Straight Talk From the Professional

Welcome to my FAQ page. When I first built the website back in the mid-1990s, there were not many frequently asked questions about my custom and handmade fine knives, so the FAQ page was simple, small, and quick to read. As inquiries and web site traffic grew, I realized that many of the same questions appeared repeatedly. I used to answer each of these individually, until I found myself spending several hours each day giving the same replies over and over. So I added the most commonly asked questions to this page, with what I hope will be clear and definitive answers, so that interested parties and clients can access them quickly, have them continually available, and maybe even have a chuckle or two.

The topics and answers here only apply to me and my works; other knife makers and artists will obviously conduct their business and tradecraft differently. Please remember that the information presented here is my own opinion, presented after having made knives for nearly 40 years, and professionally as a full time knife maker since 1988. Thanks for being here, without you, the reader, this website is not possible!

What is this web site about?

Short answer: It's about you.

Long answer: It's about your relationship with knives. Perhaps you've looked over some of the pages, and you see my knives, read what I've written, and hopefully smiled at my humor. You've undoubtedly learned something about knives and gained some insight through a professional knife maker's own eyes. Though I would love to say it's all about me, in reality, it's about you. Because you are reading this at this moment, you have more than a passing interest in knives, fine craft, and art. Otherwise, you would be on some other website. So when you peruse the pages, read and enjoy seeing what I see in the magnificent field of knives and art, please think about your own relationship with knives. It is not subjective, it is not objective, true art is interactive.

In very few other fields does interactivity with art come to such a basic act. A knife is a tool, and must perform the simplest, oldest, and most necessary function of interaction in humanity, which is to cut. Since the knife is man's oldest tool, it makes sense that we revel in its form, function, creation, and expression. At the core of our physical interaction with the world is this thing we call a knife. You have a direct, personal relationship to the knife and I invite you to share my own interactive expression in a refined, elegant, and durable modern tool. My hope is that you, too, will deepen your relationship with the knives in your life, and share that with others near you. Thanks for being here; it is about you, after all!

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Exactly, what is it that you do?

Short Answer: I make knives. I also offer Professional Knife Consultation services.

Long Answer: I make and sell knives, by hand, from my own designs and by custom order. I also consult professionally, about knives. For more information about my Professional Knife Consultation services, click on the link.

This is a large website, and there are many ways to arrive here. So, at first glance, it can be confusing and overwhelming, even for me! There are a tremendous amount of knives on these pages (over 630 pages and 15,000 photos currently), accompanied by a massive amount of information, particularly for this field.

When someone sees the site for the first time, they may note the tremendous variety and scope of knives here. All of the knives you see on this site are made by me, one at a time, by hand. The only exceptions are the collaborative knives I've made, mainly with family members who have learned knifemaking from me in the past. Every knife you see on the site that has only my name on the blade (the Maker's Mark) is of my sole authorship, made completely by me, in my studio. Nearly every photograph is also my work, and every word that you read, aside from the testimonials, is my own creation. Simply put, I make and sell knives, photograph them, describe them, and offer what I have learned and know from nearly 40 years as a knife maker.

The knives I make and offer are of two types: Custom Orders and my own Creative Works (finished knives).

• Custom Orders are knives that are custom ordered by clients.
  • What does it take to become a client? Order a knife, and you are a client.
  • Will I make any type of knife you order? While I make many types of knife, I only make knives that are within my scope of work, my style, or my unique type of knife. For instance, if a potential client emails me and asks me to make a Japanese-style sushi knife, hand forged, with 1025 carbon steel and a primitive finish, I will decline, as I simply don't make that type of knife.
  • Will I make a copy of a knife I've already made? It depends on the knife. Sometimes, a client will see a certain knife on the site that he likes, and he wants one just like it. For many reasons, I don't reproduce copies of any of my knives except the tactical combat knives, counterterrorism knives, and service duty knives. These knives, like the PJLT, are flatly finished, and many have the same handle materials and sheath arrangements. All other knives are one-of-a-kind and I never repeat them exactly the same way. I may use a different pattern, a different gemstone handle material, different embellishment, or a different sheath, stand, or case, but they will have their own unique nature. Some are original enough to have their own name. More details.
• Creative Works, Finished Knives, and Inventory Knives are all knives that I design, make, create, and finish, posting them for sale on this site on the Current Knives For Sale page and the Tactical Knives For Sale page.
  • These are knives that are currently available for immediate purchase, finished, completed, accessorized, and ready to ship.
  • Most of them are my sole authorship knives, but you may also see occasional collaborative works.
  • For each completed custom knife order, I try to complete one creative work, finished knife, or inventory knife to offer to the public on this website. Since this is my only venue, and the only place you can purchase a new Jay Fisher knife, I strive to continually bring fresh, new knives and designs to the public realm. This helps keep my creativity flowing, and introduces new clients to my work as these are immediately available.

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Are these Working or Art Knives?

There are many kinds of handmade knives and knifemakers who make them. Most are hobbyists and part-time knifemakers. A very few are full-time professional career knifemakers. This is what I am. You can learn more about knifemaking on this page.

When someone first encounters my website, they can be overwhelmed at the information, photography, and the sheer amount of knives. It's easy to see that the knives are beautiful, truly works of art. Is a work of art to be used, or is it to be collected as art and investment?

The confusion starts with the perspective that a knife cannot be both, and that's in error. Any beautiful tool can be appreciated not only for its appearance, but also for its function. To clarify that a bit, here's a response I gave to a person who asked, "Are these working knives or art pieces?"

My knives are used professionally, by military and counterterrorism professionals, by chefs and restaurateurs, by guides and outfitters. They are also collected for investment, purchased and kept for heirlooms, and used and admired daily. Every knife I make will outlast me, and the following generations of owners and patrons. It's a humbling honor to know the work of my hands and mind will be around and valued not only for its aesthetic appearance, but for its prime functionality.

They are tools: beautiful, timeless tools.

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Do you make all these knives by yourself?

Short answer: Yes. If it has only my name on the blade, it is ALL my work.

Long answer: I make everything you see here, except (obviously) the knives in collaboration.

I start with a six foot long bar (billet) of annealed and spheroidized high grade tool steel. Tool Steels are a special classification of steels, made by special metallurgical processes, and must be hardened and tempered and treated with highly specialized equipment. I add to the process raw rock, horn, bone, ivory or wood. Rock in this case means gemstone, either solid masses or groups of minerals that form semi-precious and precious gemstone. The manmade materials I use for handles are the finest, most durable, and most dependable created in our modern times. The horn, bone and ivory I may use is of the tougher variety, and may be stabilized, partially mineralized, or specially sealed to increase the durability. Woods I use are tough, durable, and may be exotic, rare, or domestic.

I design the knife from the ground up, and currently have over 500 patterns. I profile, drill, mill, shape, grind, heat treat, finish grind, and polish the blades, I profile, shape, finish, polish, and attach bolsters and guards. I saw and slab gemstone, cut, grind, drill, shape, sand, polish, and attach gem handles as well as manmade materials, hardwoods, and horn, bone, and ivory. I design, create, and execute all the hand engraving you see on this web site; I do all the machine engraving, I do all the high resolution etching, artwork, and design. I do all the chemical processes, including diffusion welding, etching, electroplating, electroforming, and several different types of professional hot bluing and antiquing. I heat treat in inert atmosphere controlled furnaces, do complete and sophisticated shallow and deep cryogenic processing of my knife blades. I perform the gas tungsten arc welding, the shielded metal arc welding, brazing, soldering, and multi-process welding. I sculpt wax and cast bronze, silver, brass, and nickel silver fittings, components or display stand elements. I make every part of the sheaths, the stands and the cases; I do all the carving, hand-dying, inlaying, and stitching. I make every component of my knife stands and cases, from design to sculpting, carving, carpentry, joinery, embellishment, and finishing. No other hands are involved in my knives! If it has my singular maker's mark on the blade, it is all my own work.

I also design, build, maintain, and repair specialized shop equipment, electric motors, machinery and controls, lighting, jigs, tools, and devices. I experiment with new techniques, apply creative technology, and constantly strive to improve my skills and product. I do all the photography, write everything on this site (except the testimonials), build and maintain this huge site with over 15,000 pictures and 550 pages. It is the largest, most comprehensive website of any singular knifemaker in the world.

I also vacuum the shop floor of the metal swarf, muck out the rock saws, sweep up the wood dust, and wash the windows (once every several years). This is my full time job and has been since 1988.

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How long does it take to make a knife?

Short answer: As long as it takes.

Long answer: This is the most often asked question to knifemakers. I can make a simple, basic knife in about 16 hours. A basic knife described here has a satin finished blade, full non-tapered tang, no bolsters, hardwood handle, and untooled leather sheath. I rarely make this kind of knife any more, as most clients expect much finer and more elaborate work from an established maker.

Some pieces I've worked on for weeks; some take months; one in particular art piece cost me a year and a half. It depends on how much work goes into a piece. Design and engraving takes extra days, filework takes hours, grinding through 12 steps takes many hours. Handle finishing is done off hand; often the sheath work and stand are not even considered by the curious when they ask the question. In some tactical and counterterrorism rigs, the clients request multiple sheaths and many different mounts for a variety of wear options. When you make everything by hand, including setting up, repairing, building shop tools and jigs from scratch, knife making takes a tremendous amount of time. It is not a casual endeavor.

Sometimes the person who asked about the time is considering just how much I get paid by the hour. You can see the little calculator clicking away inside their skull, trying to figure my wages. They don't know about materials and supplies, abrasives and electricity. They don't know about shop overhead, machinery cost, material prices, and failure rates (yes, things break, wear out, and are used up).

Let me set this straight. I can make an inexpensive knife for about $12.00 an hour. Yep, that's not much considering the decades of practice I have. Also, making $12.00 an hour in a shop with maybe hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment and supplies and 40 years of training and experience does not make sense. That's why I make knives that start at about $1000.00. This way, I can make maybe $13.00 to $15.00 an hour! You've got to love it; your not making knives to get rich.

If your idea is to get rich making knives, you would be better served to start your own knife factory, make a cheap product that competes with imports, or better yet, have the work farmed out overseas and assembled here in America (like so many factories now do), and claim that it's Made In America. But then, you would be a manufacturing interest and not an artist. People who are creative artists for a living are driven by a passion for their trade, not a passion for a dollar.

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How long will it take for you to make MY knife?

Short answer: Get in line.

Long answer: Because I make extremely fine and sophisticated knives, the work takes a lot of time. My clients expect the very best knives for their money, and I guarantee their satisfaction. Consequently, making knives this way takes a lot of time, more than most people realize. Considering the investment value and quality of fine custom knives, this is how it should be, and my clients are willing to wait for fine hand craftsmanship, not hurried, with attention to detail.

A while back, a writer for a magazine insisted that he watch me make a knife from start to finish, taking notes, photos, and documenting the experience. I warned him that it may be boring watching someone work at a machine for hours; he insisted he was up for the experience. After two hours watching me stand at the grinder, he left. He simply had no idea.

A long time ago, I realized that if I hurry, I'll make a mistake, and the whole project gets pushed back or worse, has to be started over (eek!). In this world of instant gratification, I do offer a solution for those who are unwilling to patiently wait for their hand-crafted knife, sword, or project. Go to the finished knives for sale pages here and here. There you may find fine work that is ready to be shipped immediately, but new inventory knives posted there do not typically last very long.

