall length: 8.75 inches. Current price: $575. (SharpByCoop knife image)
Most custom utility hunters have a single guard with some amount of curve built in to give you a better handle ergonomic. Additionally, it will provide some protection for your index finger/hand. The primary metals used for such guards are brass, nickel silver and stainless steel. While brass is a favorite among factories and new custom makers, the biggest problem is it is soft and can be easily nicked or cut, giving the guard a sharp edge or corner which can dig into your bare hand. Stainless steel guards provide the best protection and least amount of maintenance for your knife.
Ideal Sizes
Having judged custom utility hunters at the BLADE Show for over two decades (page 42), I can tell you there is no one ideal size. That said, most of the judging competition winners feature a blade between 3 7/8 and 5 inches long. (For the makers reading this, please do not submit your 10-inch bowie or 2-inch miniature in this category for judging.) Among the accompanying images for this story are three past winners of the category at the BLADE Show. Note the differences and similarities. In addition to dimensions, the importance of handle ergonomics cannot be overstated. Most handles will feature some kind of contouring and generally will be between 4.5 and 5 inches long.
Sage Advice
The custom utility hunting knife will be a workhorse in the field. Consider the factors I have outlined before you buy one. What will you use it for primarily? What size handle is best for your hand? Will you be able to do the maintenance required for the blade steel? Can you sharpen the knife in the field and, if not, will you be able to practice how to do so before you get there?
I prefer a 5-inch blade as my experience has taught me that a big blade can do little knife chores, but not the other way around. As my 7th-grade shop teacher always said, “Use the right tool for the job.” Sage advice!
The BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall Of Fame® is proud to announce three most-deserving inductees for 2022: the husband-and-wife team of Mr. and Mrs. Aldo and Edda Lorenzi and Bill Ruple.
All will be formally inducted in a special Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame ceremony and breakfast during BLADE Show 2022 June 3-5 at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta.
One of the most prolific, long-running supporters of custom knives in modern cutlery history, the Lorenzis forged a name known in knife circles far and wide while operating their G. Lorenzi retail knife store in Milan, Italy, where they sold knives of some of the greatest knifemakers of all time, including Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame members Buster Warenski, Bob Loveless, Michael Walker, Jimmy Lile, Gil Hibben, Ron Lake, Frank Centofante and many more.
Meanwhile, hailing from Pleasonton, Texas, Ruple is one of the most successful slip-joint makers of the 21st century, winning many awards for his traditional pocketknives, and also serving as a teacher and mentor to an entire generation of award-winning slip-joint makers from Texas and elsewhere.
Aldo and Edda Lorenzi (Francesco Pachi image)
Aldo And Edda Lorenzi
Aldo and Edda Lorenzi operated G. Lorenzi retail cutlery store in Milan from 1959 until its close in February 2014. The Lorenzis regularly attended the world’s most important knife shows, buying scores of knives for sale in their shop. They bought so many knives at shows, in fact, that the Lorenzis’ presence often determined a show’s success or failure. The support and exposure they gave to American makers in particular by selling their knives in their store in one of the most exclusive shopping areas in Milan was pivotal in introducing American custom knives to Europe.
In 1995 they won The Knifemakers’ Guild’s prestigious Nate Posner Award “in recognition for outstanding service in the promotion of handcrafted cutlery.” They also won the BLADE Magazine 2014 Industry Achievement Award for their decades of supporting the custom knife industry. For five years ending in 2019, they sponsored the Aldo and Edda Lorenzi Award for the Guild Show and the BLADE Show, with each event’s award-winning maker receiving $1,000 cash and a plaque—10 awards and $10,000 in all. The Lorenzis also are most supportive of the William F. Moran Foundation and are one of the Foundation’s first chartered member couples.
An exterior display window (shown here in the background) from the original G. Lorenzi shop is a centerpiece of the Lorenzis’ new museum. It was one of the store’s six “eyes” that communicated with window shoppers in one of Milan’s most exclusive retail districts, the counters of which, over the years, displayed more than 18,000 types of items. In the foreground is a display case of some of the Lorenzis’ favorite custom knives. (Francesco Pachi image)
“More loyal ambassadors of the art cannot be found,” one sitting Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame member noted of the Lorenzis. “Their store was like a museum, always welcoming visitors and ready to educate them on fine cutlery and custom knives. Several prominent collectors got their start by buying a custom knife at the Lorenzis’ store.”
