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Bill Moran is one of the godfathers of modern knifemaking. Above are four knives that demonstrate his iconic style and show why he continues to inspire generations of knifemakers.
Here is the master at work:
Bob Loveless is another legendary knifemaker. He wrote a guide to turning out knives like a pro, and BLADE‘s online store is one of the few places carrying it. Get your copy of How to Make Knives here from ShopBlade.com.
You’ve probably seen Marc Newson’s work before, but the knife world may not know him by name. He’s designed Apple Watches and airplanes, but knives are his true passion. If you missed this CNN profile, be sure to watch the video here.
From the profile:
“The thing that really fascinates me about knives is that they’re man-made … They’re probably the very first tool that we made, so it’s a little bit like the wheel in a way, it’s a monumental invention and evolution.”
Above the Law, a website covering the legal industry, recently published 5 Holiday Tips On How Not To Get Arrested In NYC. If you guessed that the loose definitions of “switchblades” would make an appearance, you guessed right.
From the article:
The size of the blade and how it opens could make carrying a knife criminal. If it’s a switchblade (opens by centrifugal force), it’s criminal. It doesn’t matter if you’re not using it, just carry it for work, or bought it legally. It’s still a crime.
Let that “centrifugal force” comment sink in, and hope you’re not working in a trade that requires turning one piece of something into two. Read the full article here.
School safety is an important issue, but what happens when disciplinary policies can’t forgive honest mistakes?
Such is the case with a 13-year-old student in Massachusetts, who apparently didn’t intend to bring a Boy Scout knife to school. The district levied a suspension, although it denied that it has a zero tolerance policy for such items.
From the Patriot Ledger:
[The student’s parent] says the school overreached in its punishment of her son who never took the knife out of his backpack while in school and also objects to the classification of the scouting knife as a weapon.
What to do with those leftover birthday balloons? Here’s one idea. If you can cut the plastic ribbon that hangs down after you let the balloon float to the ceiling, you’ve got yourself a nice edge.
Thanks to @bc_cutlery on Twitter for the demo.
— BC Cutlery Co. (@bc_cutlery) December 18, 2017
“Knives Save Lives” is a slogan you’ll hear often in stories about first responders, but what about raccoons?
This video made the rounds on social media depicting just that. Here’s a hint for the next time this happens: There’s no reason it has to take that long to cut through tarp. Time for a bigger knife, dude.
This guy found a raccoon tangled in his car tarp and choking to death. Most intense rescue ever! 👏 pic.twitter.com/uAa1C6FUzp
— The Dodo (@dodo) December 15, 2017
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Synthetics continue to surge in light of the growing scarcity of some natural materials.
According to Chris Hartman, a 37-year veteran in the family business at Masecraft, the buzz about two synthetic materials, Richlite and Raffir, continues to grow.
“These product lines are totally different from each other, and they work like other materials that our customers already use, so the transition is easy,” he maintained.
Distributed domestically by Santa Fe Stoneworks, Raffir is a resin-preserved material used in jewelry and other products also.
“It works well in fine handles and accessories in which aesthetics are of great importance,” Chris advised. “There are several categories. The first, Raffir Fiber, is a composite material of neutral plant fibers cast in resin.
“The second, Raffir Metapol, has aluminum fillers shining through a deep resin matrix. Raffir Noble is a composite material with fine brass and bronze-mesh layers encapsulated in a translucent epoxy resin. The last two categories, Raffir Fossil and Raffir Wood, are genuine rare fossils and fine-grained wood blocks that have been filled with a unifying and strengthening resin through a high pressure process that stabilizes the materials.”
The finished Raffir fossil and wood materials maintain the original structures of the untreated substance while obtaining the mechanical advantages of the homogeneous resin compound.
The Raffir materials are worked with the same tools that most knifemakers already own, therefore little or no additional investment is required.
Richlite is a durable, versatile and sus-tainable material made from recycled, resin-infused paper and pulp derived from trees that have been harvested responsibly, Chris says.
Complete with Forest Stewardship Council Certification by the Rainforest Alliance and GREENGUARD Certification, it is also antimicrobial, which is a benefit in food preparation.
“Richlite is tough enough to build skateboards and skateboard parks, so it will take a beating and hold up to the elements,” he added. “Richlite is made in the USA and actually costs less than other like materials. It is similar to working with Micarta, G-10 or carbon fiber, and many of our customers are familiar with them. Customers appreciate that they are no longer inhaling carbon-fiber or fiberglass dust, which some of our customers just don’t like dealing with.”
New composite laminates and hybrid materials are on the horizon, and their growth is steady.
“Even though they are mass produced,” Chris said, “they can still be individually unique. They are stable and available in sizes that can easily be used in CNC cutting for production, or can still be cut and worked with standard tools and be handmade.”
Read more about hot knives, knifemaking and collecting in the BLADE 2018 Knife Guide. Download it here.
America. Apple pie. More America. More apple pie. (Hey, it’s the holidays, and pie is mandatory, right?)
Wrap it all up with the new Case Star Spangled Tribal Lock in a patriotic-themed “natural bone” handle, and a Tru-Sharp surgical steel spear blade embellished with the iconic “USA.” The Star-Spangled Tribal Lock is the latest in the Case/Bose Tribal Lock family of knives designed by world-renowned knifemaker Tony Bose and is made in Bradford, Pennsylvania.
With a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $148.70, the one-blade folder weighs 3.3 ounces and is 4 1/8 inches closed—a good, solid weight and size for pocket carry. Oh, and in case any of you are wondering, Case’s Tru-Sharp surgical steel is the company’s version of 420HC stainless.