For those of you who've ordered custom work, the best thing you can do to help me out is to be patient, and know that it will be worth the wait. If I've given you a time frame for your project, please remember that it is just an estimate, based on the current work load (which changes almost daily).

Delivery times are a hot topic, so I've dedicated a page to the subject. Click here.

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How much do your knives cost?

Short answer: Prices start at $1000.00 and go up from there.

Long answer: That $1000.00 knife is a skeletonized working knife with a simple sheath. This is rarely the type of knife clients want me to make, so prices average much higher. How much is the average? This is impossible to calculate because I make so many different kinds, styles, and types of knives and knife projects.

The cost of a project depends on five factors:

1. Design: The overall design is the first determining factor in the cost of a project. Some blade shapes and sizes must be made from very thick or wide stock which cost much more to purchase and more to shape and tool and finish. Design inclusions like finger holes, fullers, cannelures, and rip teeth serrations add to the price.
2. Materials: Making the knife blade out of O-1 oil hardening tool steel costs less than high chromium high carbon D2 die steel, and stainless damascus costs much more. The addition of brass bolsters costs more than a knife without bolsters, nickel silver bolsters are more than brass, and 304 high chromium stainless bolsters cost more than nickel silver. Handle materials vary greatly in price, and the expense in time and labor of finishing them contributes to the cost of the knife. Micarta® is less expensive than wood which must be hand-finished, and gemstone will cost more. Gemstones can vary greatly in price; some are rare and sold by the gram.
3. Finish: The finish of each part of the knife contributes to the overall cost. A satin or media-blasted finish on the blade is less expensive than a mirror finish, and a textured bead blasted Micarta® phenolic handle costs less than a brightly polished glassy gemstone handle. Note: I usually only media-blast knives for military or tactical use where no glare is preferred or if the material can not be finished in any other way. CPMS30V, CPMS35VN, and CPMS90V for example are tool steels that can not be mirror finished.
4. Embellishment: Filework on the profile of a knife blade adds to the labor and cost, as does engraving, etching, artwork, carving, and specific techniques that make a knife unique and valuable. Embellishment cost and value varies greatly, and while it may add the most labor and a higher cost to the quote, it also may add the most long term value and greatest appreciation to the entire piece or ensemble.
5. Accessories: Often, potential clients don't even think about the sheath, stand, or case until late into the knife conversation. A plain tooled leather sheath is less expensive than exotic inlays in carved leather. A military locking sheath with 38 components is more expensive than a tension-fit kydex sheath. Some counterterrorism knives have a half a dozen different sheaths for a variety of wear options. Anodizing, oxide finishes, bluing, and custom colors and hardware are a totally separate and sophisticated field. A stand or case may add a lot to the investment value of the knife, and as individual works of art, add more to the initial investment.

I use a strict pricing structure, based on 67 points of the individual knife construction. This way, I can calculate exactly what work goes into a knife and offer a fair price to everyone without guesswork. For more specific discussion and pricing details for my custom knives, swords, daggers, folding knives and artwork, here's a dedicated page.

 For more information on these individual components of custom handmade knife construction with many examples, pictures and more in-depth details, here are some important links on this site:

• Knife Blades
• Knife Handles, Bolsters, and Guards
• Knife Stands and Cases
• Knife Embellishment
• My Knife Prices

Remember, there are many makers who won't even talk to you for less than $5K. I know of one guy who does the same looking knife over and over, and he doesn't even consider making a knife for less than $7000!

The prices of my current works change from time to time. The utilities, supplies, and materials I use to make the knives go up constantly, as does the cost of keeping a piece current, maintaining it on this website, and the utilities of storage, shipping, and care costs as well as the costs of maintaining the knife shop equipment, storefront shop building, and this website.

In addition to my costs, as my work becomes more popular, the prices go up. Simply put, the more in demand a piece of artwork is, the more valuable it is. This also helps my existing clients, who have pieces that they expect to increase in value over the years. Their investment value grows, and so does the value of my older works, whether in the hands of clients or waiting on the website for purchase. Incidentally, my pricing structure for new knives grows too, as does the basis and the cost of the 67 points I use to determine price.

Though I use detailed guidelines for pricing quotes, I stay away from itemizing each feature to justify a price. For a deeper discussion on price justification, please click here to jump to the topic on my "Business of Knifemaking" page.

What about payment?

I detail payment types on the pages listed below. Most of my clients pay by personal check or cashier's check sent in the mail (USPS), through UPS, or FedEx, or they pay by direct bank transfer.

Beginning in March of 2017, I've stopped taking credit cards for payments. The reason for this is because for over two years, not one client had used a credit card to pay for their purchase. It makes no sense for me to pay for a merchant account when none of my clients are using it. Clearly, direct wire transfer and checks are my client's preferred way of paying for their purchase, and they may well be using a credit card online through their bank to complete a wire transfer. Exchange of money for services and products is evolving, and I believe that in the future, wire transfer will be the main way that money and payments are made.

For more information:

• How to Order (Ordering a Finished or Custom Knife from Jay Fisher)
• Purchasing Your Finished Knife (Completed Creative Works)
• Purchasing Your Custom Knife
• My Knife Sales Policy

What if I can't afford your prices; can you make a cheaper knife?

Short answer: Yes I can, but why?

Long answer: Sometimes a client receives a quote from me and realizes he's chosen features, materials, finishes, and embellishments that are out of his price range. With custom knives, the inclination is to go all-out, to get the features and materials you want, often because it's a dream knife, sometimes even a once-in-a-lifetime investment. The client wants his money to go as far as possible, and also wants a very fine knife, one that will appreciate in value over the years. A knife made to these high quality standards will often become an heirloom piece, graciously handed down through generations. If only he could buy the knife ... for a lot less.

If a client needs a lower price, the conversation between client and maker might erode to a line by line evaluation of each feature, cutting away what is refined and valuable, and leaving out features in order to fit the knife within the budget. The knife concept will ultimately suffer to become less than ideal, and less than the client (or maker) imagines. This is not a way to commission a fine handmade custom knife that will be worthy of investment, use, or collection.

From the knife maker's perspective, it doesn't make a lot of sense, with a high shop overhead, plenty of orders of fine pieces, and over three decades of hard experience making knives to then make budget knives. There are already a great deal of inexpensive knives in the world for sale: from makers, from factories, from dealers, and outlets for a modest price.

As the maker's clientele become more vigilant of the maker's trends and knife values and the maker creates a much better product in higher demand for higher prices, it is clear that the maker should serve his existing clients by only making the very best of knives. How might the collector of fine handmade knives feel if his favorite knife maker is now creating a cheap, quick product? This direction might indicate that the interest in the maker's work is waning in the marketplace, and this devalues existing collections.

How to say it clearly without causing offense? Here's an email response where I tried to do just that:

What about making an lower offer for a knife?

Short Answer: No, thanks; this is not a fruit market.

Long Answer: Occasionally, I get asked to consider a offer from a potential client that is lower than what the knife is listed for. Simply put, this is not something I do. There are several reasons that I don't do this, and you can apply this logic to other businesses, other knifemakers, and your own work and pay. When you do, I'm certain you'll see the integrity of fixed prices.

A client might think, "Why not ask? It can't hurt to ask, and maybe Jay will drop his prices."

No. But I will try not to be insulted.

• From the standpoint of the client, he may think:
  • The knife is priced too high for the market. If the knife is priced too high for the market, it will never sell, and eventually the  maker will have to drop his prices or be left with accumulating inventory. Since I have very little inventory (typically less than a handful of knives), then my prices are not too high for the market. 
  • The maker thinks his work is valued at more than it's worth. While similar to the previous point, the distinction is that I value the piece for what I want for it, after considering all of the factors listed in How Much Do Your Knives Cost? above. Simply put, I'm not willing to part with the knife for less; I'd rather keep it than get less for it. Obviously, I love knives, and would like to keep every one!
  • The maker is desperate. Take a look around, and you'll find many makers who are desperate, particularly in this economy. I'm not one of them; thank God, my clients, and my extremely  hard work and dedication, as well as the experiences of making and selling knives professionally for decades.
  • It doesn't hurt to ask. I'll try not to be offended, but yes, it does. It hurts the maker, in suggesting that his work is not as valuable as he thinks, it hints that the knives are not as optimum as the maker thinks they are, and it lowers the esteem of the client because he admits he can't afford it.
  • It's only a knifemaker. This is probably the saddest part of all. Would the same client go to his dentist, doctor, car mechanic, or even is grocery store and make offers that are lower (sometimes substantially) than they have been quoted, charged, or tagged with at the store? I can see the mess now; lines of people at the service desk of the big box store haggling, dickering, and arguing about the prices until agreements are (or are not) reached. Where do you see this type of bantering? At a fruit market, perhaps, where all the apples are alike, and cheap, and common, and a few are bruised (inferior) and not worth what the others are. You may see this type of bantering at garage sales, and antique outlets, where value is not established in a continual line of products, but in a few old and used novelty items not expected to perform. You may see this bargaining take place at pawn shops, where nickels and dimes may mean profit for the buyer or seller, and the value of items are only roughly determined. Research the terms and you'll find that this process is typically applied to petty or common items or items of uncertain value. But where is this applied to modern, finely made, professional grade tools, investment pieces, or art? Nowhere else but in knives. Would you go to the hardware store, where they sell the junkiest, crappiest knives found on earth and haggle with them? No, but to dicker with someone who makes the highest quality knives possible is somehow okay? This seems to happen frequently in the world of knives... which is sad indeed for our profession. Professional knife makers are professionals, not hobbyists hoping to move a few knives for some beer money. This is not a garage sale, flea market, pawn shop, or antique store.
  • He thinks prices are only roughly determined. I once had a guy who wanted a knife insist that I drop the price for him. When I asked him why, he said, "The price is just a number! Change the number (down) for me!" If  this were the case, I could say the same to him, "Your money is just a number! Change the number (up) for me!" Seriously, he didn't consider that I have calculated the expenses, cost, value, and worth of each knife to derive this number (see how above). And my numbers are rarely too high. Yes, my knives are expensive when compared to cheaper works, but they are less expensive when compared to more pricey works. A good point is that when my knives are resold, they are worth more than when originally purchased, that is, they appreciate in value. Frequently, knives in my queue waiting to be made are worth more when they are completed, and the patron or client who ordered them has had them appreciate in value even before they are completed!
  • He can't afford it. This is actually the most obvious, typical, and frequent issue at hand. The client wants the knife, but simply can't afford it. While I feel for him, how fair is it to tell my family, who relies upon me to pay all the bills, mortgage, and keep the business in the black, that they will have to go without because I'm going to give someone else a break on a price? How fair is that to them? Or to me, working 11 hours a day, seven days a week? A singular knifemaker is not a rich man; I know of none who are, yet the client is asking for money from the knifemaker's family because he does not have enough to make the purchase. The client wouldn't do this with any other professional in his life, but the knifemaker? He's only a knifemaker. This is insulting, demeaning and unfair. How would that client feel if his boss negotiated down his own salary every payday? That's what it feels like to the knifemaker. When wages are negotiated, either the business is desperate and going under, or the worker must be eliminated, or the product is petty, so it's best to just move on. By the way, I'm not desperate, my business is not in trouble, and I'm actually adding products, equipment, skills, and services to the studio.