In fact, the Lorenzis have assembled their massive collection of over 2,000 knives (including 150 custom knives by the world’s best makers spanning the past half century), 700 books, 1,000 magazines and prints, and related items in a new state-of-the-art museum in Milan (December BLADE®, page 60). The museum contains the knives in elegant oak display cases, a recreation of the copper-paneled room that featured the small entrance door to the G. Lorenzi store in Milan, a wooden portable knife grinder used by Aldo’s father and the store’s namesake, Giovanni Lorenzi, almost a century ago, and much more.
Bill Ruple
Bill Ruple
In the eyes of one sitting member of the Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame, Bill Ruple, an award-winning custom knifemaker specializing in traditional pocketknives/slip joints and multi-blades, has done as much as anyone to promote the knife business. Bill served on the board of the Texas Knifemakers Association, taught many how to make traditional knives and is very free with his knowledge. In recognition of this fact, he was presented with the BLADE Show 2019 Aldo and Edda Lorenzi Award. The award went to a knifemaker who excels in terms of teaching and mentoring his or her fellow makers in the art of knifemaking.
Having built knives for 34 years, Ruple is a premier maker of slip joints and possesses a selfless willingness to teach others how to do it, usually in his shop in Pleasanton, Texas, and also at BLADE University, the BLADE Show, BLADE Show West and other venues. He has helped many get started with the slip joint, one of the oldest yet most challenging folders to make. His kindness and patience validates something other makers know all too well—that he is most willing to share knowledge with and encourage, critique and mentor makers everywhere.
A selection of Bill Ruple’s slip joints in an array of open, closed and spine images show Bill’s awesome talent and versatility as a knifemaker. (SharpByCoop image)
Bill has taught quite a few who have become award-winning makers in their own right, including Rusty Preston, Luke Swenson, Tom Ploppert, Phil Jacob, Bubba Crouch, Toby Hill, Enrique Pena and others. A number have gone on to teach also, spreading Ruple’s knowledge to others who no doubt do the same as well. Bill does not limit his shared knowledge to just stock removal makers, receiving the American Bladesmith Society’s President’s Award for teaching ABS members how to make slip joints. Finally, Bill has donated some of his knives to knife shows and other cutlery organizations to raise funds for their various needs.
Hall Of Fame Criteria
Selected by a vote of sitting Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame members, the inductees are selected based on the following criteria: demonstrated extraordinary service to the knife industry; displayed honesty, character and integrity; advanced the industry by the creativity and originality of their works or contributions; as ambassadors or outstanding contributors, have furthered the positive impact of the knife industry on the world at large, and, in summary, have demonstrated a worthiness to be a member of this prestigious group.
The latest inductees exhibit all these qualities and more and represent a most worthy Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame induction class of 2022.
Robert Appleby nails a Loveless dropped hunter in crown stag.
Robert Appleby’s custom-order reproduction of a dropped hunter by BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bob Loveless in amber crown Sambar stag is Loveless in all the right places.
The pouch belt sheath of 8- to 9-ounce leather from Wicket & Craig is also in the Loveless style. Robert is celebrating 25 years of knifemaking.
A customer sent Robert an image of an original Loveless knife and Appleby went to town, reproducing the tapered full tang faithfully to the original.
“It’s still a full tang, not a frame,” he explained, “one solid piece from the point to the back.” He tapered the tang, left the stub at the end and mortised it into the stag crown handle butt. He glued the spacers like a block, which fit over the stub. The stag is from Culpepper & Co., which amber dyed it as well.
“I really enjoyed that knife,” Robert noted. He said the satisfaction he felt after he had finished it was similar to the same sort of happiness he has when experiencing “the old muscle cars.”
Loveless Repro Dropped Hunter Specs Maker: Robert Appleby Blade length: 35/8” Blade material: AEB-L stainless steel Blade finish: Mirror polish Handle: Amber-dyed crown Sambar stag Bolster: 416 stainless steel Overall length: 9” Maker’s list price for a similar knife and sheath: $625