Here’s an interview with Bose:
As the only full-color price guide devoted solely to Case pocket knives, Collecting Case Knives, 2nd. Ed. features nearly 1,000 photos, current values for hundreds of pocket knives from 1920 to today, and detailed information about methods for creating knives, quirks of the pattern numbering systems, tang stamps, types of blade steels, and knife shields.
Click here to order your copy of Collecting Case Knives, 2nd. Ed.
Does it need to be said this $75,000 pocketknife is a William Henry? Because it is. It’s so pricey, Forbes featured it here.
Comments on social media asked how it’s possible to know the price of a knife before it’s sold. Who’s to say it isn’t $50,000? After all, it’s not like a $75,000 knife is mass-produced. It’s unique.
Three things:
Knifemaking start-ups face a tougher time securing financing because of backers’ leeriness toward “weapons.” Crowdfunding, where companies appeal directly to consumers for backing via pre-orders, is one way around this. Kickstarter is the best example of this approach.
Bolstering this business model are affiliate programs that dole out a cut of pre-order sales. This is sometimes disguised as editorial on news sites. This sort of backdoor marketing offers a pay-as-you-go approach that is appealing to start-ups with limited advertising budgets.
There’s nothing wrong with this approach. It’s just different, and worth considering if you’re starting a knifemaking business.
Here’s an example from Business Insider.
You know the line, but here’s the clip anyway:
Best not repeat that line in formal marketing if you want to avoid legal trouble. Australian restaurant Grill’d allegedly used the famous utterance on its knife sleeves. From The Daily Telegraph:
Hogan claims the “knife line” — as it’s referred to in the claim document — is valuable because it has been “heard by the many consumers in Australia who have seen the Crocodile Dundee movie” and “has been featured, mentioned or referred to on television, in print, on the internet, and in popular culture”. He claims Grill’d has used the line “without the licence of either of Rimfire or Mr Hogan”.
I’ll let this quote from The Guardian article do the talking. Read it carefully if you don’t get it at first.
The number of 10- to 17-year-olds cautioned or sentenced for knife possession offences has risen by 16% since this time last year.
Business Insider profiled Chelsea Miller, a knifemaker cranking out blades for “name” chefs around the world.
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Jurassic World, the reboot of the Jurassic Park movie franchise, debuted in 2015 to the delight of both dinosaur and knife enthusiasts. The lead protagonist, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt), carried a custom knife made by Steve Auvenshine. Not only did the knife feature in a critical action scene, it sported a handsome leather sheath.
Here’s a look:
Judging by the trailer released last week, Chris Pratt’s character will use something similar in Jurassic World 2: Fallen Kingdom, to be released June 22, 2018. Here’s a still:
Here’s a closer look:
In a conversation over Facebook, Auvenshine confirmed that while he made the knife used in Jurassic World, he was not commissioned to make one for the sequel.
A request for more information from Universal Pictures went unanswered as of this writing.
It’s only speculative, but it’s possible this is the same knife made for the original Jurassic World.
In the meantime, here is the full trailer:
This is the first installment of the Knife News Wire, a regular series that takes a wide look at the world of knives.
The centuries-old tradition of sword making in Japan is under siege by Japan itself. As a result, the swordsmith trade is nearly extinct. From the Gulf Times:
One reason for their dying art is that swords are today officially regarded as dangerous weapons, falling together with firearms under Japan’s Weapons Protection Act.
By law, the swordsmith featured in the article can only sell two swords per month. Without taking off my shoes and socks to count on my toes, that sounds like a hard way to make a living.
With nation-wide concealed carry reciprocity under consideration in D.C., are switchblades about to get the same treatment?
The American Tool and Knife Institute (AKTI) seems to think so. It’s put together the Freedom of Commerce Act as a model for legislators to work from. The goal is simple:
This legislation will repeal the Federal Switchblade Act of 1958, and allow consumers to purchase any automatic knife legal in their state.
To be clear, the Switchblade Act only impacts interstate commerce, and does not supersede state laws. Some states already decriminalized switchblades separately.
Knife Rights is also pursuing similar legislation.
In the Everything Old is New Again Department, it looks like BLADE Show West is making a comeback. Due to the incredible popularity of the BLADE Show, organizers are looking to add a second show somewhere on the west coast.
BLADE Show staff kindly requests you fill out this survey.
While the knife world continues to wrestle with the ivory issue, and the uncertainty of the ivory issue, the end of 2017 marks the complete shutdown on the stuff in the People’s Republic of China.
From the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post:
Under the ban, 67 of the country’s 172 accredited ivory stores had to shut before March 31 this year with the remaining ones forced to shut by the end of December.
This is significant because the PRC is one of the world’s largest consumers of ivory. The ban marks a leap forward in the push for world-wide ivory prohibition.
That means the ivory issue in the United States, regardless of who is president, isn’t likely to go away any time soon. Stay tuned.
Most knifemakers are happy to share tips and offer guidance for newbies, but not all. That’s the problem Jared Williams, of Salt Lake City, ran into when starting out. From KSL:
“There was a bit of a thing with knifemakers that was still kind of secretive, almost,” Williams said. “It was like ‘No, these are my trade secrets, I don’t know if you’re worthy of it.’ There’s still a little bit of that in parts of the industry. Not all of it, and maybe it was just kind of a hard thing to find and maybe I just met the wrong guys.”
Williams got the last laugh when he appeared on Forged in Fire. Read the full story here.
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