I've seen all sorts of reasons why these potential clients can't afford my work; some of them even ask for total donations! I've had people send unsolicited gifts, write long sad emails, and detail their painful circumstances while ignoring the fact that I have my own bills to pay so my family doesn't starve in the dark. This brings up the simple statement:

To the potential client who does not quite understand: The last thing I want to do is impose any financial burden on my clients. Every knife will sell, or I'll be happy to keep it. I'm not desperate; don't demean the conversation by haggling. I'm a professional; this is not a fruit market.

One more thing: How fair is it to all the other clients who do purchase my knives, often saving up for years to do so, in order to get the very best. That best may hang on their gear when they are in combat defending our country for freedom. How fair is it to let someone, anyone, pay less than they have? More about this on my Business of Knifemaking page.

Do you make tactical knives without accessories?

I make tactical, working, rescue, combat, and counterterrorism knives. Since they are real tactical knives, not just "tactical" in appearance, they are actually made to be worn and used in the most serious of uses. Because of their real world application, it has been necessary over the years to include everything my clients request for them.

This starts with the toughest, most durable, and best made knife sheaths in the world today (and ever):  my positively locking sheath, my hybrid tension-locking sheath, or my new tab-lock sheath. My experience has been that since the sheaths have to be worn, and since everyone is different and every mission or application is different, it's important to include all of the necessary straps, clamps, hardware, mounts, and equipment to wear each knife and sheath with every tactical knife.

It is rare that a  tactical knife is only worn in one place; as the owner's gear is refined and regularly upgraded, the sheath must be able to mount to an evolving combat framework. Typically, a client who wears these knives will have multiple applications and missions, and because of the limitations of his other gear, he'll have to move the knife and sheath to different locations to accommodate. For example, the United States Marine in desert warfare currently has only about one place he can mount a tactical knife, and that is along his leg, below the waist, and above the knee. Of course, this may change depending on his particular gear, environment, or mission. I want my clients to have all their bases covered, and every option available.

From time to time, I receive requests for tactical knives that are "bare bones," that is just the knife and sheath, and no accessories. I rarely do this because of the reasons above, but taking it a step further, let's just examine what would happen if I did offer simple knife and sheath combinations, without all of the other hardware.

I've had the experience of doing this very thing; this is how I used to make and sell my tactical knives. When I did, the first thing that would happen would be the client contacting me and saying, "Gee, I really like the knife and sheath, but do you have a way to mount it lower on the belt?"

This is how and why I developed and include the BLX, UBLX, and EXBLX Belt Loop Extenders.

Then a client would ask, "Is there any way I can mount this horizontally along my belt line?"

From this, I developed the Horizontal Belt Loop Plates.

Then a client would ask, "Is there a way I can fix the sheath to my PALS on MOLLE, or vest webbing?"

I developed the Horizontal and Vertical Clamping Straps.

Another client would ask, "Can you make something to mount the knife over my sternum? It's the only place I can wear the knife. And by the way, it has to be handle-down."

I created the Sternum Harness and the Sternum Harness Plus.

A client submitted, "I do a lot of work where I might be in the field after dark, and sometimes, even in the daytime, I need a small light for examination or emergencies, or just finding my way."

I created the LIMA, with the Maglite® Solitaire, then the Solitaire LED, and then the ThruNite® Ti3 LIMA.

Then clients asked, "The little light is great, but can you actually give us a main (or key) flashlight. We need one that can be our main lamp, with super-bright illumination for nighttime operations. Oh, and we need it to be able to be aimed in a fixed position, in any direction from the sheath. Then, we need to be able to remove it, replace it, and depend on the holder to never rust, corrode, or bend."

I created the HULA with Maglite® XL100, then XL200, then MagTac®, and then Fenix® E35 and Fenix® RC11, and Streamlight® Sidewinders, and the Powertac models. My counterterrorism clients claim that "Two lights are only one light, and one light is no light." This is a logical, serious, and practical observation, since lamps can fail, batteries can die, and components in flashlights, no matter how tough, can stop working. A simple failure of a light can leave the owner crippled in the darkness, so most CT kits have both the LIMA and the HULA.

Some of the accessories were needs that I noticed, like the simple need for a touch-up sharpener, so the pocket on the UBLX was added with a DMT Dia-Fold® sharpener. Another was the fire starter for outdoorsmen, less often requested. I had knives with lanyard holes, but no lanyards; two types were added.  I've added real diamond sharpening pads with essential pad-bags to carry, store, and use them. When I noticed that some of the drawstring bags the knife kits were stored in were literally worn out, I looked for a durable duffle that could accommodate the entire kit. There were no duffles of any strength or durability, so I saw the necessity to create my own, with 1000 denier, polyester-coated, water resistant Cordura® ballistic nylon and heavy 2" wide straps and large, durable zippers. I even added Velcro® patch removable embroidered name tags so the client can tell one of his Jay Fisher knife kits from another!

Consequently, the kits grew, and continue to grow to this day. My logic is this: I simply want my client to have everything associated with his knife. It's part of my service commitment to my career field.

Let's just look at what happens if I don't include all these accessories in the kit. I can reveal this because it's happened before. The client buys just the knife and sheath. He then notices that the sheath is a fixed form, and has a definite and universal mounting hole arrangement for straps and hardware. Since no one else in the world makes this, he then contacts me because he wants a different mounting or wearing arrangement. It's just a few straps to create, and maybe I can match the color of the anodizing with the rest of his gear, but maybe not, since I anodize in batches. But in order to make his accessories, I would have to stop what I'm doing (while five years in backorders) to make the parts. More logically, he should take his place in the queue, and wait five years for his straps to mount his knife. What? And then later, he wants a UBLX, but it's custom made for the knife (they all are) and I have to have the knife shipped back to me, so I can get the sizing and arrangement correct for the custom fit, and maybe he has to wait five years for that-

You can see why this is impractical.

Another point is that sometimes, a potential client may think that if I just offer the simple knife and sheath combination, he'll get a big discount and get the knife for less money. And then, he can add those accessories as time goes on, to spread out his investment. That doesn't work either.

If a client is strapped to pay for the kit, he probably should not be buying the knife. Most other knifemakers won't say this, but the last thing I want to do is to impose any financial burden on my clients. I know what it is to live and work within a budget, and I also know what a tremendous amount of work it takes to make these knives; they are quite literally the finest, most complete tactical knife kits in the world. If you don't think so, I challenge you to find any that compare, anywhere. The fact that they are so difficult to make is why you don't see them anywhere else. This means that the incredible amount of labor means a higher price. As I've stated before, I'm not interested in making budget knives; I've only got one life and one career, and I want to make the very best knives (and kits) I can possibly create in that time.

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What's the blade made of?

Short answer: the best fine, modern, high quality, high alloy, high strength tool steels.

Long answer:  I use about a dozen types of fine tool steels, and like most makers, I have my favorites. These steels are modern, high tech tool steels made to the highest quality and purity that the foundry can produce. Most of them can not be hand-forged, because of their high alloy content, high critical temperatures, and high purity process requirements. They must be treated in a clean, specific environment, with careful steps of stress relieving, annealing, heat treating, and tempering. Most are high alloy, hypereutectoid, and benefit from cryogenic processing that I do right here in my studio. My clients expect the best, and these steel types have a proven record in combat, rescue, professional use, kitchens, and in the counterterrorism field, and retain their investment value in collections. Here they are with some of their properties:

• 440C You'll see me refer to 440C as a high chromium stainless steel. That is because it has a high alloy content of chromium, which contributes to its corrosion resistance, wear resistance, and depth of hardness. The Machinery's Handbook© for steels and machinists claims that 440C "Yields the highest hardnesses of hardenable stainless steels." 440C is used industrially for ball bearings, bearing races, balls and seats for oil well pumps, and high wear-resistant and corrosion resistant valve parts. In fine handmade and custom knives, it is chosen for it's machinability, ease of care, high wear resistance, and long lasting value. 440C has been one of the most often-used fine knife steels in the handmade knife industry because flat out, it's a great steel. It's one of the most stain-resistant of the stainless tool steels, with up to 18% chromium and up to 1.5% carbon. Not much will corrode this blade steel, and it can be made tough and hard and extremely durable and long lasting. No tool steel is rust proof, but 440C is about the best you can get for a fine custom knife blade. There may be more stain-resistant tool steels, but these are usually tool steels that have less carbon and less hardenability. These steels may be more corrosion resistant, and are often used to make tough blades, not necessarily hard blades. I go into the toughness/hardness balance on by Blades page. For long-lasting beauty, 440C has been the choice for most of my knives, and for nearly all high end and sculptural pieces. 440C is used in more of my combat knives than any other of the steels I use because it is proven to work well, limit corrosion, and be tough and hard enough for combat tactical and rescue operations, yet within the sharpening and service factor of most owners. There is a reason that one knife blade analysis and testing site claims: "Grade 440C is capable of attaining, after heat treatment, the highest strength, hardness and wear resistance of all the stainless alloys." They may be overstating things a bit, but nonetheless, 440C is a great steel. Just look at some of the finest knives made by some of the best makers in the world. Many are using or have used 440C. It is a beautiful steel, with a bright bluish chrome color when polished. The critical alloy components of 440C are: 1.25% Carbon, 18% Chromium, 1% Manganese, 1% Molybdenum, .75% Selenium, .04% Phosphorus, .03% Sulfur. More about 440C on a dedicated page.
• ATS-34 This essentially the same as 440C, but about 3% of the chromium has been replaced by molybdenum. So it's a little less stain resistant, but it's tougher. That means it's more resistant to breakage. This is one of the high chrome-moly steels everyone's heard of. The finish is comparable to 440C, and because of the additional toughness, a thinner cross section can be ground for blades like double-edged tactical knives without sacrificing strength. For the knifemaker, it's also harder to work with: harder on tools, abrasive belts, and is more expensive. The critical alloy components of ATS-34 are: 1.03% Carbon, 13.75% Chromium, 3.56% Molybdenum, .41% Manganese, .025% Phosphorus, .25% Silicon. More about ATS-34 on a dedicated page.
• O-1 is a high tungsten-vanadium oil-hardening cold work tool steel. For knife blades, it can be made tough, hard, and extremely sharp. O-1 blues well, so tactical models and art pieces that require a dark blade are possible. It's fairly easy to work, and prices are reasonable. Polishing it is difficult, and different than the stainless tool steels, but when highly polished is strikingly beautiful. O-1 will rust if not cared for; it has no corrosion resistance. It can, however, be hot blued for additional corrosion resistance. It's great steel, maintains an incredibly sharp, fine edge and is easy to sharpen in the field. Please note that not all O-1 is manufactured the same; some versions contain no vanadium at all! For the O-1 I use, the critical alloy components are: .9% Carbon, .5% Chromium, .5% Tungsten, .2% Vanadium, 1.2% Manganese. More about O-1 on a dedicated page.
• D2 is classified as a high carbon, high chromium, cold work tool and die steel. It is one of the highest carbon alloy die steels (thus the "D" designation) used in knife making. It has 12% chromium so it doesn't quite classify as stainless and will rust if exposed to corrosive moisture, acidic fluids (like orange juice or blood), so requires more attention. But at 1.65% carbon, it can be made very hard and is extremely wear resistant. The finish on D2 is somewhat mottled with an orange peel appearance. This is due to chromium carbides forming in the steel during heat treat, the very thing that makes this steel so wonderful (most steels form iron carbides). D-2 is very hard to machine, expensive, downright mean to abrasives, resistant to cutting and milling and fabrication. So it's usually used for extreme use knives. It has a reputation of holding an edge forever, and being impossible to sharpen. This is an exaggeration, but the reputation is well-deserved. Most people cannot sharpen D2 in the field or without motorized equipment. D2 is an expensive steel, and sizes of stock are somewhat limited. The critical alloy components are: 1.65% Carbon, 12% Chromium, .9% Vanadium, .35% Manganese, .9% Molybdenum, .45% Silicon. More about D2 on a dedicated page.

I also use other specialty steels, like stainless damascus and powder technology steels. Pattern welded damascus is decorative and beautiful, but no matter how well it's made, those layers constitute welds, potential places of stress in the billet. Although most of pattern welded damascus is entirely usable, I don't use it in high strength tactical models, when a client requests "shove it in a rock and stand on it" tough. The other specialty steels that I use are expensive, hard to work, and have definite applications, but each has specific characteristics and limitations. They are RWL-34, W1, A2, BG-42, 440V, CPM440V, CPMS30V, CPMS60V, M2, CPM154CM, CTS-XHP, and more.

Custom knife blades deserve their own page, and mine is one of the most popular and detailed in the world. Click here for my Blades Page.

Why gemstone knife handles?

Short answer: They're the best.

Long answer: Okay, I make a lot of gem handled knives. In fact, I make more gemstone handled knives than any other single maker in the world. That's rock, real stone, not the plastic stuff that is made to look like rock and then called "stabilized." That's one of my fortes. I have a complete professional lapidary shop nested in the knife making studio. Lapidary is the art and skill of cutting, carving, sculpting, and polishing of precious and semi-precious gems, rocks, and minerals. I can start with a two foot in diameter boulder and cut it down to a beautiful handle, nicely shaped and carved, brilliantly polished, and luscious to hold in the hand. Stone is cool, hard, and dense, and the balance is perfect.

I love gem for many reasons. It's impervious to all chemicals that a knife might be exposed to. It has a similar density and coefficient of thermal expansion as steel (steel is made of carbon, iron, chromium, magnesium, selenium, silicon, tungsten, molybdenum, phosphorus, and other elements, all found in rock) and gemstone won't expand and contract and eventually loosen on the knife like horn, bone, wood, plastic, and ivory do. It doesn't absorb moisture, or oils, or corrosives. It's hard, so it doesn't scratch. Some gemstone can only be cut by silicon carbide or diamond. Gemstone will outlast the knife blade in all cases. The very oldest tools, predating man as we know him, are stone.

Some people worry about toughness; if they drop it on concrete will it break? The knife blade TIP is the most likely thing to break on any knife so you shouldn't be worrying about the handle. But just to soothe your fears, the stones are usually protected in the critical areas by bolsters and the tang, or they are nearly as tough as the blade (particularly nephrite jades, flints, quartzes and jaspers). If the chunk of mineral makes it through the cutting, grinding, and finishing process, it will last on the knife. I thoroughly test the stone before using it on a knife handle. I've seen some beautiful rock that I can't use because it's too friable. Stone is tough. I had one knife client return a knife to me for sharpening and reconditioning after years of use and abuse. The blade was scratched and beaten, but the gemstone handle looked like the first day it left the shop... amazing. Just ask yourself what are the longest lasting tools, implements, art and artifacts created by man made of? Why, stone of course.

Stone is beautiful. Nothing can match  Gods' geologic creations from our planet for color, pattern, and texture. One of my complaints about gemstone in jewelry is that you can only see a small piece of stone, not getting a real feel for the full pattern and characteristics, and you can't hold it. Gripping a dense chunk of polished gemstone and steel in your hand is a great feeling. When you pick it up, it's cool and solid. After you put it down and pick it up again, it's still warm from your hand. All gemstone handles are unique, I couldn't make two of them the same even if I tried. Natural rock is distinctive even when scales are cut from the same stone. The feeling is comfortable, the color exciting, the finish striking.

Though you don't see them much in the modern knife world, gemstone knife handles are nothing new. The ancient Persians and Chinese made some beautiful jade handles that would rival work done today. The reasons most modern knife makers do not make gemstone handled knives is that lapidary is a separate, distinctive tradecraft and art, and requires training, investment, and professional skill as well as many rather expensive specialized tools and techniques. Even more than that, good lapidary requires immense patience, as gemstone is much more difficult and time consuming to work, shape, and finish than even a hardened knife blade.

The methods I use to attach gemstones to the handle substrate are both mechanically and adhesively secure, and in the thousands of knives I've made, I've never had one standard mounted gemstone handle fail. Read more about that here.

There are a few other Knifemakers who work with stone handles, and there is some poor work out there. Guys try to finish the stone without lapidary tools or knowledge and burn and pit the finish. They misidentify inexpensive common stone as valuable, such as telling a client that a piece of serpentine is jade (I've seen this a lot). They might finish a piece without rounding and finishing and attaching the handle properly, that is, with cohesive methods of jewelry bonding. I've even seen plastic rock identified as real gemstone, and plastic amber called "reconstructed" because it has 10% "real amber dust" in the acrylic! Real stone has millions of combinations of play and color and light. It has imperfect lines, seams, and occasionally inclusions of other material. You know it when you feel it, it's cool to the touch (or warm if it's been under lights or in sunshine). To find out if it's real, you can tap it with a piece of steel and it "clicks;" a piece of plastic will "thud." The ultimate test is heating up a needle to dull red, then touching the handle. Plastic will melt and smell, stone will laugh at your feeble attempt to burn it.

Learn more about gemstone use on my custom knife handles on my "Gemstone Knife Handles" page here. It will link you to over 630 pictures of finished gemstone handles.

Learn more about knife handles in general on the Knife Handles, Bolsters, and Guards page here.

What about horn, bone, ivory, hardwood, and plastic handles?

Short answer: I make those, too.

Long answer: Horn, bone and ivory can be described together. They are porous, so require some care to prevent moisture absorption and drying. Continuous wetting and drying caused merely by changes in the weather will eventually lead to cracking and checking. Don't even think about using them by the ocean! Some of the material can be stabilized or surface sealed, and in ivory this is undesirable. Ivory ages gracefully to yellow and check, which can be beautiful. By the way, I don't use any elephant ivory on any knife handle, in 2016, that became illegal in the United States, so I'm talking about other ivories: wart hog tusk, hippopotamus tusk, mammoth or mastodon ivory, and ancient walrus ivory. There is also a difference in the coefficient of thermal expansion between steel and horn, bone, and ivory, so this will eventually take its toll. Keep them in a stable environment, and out of hot, dry light. Beware of these characteristics, and your knife should age gracefully.

Mastodon, mammoth or "fossil" walrus ivory are a bit more stable due to infiltration of minerals while buried. The "fossil" term is used loosely in knife making, these are not true fossils, because they are not fossilized, that is, replaced over millions of years by stone. A real fossil is a rock, with all the characteristics of a rock. When modern knifemakers use the term "fossil walrus tusk" or "fossil ivory," they are referring to ivory that has been buried in the ground for thousands or tens of thousands of years and has absorbed some of the mineral stain and is lightly impregnated with minerals that change the color and hue of the original ivory. This hardens it somewhat, but it is still ivory. The correct term would be "mineralized," or "ancient." I also used petrified ivory tusk, which is solid rock. Read more about horn, bone, and ivory on a dedicated page here.

Hardwoods can be magnificent on knives, and are the choice of many owners and makers, and I use them too. They are tough, resilient, and some are very hard. But they, too, can absorb moisture, liquids, corrosives, and have a different expansion coefficient than steel, which may lead to changes over time, and if severe, loosening of the handle. So it's good to opt for stabilized hardwoods, or sealed hardwoods, or extra oily and resinous hardwoods like cocobolo, rosewoods, ironwoods, and lignum vitae. Hardwoods are comfortable to hold and most of them are light in weight, helping balance a knife. They need to be attached with pins: for mechanical as well as adhesive fixture. They can be scratched, dented and dinged, and some darken with age and exposure, but most of this change is moderated if the knifemaker practices good application and sealing and finishing techniques, and the user routinely cares for them (see "Care of your Custom Knife" here). Learn more than you ever wanted to know about hardwoods and stabilized woods used in modern custom knife handles on my "Custom Knife Handles: Woods" page here.

I use plastics also, but usually only on request, and I never use "plastic rock." Most of the manmade (plastic) material I use is Micarta®. It is tough, hard phenolic thermoset plastic originally created as a high strength electrical insulator, and sometimes reinforced with canvas, linen, or paper. This is usually used on military knives and it is bead blasted or sandblasted for a rough, textured grip. Micarta is impervious to everything but heat, and it is lightweight. But it is not exactly what you could call beautiful. It attaches very well, is strong and long lived. I also use G10, which is an epoxy reinforced with fiberglass. I've also used pure nylon on special projects, pure acrylic, Delrin, vulcanized fiber, carbon fiber, and even Teflon. These can be a good choice for tactical knives. I don't make "soft" grips like Kraton, because it has to be molded onto the knife, and flexibility will eventually lead to durability problems. Not many of my clients ask for that type of handle, either, as it is weak and short-lived. Learn more about these and other manmade handle materials on a dedicated page on this site here.

I use Kydex® for combat and tactical sheaths, which is a blend of acrylic and PVC. Colors available are black, gray, camo desert, camo forest, digi-Polar, digi-Forest, and digi-Desert. I also use the polished form: Concealex® These thermoset materials repel just about anything except high heat, and might become brittle in Antarctica (see "Care of your Custom Military Knife here). Learn more about the manmade sheath materials I use on a special knife sheaths page here.

Will it last?

Short answer: You'll be handing it down to your grandson.

Long answer: The first word that describes modern handmade and custom knives is durable. My handmade custom knives are fine, well-made instruments and tools. The fit and finish are excellent, so corrosion won't start. The materials are impervious to just about anything you can throw at them. The woods are either decay-resistant or pressure stabilized and sealed. Gemstones are hard, tough, may be sealed, and are impervious to all fluids. Most of the steels are stainless, the guards and bolsters are corrosion resistant or corrosion proof, and attached with at least two zero-tolerance peened pins. Guards are closely fitted and dissimilar metals are soldered. Pommels are tapped, threaded, and every piece is assembled with jewelers quality water-clear epoxy. Most of the knives should last 3 generations or more with reasonable care. It is interesting to note that if you have one of my knives that has a stainless steel mirror polished blade, with 304 stainless bolsters/fittings and a gemstone handle, the most ambitious care requires only an occasional dusting and waxing. Most gemstones will outlast the blades.

It gives me great (if somewhat apprehensive) satisfaction that ninety percent of the pieces I make will still be admired centuries after my bones are dust! They will, however, continue to appreciate in value. Unfortunately, I won't be able to benefit from that-

Is it perfect?

Short answer: That's impossible.

Long answer: There is no such thing as perfect. Though the human hand can be very well practiced, it is not possible for it to create any object of perfection. Show me any knife, any sculpture, any work of art and I can find irregularities, mistakes, an errors, or a flaw. Anything.

Sometimes people think that if an object is constructed entirely by machine, it can be made perfectly, without flaw. This is, sadly, one of the most persistent and mistaken beliefs that permeate our culture. Items and objects created by machine are limited by the process and that is the first imperfection. What that means is that a Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC)device can only cut what can be held, measured, indexed, and manipulated by the machine itself. The machine limits what can be produced by its own nature. Add to that the human input that has programmed it, the human hand that chooses cutters, initializes, and designs the operation, and the imperfect hand is afoot. No machines are capable of fine finishing to the degree of hand finishing, and cutters, variations in wear, machine play, lubricants, and the materials themselves are all imperfect in make-up and execution.

So if a machine can not make a perfect item, can the human? Absolutely not. Everything is variable by degrees. Here's a great example: I was at a fine custom knife show, and an artist who was touted as one best engravers who ever lived had some items on display. I wanted to see what the items looked like close up, and I had seen many of his representative works in magazines and periodicals. Upon arriving at his table I put on my glasses. If you're over 45, you know that magnifying glasses become a necessity. As we age, the pupils stiffen, and you simply can't focus on nearer items. The glasses I had were only 1.25 magnification, so it wasn't like I was peering through a microscope, which is what he used to engrave the knives. These are glasses that would allow one to read the text on a newspaper at 24 inches. What I saw was a significant variation from what I had heard about this guy's work, and what I had seen in the small printed photographs. There were a few overcuts, some misaligned shading, some places where curves and cuts were not the best executed. What this told me was that the idea of being one of the best did not have to do with perfection, it was his overall designs, knife skills, reputation, and longevity that made him popular. Simply put, his work was imperfect. His knives sold for many thousands of dollars, imperfect every one.

Please remember that typically, the magnification factor of most knives presented on the internet, in websites, and in print media is actually negative. Put another way, what you are looking at is a reduced size, an image smaller than the knife actually is. This is well-known in photography as a technique that will hide flaws, imperfections, and irregularities. If a photo is half the size of the original item, the flaw is also half the size. If a 12 inch long knife is actually presented in a photo that depicts the knife as three inches long, it is a four power reduction. This is a tiny rendition of the knife, and flaws may be invisible. It is no wonder why this size photo dominates nearly all products on the internet, a place where the size of the photo is not critical anymore, since most of the world is not limited by bandwidth and display speed in photos anymore.

This is why I include an array of photos on my individual knife pages, including many that are significant enlargements of the knife, bolsters, fittings, handles, and sheaths. Few people do this because they don't want you to see any flaws or irregularities in their work. I know that these exist, but in an effort to be clear, show them anyway! I want my clients, patrons, and knife enthusiasts to see the knife, the real, handmade knife.

It does not take an expert to detect imperfection. Anyone given enough time can find something amiss or unsuitable with any item, no matter how it is created. In some cultures, it is expected that an obvious and even dominant flaw, mistake, or error is placed in the object so the viewer knows the frailty of the human hand that produced it. There can be a lot of respect for our imperfect nature; it's all part of being human.

A person who demands absolute perfection is not only unreasonable, but also may suffer form a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. As an artist and maker of fine knives and sculpture, it will be impossible to satisfy this person. Though I make a knife as well as I possibly can, and you can see the results of that in the thousands of photographs on this web site, there is not a one that is, or ever will be perfect. And every one of them can still be unique, useful, durable, valuable, and beautiful in their own right.

Do I worry that my knives are not perfect? No. I've been making knives for so long that I'm very, very good at it. As one of those imperfect humans, I'll continue to strive for perfection, and until then, I'll just make excellent knives!

What kind of knife do I want?

Short answer: It's custom. You decide.

Long answer: Sometimes, this is the hardest question to answer, and often the first question a client may ask. You might think that a client ordering from a custom knife maker would know exactly what he wants, but because there are so many options available, it may be overwhelming to clarify his exact needs for each particular knife.

The easiest way to decide is to determine how the knife will be used, or even whether it will be used. The heaviest use knives I make are military combat knives, and the lightest duty knives are the sculptural art pieces or collectors knives. This doesn't mean that a knife built for collecting is not or can not be used, because those knives are built to the same tough standards as the combat knives. The main difference is that working knives are made to be worked with, used, scratched, abraded, scuffed, sharpened, and often encounter dirt, debris, moisture, and other detrimental exposures. Collectors grade knives are meant to be mostly stored, displayed, and are expected to retain and even appreciate in value. Between these two extremes are most knives, knives that are occasionally used, periodically stored, and expected to retain some if not all of their original value, and even sometimes appreciating in value. So to initially decide, you must consider several factors: frequency of use, intended long term value, and initial cost. The most important thing to decide is which of these types of use your knife will see: serious use, occasional use, or collector’s grade?

• Serious Use: If you are intending to carry a knife in the field, and subject the knife to heavy use, the blade will, of course, get worn and scratched over time. The handle will see some wear, as will the sheath. So, most guys who intend to carry combat or CSAR knives are going for phenolics or wood handles and muted, modest, or plain finishes with no embellishment because they don’t have to invest as much in the beginning, as they know their knives will be heavily used. As the blade is used and re-sharpened, and time and tasks take their toll on the metal, the long term value of the knife degrades but the knife is a tool, tough, durable, and expected to outlast factory knives.
• Occasional Use: If you’re only using the knife occasionally, and wish to have the knife retain high value, many clients choose gemstone for handle material and a higher quality or mirror finish. The gem is unique, will outlast the blade, and the knife can maintain high value over the years (or even decades) if it is taken care of. Polished blades have higher value than bead blasted, satin finished, or sanded finish blades.
• Collector's Grade: If a knife is intended strictly for collector’s value, usually only the highest grade materials are used; gemstones, engraving, exotic sheaths, and sometimes display stands are incorporated into the piece. These knives typically increase in value over time.

Is it sharp?

Short answer: It's a knife. Of course it's sharp. Be careful.

Long answer: All knives have cutting edges. But so does an ax, a hand plane, and a chain saw. Even factory knives have edges. What's the difference? The difference is in blade geometry, an often neglected factor of knife making. In order for knives to be sharp, they must be thin where the edge is relieved and maintained (that's the cutting edge). So pay attention to the thickness right behind the cutting edge. The blade should be strong enough to take some use, but not abuse; it's a knife, after all, not an axe. The key to good thin hollow-ground blade geometry lies in the skill and practice of the knifemaker. Factories grind with CNC machines, or with jigs, or with little kids in Pakistan, so they leave the blade thick. This makes for a tough-looking knife, but after three sharpenings, it's so thick that it now has a "chisel" edge, unsuitable for cutting. Factories think that this is when you'll just go buy another knife. A properly hollow-ground knife blade is thin throughout most of the blade, so that repeated sharpenings will still leave a usable, thin geometry. Another factor of good blade geometry is in the method of grinding. If the maker uses a jig, or has bad technique, he grinds straight across the blade, neglecting the curvature or belly of the blade shape. This leads to thick and thin areas of the blade: not good. Particularly noticeable with this method is a very thick point, exactly what you don't need in a knife! Why have a point if it's not thin and sharp? A skilled knifemaker grinding offhand follows the curvature of the blade with the hollow-grind perpendicular to the edge along the entire edge, leading to uniform thinness throughout the cutting edge. This makes devastatingly sharp bellies for skinning, dressing, or tactical knives. It also makes thin, aggressive, extremely sharp points. Take a good look at that bulky factory steel. Isn't it just a bar of metal that's dressed up to look like a knife? See detailed drawings about cutting edges, blade geometry, relief angles, and custom knife blades on my Blades page here.

Will it rust?

Short answer: Not if you take care of it.

Long answer: Different steels are different, but there is no "rust-proof" tool steel. The addition of carbon to iron (to make steel) means that it can corrode. Steels that are "rust-proof" do not classify as tool steels (like the 420 stainless used in knives sold in late night infomercials), and they can be used as knife blades, but they are weak and short lived. Sure, you might see one of them cut a soft tile then a tomato, but their ability lies in the thin edge, which quickly wears away. They are very tough (that's flexible, with resistance to breaking), but so is a spring. In fact, that is almost exactly what they are: soft, thin stainless steel springs. You wouldn't take one on your favorite deer hunt, or into the combat theater, or hand it down to your grandson. Other corrosion-proof knives are dive knives. These are often made of 316 stainless steel, which is used in making stainless pipes to carry chemical corrosives, such as acid. Others are made of titanium which cannot be hardened any more than 35 Rockwell on the C scale, whereas knives are typically 58C Rockwell, dozens of times harder and wear resistant. These blades won't corrode, but are also soft and weak and do not classify as tool steel.

Corrosion can occur on fine stainless tool steel knives, but only if you let it. A high quality 440C stainless knife steel will only corrode if left exposed to sea water (for a long time, longer than a day or two) or orange soda pop, or battery acid, or left in a wet leather sheath (acids are used in tanning leather) or stored long term in the sheath and not allowed to breathe, unwaxed and unprotected. ATS-34 is a bit less corrosion resistant, so blood, orange juice, etc. will also stain it. D-2 is even less corrosion resistant, and I've seen people's acidic fingerprints etch into the blade finish. And O-1 will flat out rust, unless you keep it coated with car wax, or Break-Free®, or silicone-based polish-sealants. A high mirror polish on knives can help, as debris cannot cling to the blade. There are some new developments in the nitrogen stainless steels that have extremely high corrosion resistance, but these steels are very expensive, limited in production runs and sizes, and typically only used for dive knives in marine environments

So what to do? Clean your knife, keep it reasonably dry, wax it periodically, do not store it long term in the sheath, and it will be just fine. Read more about knife care on a dedicated page here.

What about blued blades and coatings?

Short answer: They're dark.

Long answer: Several clients have asked why active duty military would carry mirror finished blades into combat where they lack "stealth." I explain that some of them are spraying the knives with camo paint, sheaths and all, then washing it off with denatured alcohol when they return from their deployment. This way they've protected the finish somewhat, and had something very nice to place on their mantle afterwards, eventually to hand down to their children. Others leave the blades polished, and figure if they have to pull their knife, the situation has already gone to hell and some shiny high-chromium tool steel might make an influential.... statement.

Coatings: I do not typically coat blades, because that would hide the grinds, hide any potential flaws, eventually chip and peel, and may actually accelerate corrosion. I go into detail about this topic including a section on Parkerizing on my Blades page at this bookmark.

Bluing is a process of oxidizing (rust is a form of oxidation, uncontrolled and irregular). Hot bluing (which is what I do) is a controlled, deep passive oxidation process whereby the steel is cleaned thoroughly, chemically and molecularly, then immersed in a superheated boiling solution of sodium nitrate and other salts for 40 minutes or longer. This deeply oxidizes the surface of the steel. The bluing process is the same used on all fine firearms, that black, dark look that takes years to buff, scrape, or polish off. My process excels in penetration, where most firearms might be blued for 10-20 minutes, I start at 40. To give you an illustration, when I cut my makers mark into a blued blade using a sharp stylus diamond point engraver at 50 pounds per square inch, it takes three full passes to cut through the bluing to achieve a bright cut.

To sum, hot caustic bluing is a well-recognized, time-proven method of inhibiting corrosion (not preventing it) on the surface of steels. My own son (in the US Army 101st Airborne) has carried a hot-blued skeletonized knife in combat in Iraq. So has his squad. They're very happy with the performance.

Please remember, there is NO corrosion proof tool steel. Even 440C, which contains 18% chromium will rust and corrode in salts or acidic environments. There are some new developments in the nitrogen stainless steels that have extremely high corrosion resistance, but these steels are very expensive, limited in production runs and sizes, and typically only used for dive knives in marine environments.

Please look at my "Care of Your Custom Military Knife" page on this website and the "Will it Rust?" topic above.

What about blued stainless steel blades?

Short answer: Can be done, but why?

Long answer: There are several methods for bluing stainless steel. They are complicated and expensive, compared to the standard process of bluing carbon steels (see "What about blued blades and coatings" above). First, please consider why stainless steel is "stainless" in the first place. It's because of chromium, and we're all familiar with the permanence of a chrome plated bumper of a car (though newer cars are plastic, yecch!). Chromium steels are resistant to corrosion because they form a passive oxide coating at the surface as soon as it's exposed to the atmosphere. Aluminum has a similar property. So corrosion (rust) does not easily start. The most common reason to blue a blade is to impart a corrosion resisting controlled oxidation to the surface of the steel, that way it inhibits further corrosion. Since true stainless steels contain a lot of chromium (more than 13% to be classified as stainless), they are already more resistant to corrosion than a blued steel. So the only reason then to blue a stainless steel blade is for color and appearance.

Though stainless tool steels can be blued, currently, I do not have enough requests to add an additional and expensive bluing bath for stainless steels to my already huge list of processes. I get requests for blued stainless about six times a year, and that is not enough to offset the cost of the chemistry, tanks, and process, a cost that ultimately, I would have to pass on to the clients. Also, from what I've determined by study, the blued stainless tool steels have a questionable and variable appearance. Perhaps in the future it will be worthwhile to blue stainless tool steel blades. Right now, it's not just cost effective, and no advantage for corrosion resistance is obtained.

I go into detail about this topic including a section on Parkerizing on my Blades page at this bookmark.

Is there an ultimate blade?

Short answer: No. Read, study, ask, learn, and make the best purchase you can afford for your intended use.

Long answer: Lots of claims have been made. Since ancient times, man has marveled over the properties of the cutting edge, and then sadly, discovered its limitations. I can imagine that the first obsidian swords made by Meso-Americans were incredibly scary, until they hit another rock, or sand, or dirt, or Spanish armor, and the sharp flakes of obsidian were broken off. Early steels seemed wonderful, but wore down easily, and rusted, and bent, and broke (often in battle ...oh, crap!). Sure, we've all heard of near-magical properties of Japanese swords, until we realize that they are folded 80 thousand times to get the grain to run straight in the metal, because it's so crappy and random to begin with. And that they used differential tempering because the cutting edge would be too soft, and the spine too brittle if they didn't. We've heard of magical blades of the Persians, Arabians, Chinese, and (let us not forget Excalibur) the British. Most of us know this is fairytale stuff, but some hold out the hope that there will be a super material that will someday be used to make the ultimate last knife you ever need. It will stay razor-keen forever, be feather-light, be super-tough, never break or bend, never corrode, and never be lost, staying by your side like a perfect extension of yourself, like an accessory of your hand.

Until that day comes, ceramics, titanium, super steels, and experimental blades will all have their limits. Every edge dulls. The pressure per square inch that is placed on the cutting edge can be enormous, the abrasion horrific. Even the hardest titanium-nitride coated ceramic metal cutting tools will dull (and they are extremely brittle). There is no alloy strong enough to lift a truck, yet light enough to weigh a feather. That's science fiction. Oh, yes, additionally, we would prefer our super material be cheap-

We're all adults here; we've used knives to cut. Some are much better than others, and they cost more, some are more beautiful and comfortable to use, and they cost more, and some are cheap and ugly and common. There is an entire range of types, anything to fit the value you place upon your knife. Just beware all of the hyperbole.

It's simple enough to know that there are only a handful of fine tool steels used to make high quality custom knives, mainly 440C, D2, ATS-34, RWL-34, BG-42, A-2, O-1, W-1, CPMS30V, 440V, CPMS90V, CPM154CM, N360, and custom Damascus. They are the most commonly used steels for fine knives for a reason. It's important to note that how the steel is formed, ground, heat treated, tempered, finished, and mounted is immensely more important than the steel type. That is why custom makers take responsibility for these processes in their own works. Read, study, ask, learn, and make the best purchase you can afford for your intended use.

Read more details than you probably ever wanted to know about custom knife blades here.

Do you make throwing knives?

Short answer: Why toss your weapon in the direction of your enemy for him to pick up and use?

Long answer: "Projectile" tools. "Throwing" knives. You might hear all kinds of hype about super-duper knives that can be thrown, but this is Hollywood cowboy talk. I would begin to question why you would toss away (perhaps even in the direction and to the benefit of your enemy) your edged weapon in the first place.

I don't make knives for throwing. The reasons are these: Throwing knives are usually throwaway knives, in that they're made of a cheap and soft steel, so that when you hit that occasional rock or concrete (which will inevitably happen if you're practicing throwing a knife), then they will just bend, not break. That requires them to be soft or springy steel. Imagine if the first time you threw a knife and hit a rock, a chip of metal broke off your blade or point.

The proper temper of a true knife (in layman's terms) is for the knife to just get to the point of bending when it breaks. Some knives are tested this way: the knife blade is clamped in a vise, pressure is applied to the handle sideways until the knife bends enough to snap the blade in half. Around the break, there should be just the initial signs of permanent bending, and the break should be clear, fine grained, gray metal. This is a simple old test, that generalizes the hardness and temper of the blade.

Nowadays, knifemakers should grind the knife for the best cross-sectional geometry of the knife, considering the use, steel type, and manufacturer's design data. The results are the same: for a knife to be hard, the steel will sacrifice toughness.  For the knife to be tough, hardness must be sacrificed. It is a careful balance, as there is no material that is both very hard and very tough when ground thin enough to be sharp. To understand this better: hardness is the resistance to penetration, and toughness is the resistance to breakage. An extremely tough knife is a soft knife, so that the steel can bend instead of breaking. An extremely hard knife is a brittle knife, so that the steel cannot be penetrated. Both extremes cannot be achieved, but only balanced as closely and carefully as the particular tool steel will allow. That is my job.

So if I made a knife for throwing, it could not be hard (throwing knives are usually butter-soft), and if I make a properly hardened knife, it would be too brittle to throw. The only way to possibly balance this is to leave the steel thick, and then it cannot be made very sharp, and future sharpening would be impossible. Get details of the hardness-toughness relationship on my Blades page at this bookmark.

If you must have a throwing knife, you should make one yourself out of a piece of rough stock, as it will probably be ruined anyway the first time you hit a piece of concrete, dirt, rock, or hard wood. Or you can purchase them cheaply from numerous import companies here on the web, just do a search. If you practice a lot, and get really good, maybe I'll see you at the county carnival! In Hollywood? I doubt it. All that knife flying through the air stuff is computer generated.

Read more about professional tool steel treatment, grind geometry, and custom knife blades on the Blades page.

How important is heat treating?

Short answer: Very. It's the number one thing a knife maker should know and do himself.

Long answer: The reason I started making knives is because when I was young, I heard about the secret of steel: the fact that steel could be heated and cooled at different temperatures and rates, deriving a piece of metal that was dozens (sometimes hundreds) of times softer or harder than a piece cut from the same bar. It amazed me and an old welder said, "If you want to learn about heat treating, make a knife."

He was right. I started annealing springs and "found" steel stock, and working on every piece of steel I could get my hands on. And I studied. What I found was that there was an entire science of the crystalline structure of steel: how it forms entirely different components and allotropes based on metallurgy, mixtures, exposures to heat, cold, duration, and more. Tool steel is not just steel, it's martensite, austenite, pearlite, bainite, cementite, and ferrite. It's carbon, chromium, silicon, manganese, magnesium, molybdenum, tungsten, vanadium, and sulfur. It is a complex scientific field of study and practice, and as a knifemaker, I'd better be knowledgeable about my field. So I studied, experimented and learned some more. I've built half a dozen modified ovens over the years, and I realize that the heat treating is still at the core of making an exceptional blade. I heat treat in vacuum-nitrogen quenched inert gas electric and high-intensity rapid ramp ovens. I sub-zero quench, perform sophisticated shallow cryogenic and deep cryogenic quenching and aging at -320° F! I heat-treat specifically as the manufacturer requires, and modern tool steels are made in clean, accurate, regulated, and verified conditions, so that is how I treat them.

You might wonder why I do all my own heat treating and don't trust it to an outside contractor, as many knifemakers do.

• When you trust an outside contractor, you admit you can't heat treat a knife blade properly; that you don't have the simple skills, resources, and desire to handle this essential part of knife making yourself.
• You are at the heat treating contractor's whims as to timing. What if a military client needs a combat knife in a hurry? You both have to wait on the heat treater.
• You don't know for sure that the heat treater is heat treating per the manufacturers recommendations, such as a long pre-soak at a specific temperature to relieve machining stress.
• You don't know that he soaks for the correct time at the critical temperature (or that he even reaches it!)
• How does he quench? Does it produce stress risers in the blade at the precarious points like the choil and bolster pin corners? Does he do an interrupted quench, or quench staging?
• Is he performing a snap temper before cryogenic quenching? If he does, this increases the amount of retained austenite, and decreases the performance of the knife blade permanently!
• Doe he perform an adequate cryogenic aging to assure the complete precipitation of fine eta carbides, or does he shorten the cyro aging for economy?
• Does he double-temper for the right amount of time as per manufacturers recommendations? Does he triple temper, necessary for some steel types, with deep cold soaking between tempers for successful thermal cycling?
• As each manufacturer of  tool steel has slightly different processes, how does the private contractor know all of them? Does the heat treater ask for the brand, alloy content, and purchase date of the original steel billet? He's not cutting corners or generalizing to make a buck, is he?
• Does he set the temper depending on the blade grind geometry, the steel type, and the intended use or does he just set it at Rc58?
• Can he and does he apply a differential temper, or a graduated temper, if the specific design requires it? He can't and won't.
• Does he test every single blade with a professional certified testing apparatus?

Who knows if an outside heat treating contractor is paying attention to these items? I trust myself to do this critical set of processes, not an outside heat treating contractor. That's why heat treating is the number one thing a knife maker should know and do himself. Read and learn more than most knifemakers about Heat Treating and Cryogenic Processing of Knife Blade Steel on this page.

I read on one forum where one anonymous idiot submitted that "Jay Fisher's heat treating is nothing special." This shows the absolute ignorance of the person who would post this. Heat treating is not some special inconsistent and ambiguous art, where individuals get to creatively modify times, temperatures, process steps, and handling of the blade depending on their mood. Heat treating is a specific process, determined by the engineers who work for the steel supplier, laid out in clear and concise steps for each type of steel. Heat treating is not "special," it is a recipe to be followed exactly to produce a specific result. When you hear that guys have some proprietary, exclusive, and secret method of hardening and tempering blades, you need to run the other way (tightly clutching your money). Do you honestly think that finely engineered products in the best military, industrial, and medical field are handled with mystery steps, secret process, or magical methods? Okay, scratch the mysticism and ask yourself if you think that any part of this process is variable, changeable, erratic and whimsical. Of course not; that's just ridiculous. Any machinist who works with tool steel knows that the manufacturer of the steel explains exactly how to heat treat the blade to yield a reliable and dependable result. It's a process, a set of instructions, and all good knife makers follow it to the letter, or the steel won't perform as it was engineered to.

If a knife maker does not follow these steps, he is claiming that he knows better than the trained engineers who develop these fine steels, knows better than the thousands of machine shops that use them, knows better than the (International) American Society for Testing and Materials, the American Iron and Steel Institute, the American National Standards Institute, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Do you honestly think that the tens of thousands of ASTM, AISI, ANSI, and ASME technical specialists and engineers have less knowledge about steels than a guy who makes knives? That's why I follow the manufacturers guidelines as all good makers should.

Most heat treating companies who work with knives set the blade at one hardness: 58 on the Rockwell C scale. I have blades that range from 54 Rockwell C for heavy choppers that must be shock resistant and tough to 55HRC for springy, flexible fillet knives, to 56 for very thinly ground moderately light trailing point blades, to 57 for standard but thinly ground knives with a light cross-sectional profile, to 58 for many standard knives, to 59 for harder, thicker tactical models, to 60 for short and robust small folders and heavy-spined knives, to 61 for special-purpose cut-off blades for hazardous materials rescue and light metal cutting. I even have blades that are differentially heat treated and tempered, for a range of hardness along the blade. Where I set the final temper depends on three things:

• the manufacturer's type of steel and his recommendations
• the geometry of the grind and the cross-sectional area
• the client's intended final use

I can't see an outside heat-treater working with a hundred custom knife blades all from different makers knowing these details. Read more about the Rockwell hardness scale on the Blades page at this bookmark.

Watch out for all claims of a range of hardness. When you see a manufacturer's ad that claims the steel is 58-60 or 52-60 Rockwell, they are trying to pull a fast one. Each point of hardness on the Rockwell scale is significant and drastically effects the performance of the blade. Each blade, and each batch of knives will test at exactly one point (or half point!) of hardness, and there is no excuse for a range to be claimed. Why do they do this? This is typical  with blades that are 420 stainless steel, or 420HC, or any other designation beginning with 420. 420 stainless can not be hardened to any higher hardness than 52, no matter what range they claim. Ad writers do this in hopes that you will ignore the 52 and choose (in your mind) that your knife is 58 or 60. If it's 420, it's 52C, and no more. It might even be much softer!

And factory knives? Makes me growl. A group of USAF Pararescuemen brought me some factory made knives they'd been issued. They claimed that the edge "rolled" when used. I'd never seen such a thing, so I got permission to do a diamond penetrating hardness test on them. They were 100 times softer that they should be, that is: they weren't even heat treated! Then, a friend took one to a metals analysis lab, and found out the steel (which was marked right on the blade "ATS-34") had none of the percentages of alloy components of ATS-34. They didn't even know what the blade steel was! And this popular American factory sells thousands and thousands of knives a year. By the way, there is no law preventing a factory from stamping anything on a blade (except gold "kt" marks). Read more about knife manufacturers, factories and boutique shops.

I know some old time makers who will tell you that unless you do your own heat treating, you're not really a knife maker. That may be, but many knife makers do not do their own heat treating. They like to boast that their heat treating is done by old so-and-so, and everybody knows he does a good job. Sure, there are some good heat treaters out there. Several can do a predictable job, producing repeatable standard results. I simply won't have my blades leaving the shop and not knowing what someone is doing with them. So, since heat treating is an extremely important part of knife making, I do it myself. I buy my steel from a reputable supplier, and it's done right here in the shop, it's tested for certainty, and it's done right.

Read and learn more than most knifemakers about Heat Treating and Cryogenic Processing of Knife Blade Steel on this page.

What if I lose it?

Short answer: Don't. That really sucks.

Long answer: I've heard guys say for years that they won't buy a fine knife, because they'll probably just lose it. Why would they say that? Perhaps they lost some knife in the past and were heartbroken about it. I'd look at that heartbroken emotion with a little more interest. The knife they lost meant something, maybe it was irreplaceable. Perhaps it was a knife handed down through the family, or it dressed a particularly fine animal on a mystic hunt, maybe it still had the tobacco stain that Grandpa left on it, or maybe it was just the right shape, or had a really nice edge, or was just plain sweet. What did they do, set it down on a rock and walk away? Did they have it in their shirt pocket and bend over and have it fall into the lake? Did they shove it in a locking sheath, but not tug it to make sure it's locked, and lose it while crawling through the brush in a combat training exercise? All of these have happened with fine custom knives I've made, so that's why they're cited here.

For every knife lost, there are thousands and thousands that are still in use, so the chances are slim. Besides, what other tool might you carry and lose? A compass? A fishing rod, a rifle? Not likely, because you've got a good hold on them, you check to make sure they're secure: you value them. Just keep this in mind: if you're lost in the wilderness, with only one hand tool, what would that tool be? How important is your knife? How important is your life? You might want to think about the knife you carry and it's quality now. And don't use that lame excuse for not owning a fine knife. It's just another way of saying "I'm too irresponsible to own a fine custom knife." Ouch!

What if it's stolen?

Short answer: Somebody wants your knife. Lock it up.

Long answer: Knives are an "attractive" nuisance. This has been illustrated several times to me by gallery owners who refuse to display knives in their showrooms. Knives are frequently locked in display cases, secured behind glass, locked in vaults, covered, hidden, and protected. It might be that they're small and easy to carry away, but that's not the whole story.

Knives are valued by everyone. Not everybody can fence a diamond tiara, but everybody wants a fine knife for themselves. The knife is universal, beautiful, and handy. Fine knives by custom makers are some of the most valuable small non-jewelry items made. And some of them are jewelry, with gold, precious gems, and exotic metals dripping with elaborate embellishment. I've seen it at every show, people drool over fine knives. Someone wants your knife.

I remember a particular show in Colorado Springs where 80,000 people strolled by my table over one weekend, all with lust in their eyes. There were constant attempts to divert my attention for the quick grab and smooth blend into the crowd, but I was extra vigilant. It was a truly awful show. It was like bringing your teenage daughter to a biker bar.

Fine custom knives by a well known maker are one of the highest appreciating investments one can own. They typically appreciate 10-25% a year or more. I sold one knife for $750.00 and the next year a gentleman told me he purchased it from a dealer for $4000.00. This also illustrates the point that the cheapest place you can buy a fine custom knife is from the maker. After a dealer gets his hands on them the price goes up, up, up. Knives are valuable. Custom one of a kind handmade knives by a well-known established maker are irreplaceable. Keep an eye on them. Read the topic below for more discussion: What is the value of investment knives and why?

Why are blades so different?

Short answer: They're used for different things

Long answer: Knives come in thousands of varieties. That's why I've got over 500 patterns on this website. You can see them all right here. When you think about how you might use a knife, and how many types of knives you would like to own, multiply that by how many people are using knives. Think about how another professional might use a knife. Someone once said that everything we eat, own, or use in any way has been touched by a cutting edge. So there are blades for each of these tasks. In custom handmade knives, each handle must fit a different hand. And the balance must vary, depending on the use. A heavy blade (blade-heavy) knife might be used for rescue work, light chopping, and in a pinch, digging. A handle-heavy knife usually denotes delicate work, a light thin blade, scalpel-like tasks. There are different grind geometries, like hollow, convex, and straight. There are a large variety of teeth, hooks, and serrations. Some people might prefer a long handle, some a short one. Knives might be held in a variety of ways in the hand, and there are different hands. It is absolutely bewildering the different kinds of knives history has given us. Knives may range from a simple shank of metal with a cutting edge, to high art sculpture that is based on a knife, but will never be used to cut. Get an overview of knife blade types on my blades page, then enjoy browsing through my patterns page, where there are hundreds of links to pictures of finished knives.

Folding or Fixed blade?

Short answer: One folds, the other doesn't. Both are nice, one is stronger.

Long answer: Okay, this one has inspired argument for decades. Here's the straight skinny. If a knife is to be strong, very strong and tough, used in tactical, rescue or lifesaving operations where the durability of the piece is tantamount to survival, a full tang knife is the only way to go. That's because it is one solid piece of steel from tip to tip. It is usually reinforced at the critical areas, at the bolsters. A fine handmade full tang knife should have a fully tapered tang, making the blade tang (the metal under the handle scales) lighter at the carrying end, but thick and strong at the spine (the thick part of the back of the blade).

A folding knife has one major deficiency: the pivot. History and experimentation have given us many ways to reinforce, strengthen, and attempt to make rigid this tenuous pivot, but let's face it, it's still a tiny piece of steel holding a long levered blade. Also, no matter how it's done, the handle is always longer and larger than the blade. That's why you don't see any huge folding knives, because a handle-heavy knife is usually used for light, scalpel-like cutting, and a blade-heavy knife for stout work cannot fit into the handle. Also, the locking mechanism which should reinforce the pivot must move, and be moved by simple finger pressure, so it cannot be too large or apply a great deal of mechanical pressure. Numerous tests, like applied pressure, palms on the spine, spine whacking, and torque pressure have been devised to make sure that a folding knife is not going to close on your fingers in a critical situation, but why even take that chance? I cannot imagine a folding knife even being called "Tactical." And I can't imagine a folding knife rated as CQB (close quarters battle). That is why you won't find any folding knives on my tactical, combat, or military knives pages. Though there is a billion dollar business called "tactical folding knives," there really is no such thing. They should be called: "tactical-looking folding knives that are really plain utility knives."

Picture this: your life depends on the immediate critical use of your knife.

Situation A: a neighborhood criminal or perhaps even an enemy combatant or terrorist wants to kill you. You whip out your folding knife- whoops, wait, wait, sorry, first you dig it out of your pocket, jacket, belt loop sheath, or other tight place it's tightly wedged into. Position it in your leading hand correctly, so that you can operate the speedy opening mechanism. Flip and click and he's facing a 3" blade secured by a 1/8" (or less) thick spring, a 1/4" pivot, and a hollow handle... what then?

Situation B: You've somehow got lost in the woods, and need to find or build a shelter. You might be there for several days, it's raining, you're hungry, and there are nothing but big thick trees around and a lot of silence. You whip out your 3" folding knife... oh, yeah, you're not alone. A family member is with you and they're depending on you to save their life-

The best thing to have in both these situations is probably a concealed firearm in situation A, and a full set of  tools (chainsaw, axe, shovel, fire starter, etc.) in situation B. Barring that, you'll have to do with what you carry. Why do I bring up situations that probably won't ever happen? I've got news for you, my friend. Both situations have happened to me. In situation A, I happened to have a machete nearby. Guess what? The standoff ended immediately. In situation B, I had a sheath knife, big enough to hack away some small branches, build a fire to keep us warm, dig a shelter and eventually build a signal fire days later.

Now that doesn't mean that folding knives are useless, quite the contrary, and I make them myself. They have been refined to wonderful and beautiful instruments, deserving fine art status. Some of the most valuable knives in collections are folding. But the difference is clear: they're weaker at the pivot, and the handle is larger than the blade. So the fixed blade knife is stronger, period. In the fixed blade, the blade to handle length can be varied for proper balance. Folding knives are not tactical or combat knives. Want to know what real combat soldiers, emergency professionals, law enforcement and rescue personnel carry for knives? Take a look at my Military Knife Portal.

Full tang or hidden tang?

Short answer: One tends to be rounder, one flatter. One is stronger. Both are nice.

Long answer: A full tang knife is a solid piece of steel from tip to tip (see "Folding or Fixed Blade?" above). The full tang is usually bolstered (reinforced) at the critical points, mainly the ricasso (where the blade joins the handle) and sometimes at the butt (where it might be bumped or tugged out of the sheath, or a lanyard tugs at a hole). The full tang is tapered in most fine knives to reduce weight, align the balance, and look really neat. Handle scales are attached with pins, rivets, or screws to the flat side of the tang between the bolsters. The bolsters are usually dovetailed to lock the handle material under a bevel and to strengthen the whole handle arrangement. A full tang knife is a strong knife, and it is usually flatter in the handle due to the design of scales, and the need to balance the tang weight against the handle material.

The hidden tang has two basic types, both of them make the tang invisible. One type has the tang extending down through a milled guard which is sometimes pinned and/or soldered against the shoulders at the ricasso (see the illustration and more details on my Knife Anatomy page at this bookmark). The tang is either threaded or a threaded rod is brazed or welded to the blade tang, and the threaded rod extends down through the handle material(s) into a threaded pommel. This allows a more sculpted and rounder handle than the full tang knife. The handle may be made of one large piece of material that can be seen in the round, or many pieces of material stacked like doughnuts onto the tang thread and then finished at once (some makers call this a stacked tang).

 Because of the reduced tang size, and sometimes attached rod, the hidden tang is weaker than the full tang. It is usually used on non-combat, non-tactical knives that are not expected to suffer great stresses. Skinning, field dressing, utility, and light duty knives where a round, comfortable handle is desired necessitates this design. Also, very fine collector's knives like daggers with fluted and wire wrapped handles benefit from the hidden tang design.

Another type of hidden tang (called a rabbeted tang) does not have a pommel. The handle material is drilled, and the tang is shoved into a hole in the handle material with plenty of epoxy. Sometimes a pin is driven through the hidden tang cross section. This method is used mainly on handles like stag horn, where the shape of the butt must be left natural. It is the weakest of the tang types but can be quite beautiful and functional.

An important consideration is strength of the handle for both the hidden tang and full tang knives. You might read elsewhere on the internet that it is debatable whether the full tang or the hidden tang is stronger. This is not even a close argument. The full tang has full thickness across the width of the blade at the most critical areas, in front of and behind the front bolster location. On a hidden tang, this is where the blade is ground down and reduced in size and thickness so it can be inserted through a guard. The guard does not strengthen the knife in any way compared to a bolster, particularly when the bolster is mechanically attached and rigid. So there simply is no way that the hidden tang can compare in blade-to-handle strength to the full tang. The hidden tang simply has less metal there. Additionally, the entire butt of the knife handle is supported by the cross-sectional thickness of the threaded rod just behind the pommel. If the knife is dropped, suffers impact, or (God forbid) is used as a hammer at the butt, this weak area has a high potential for breakage since there is very little metal there. When you read the comments by supposedly knowledgeable people on internet postings, use your own common sense to consider the mechanics and geometry of the knife blade and handle, not the preferences of the particular maker. Many makers can not successfully and accurately create the difficult matching tapered tangs, or they don't want to pay for expensive blade material that is simply covered by the handle, so they create hidden tang knives. As with all commentary, please consider the source.

Do I have preferences? You bet I do. If a knife needs to be very strong, like my combat, tactical, rescue, and professional service knives, the strongest arrangement is the full tang: one solid piece of steel from point to butt. But if a particular handle material requires an "in the round" handle, or the design dictates it, I have used and will use a hidden tang. Both types have their place depending on the handle and design.

For more information and detailed descriptions, drawings, and definitions, see my "Knife Anatomy" page.

How do I fit the handle to my hand?

Short answer: Size does matter...

Long answer: Most hands are close to the same size. Sure, there are differences, and occasionally a client wants a knife to match his hand precisely, usually on tactical or advanced bladed weapons, combat, or rescue knives. These are situations that require a locking fit between the fingers. I had one client, years ago, that was a boar hunter. To the unfamiliar, these guys corner the boar with dogs deep in the southeast U.S. swamps, then rush up with a knife to finish it off. Sometimes the knife is lashed to a stick, but why bother, after all, you're not there to be safe... I like the up-close, personal nature of this encounter. The boar is fighting for his life, the hunter is just out for a day of sport. Anyway, the knife had to fit his hand precisely; as you can imagine, a dropped knife in this situation is .... embarrassing. So he came into the shop, shaved off each thirty-second of an inch to get it just right to fit his hand. But he was the exception. Most of my knives fit most people's hands rather well, as there is a lot of experience from your knifemaker having to do with balance, feel, texture, and a host of manual artistic adjustments that are too deep to describe here. Let's just call it practice. I see the pleasure in their eyes as soon as the handle hits their hand.

Occasionally, a client does need a specific adjustment to fit his hand. There's an easy way to do this, which is usually only necessary on a handle that has front and rear quillons (that's the part that stops the fingers from sliding forward onto the blade). Here's how to adjust it for you:

1. Wrap your fingers over a ruler, as if you were wrapping four fingers over a horizontal rope.
2. Measure the width between your center knuckles (the ones you would knock on a door with). This measure is the quillon width.
3. For a tight fit in your hand, round the measurement down to the nearest 1/4"
4. For a looser fit, round up to the next nearest 1/4"

What could be easier? To get really precise, and to see illustrations of the hand measuring process and how it applies to the knife, go to the Tactical Knives Grip Style and Hand Fitting page on this site.

How do I carry it?

Short answer: In a sheath, of course.

Long answer: If you carry a fine knife, the sheath is the most important thing! What? How can this be? We'll exclude folding knives for this conversation. A sheath's number one purpose is to protect the wearer from his own knife. Surprised? You thought its number one purpose is to carry the knife, right?

A knife, a good knife, is a sharp instrument capable of vicious damage. It will cut you if you drop it, fumble with it, let it slip, fall, trip, bump, or even touch the cutting edge. So it's important that it stays sheathed until you're ready for it, and then it must be immediately accessible. This is actually quite a task we ask of the modern knife sheath. And believe this: most modern knife makers have woefully neglected this most important part of their trade craft.

What are the characteristics we should look for in a modern knife sheath? We want the sheath strong, so that it doesn't bend. Don't buy a knife sheath that is flexible, it will flex, and the knife will not, and the knife will poke through right into your fleshy parts. That's why I use 9-10 oz. leather shoulder in most of my leather sheaths. It's just one step below the thickness of shoe sole leather, and I stiffen it as much as possible. In my military and professional tactical knives, I use Kydex®, but not just Kydex alone, I make the sheaths with aluminum welts, bonded with waterproof cement and Chicago screws. And the Kydex I use is double thick, a full .125" when most other makers are using Kydex half this thick!

Our sheath must also hold the knife. Leather has it's own frictional component, usually bearing on the bolster area of the knife. Military grade knives can utilize Kydex the same way; the Kydex is hot-formed around the knife and can actually be formed to lock the knife into the sheath with an audible "click." Some military grade sheaths use an additional snapping retaining strap of leather or ballistic nylon or other material to secure the knife. The ultimate knife retainer is a positively locking mechanism in a combat grade sheath; mine are made of stainless steel, milled and machined right into the aluminum welts, reinforced with the Chicago screws, and are waterproof. A new type I  make is a hybrid of the locking and the tension fit, using a retaining system of titanium and stainless steel.

The sheath must resist the elements. With a leather sheath, there are a few things that the professional maker can do; I seal mine with waterproof lacquer, and use artificial sinew (100% polyester) to stitch the sheaths. But leather cannot be made waterproof, only water resistant, so that is its limitation. On my military and tactical sheaths, Kydex, aluminum, and nickel plated steel Chicago screws are waterproof, so that's that. My military combat tactical sheaths are suitable for periodic marine grade exposures.

The sheath must also allow accessibility. The design of the knife helps; a "hawks bill" rear finger quillon at the end of the handle allows easy removal from the sheath. The sheath may be worn in a variety of ways, even opposite side of the leading hand, cross-draw at an angle. Snapping flaps of leather sometimes are used to protect the handle, yet allow easy removal. The ultimate accessibility is the locking sheath, because it exposes the entire handle, and just sheaths the blade.

The sheath must also protect the knife. That is why the most protective sheaths are deep, that is, the knife slides deeply into the pocket, and that keeps brush and materials from bumping, snagging, and bruising your investment. The flaps (if used) must fold to the back of the wearer, so they don't catch on brush and tree limbs and open up while the wearer is moving through brush. The belt loop must secure the sheath close to your body for the same purpose. Some long knives have angled belt loops to prevent the handle from jamming up under your ribs when you sit in a vehicle or on horseback.

The sheath must protect the cutting edge. That's why you own the knife in the first place, so how is that done? In leather sheaths, the welts (the layers stitched and held between the front and back faces of the sheath) are thick and stout, mine usually have several layers tapered into the deep well of the sheath, with a visible ramp of welt to protect the sheath and blade as it is inserted and withdrawn. The military types have welts of .250" thick corrosion resistant aluminum.

The sheath must look good. For me, that means commensurate with the quality of the investment of the knife, featuring inlays of exotic skins like ray skin, snake skin, hippopotamus, gazelle, antelope, and shark, with fine tooling, airbrushed finishes, and carving, stamping, and tooling. The military models often have descriptive removable engraved lacquered brass flash plates designating operational units or slogans or personalization matching the knives. A significant thing to remember is that the sheath is seen more often than the knife, so it very important to pay attention to the aesthetics. How many makers apologize for their sheaths? Sheath making is part of this tradecraft and art, and should not be an afterthought.

Learn more than you probably ever want to know about custom and handmade knife sheaths and military combat knife sheaths on these pages:
Knife Sheaths
Military, Combat, Professional Locking Tactical Knife Sheaths
Tactical Sheath Mounts and Accessories
Knife Anatomy, Parts, Names, Definitions

What is the value of investment knives and why?

Short answer: Try to make one and you'll see.

Long answer: Fine custom knives by well known makers are some of the most valuable collector's pieces. The custom maker makes everything by hand (assuming you're not fooled by small production shops using a maker's name). The individual knife maker may produce 10-100 knives a year, and his life is limited. There will never be thousands of a particular model, and some makers never even make two knives alike. The value is directly attached to the maker's name, and the name is the most important thing. So what's in a name?

There are many knife makers in the world. Some say as much as 3000 in the US alone. Though that number seems large, let's really look at it. That means that .0012% of people are Knifemakers. That's one in 83,000 people. Of these, most are "garage makers", that's beginners, hobbyists, or retired tinkerers who've made a couple of knives, or made for a year or two, and nibbled around the edges of knife making. About 300 of these are serious, committed, professional makers who are at the top of the collecting desires. That translates to one in 830,000 people. If that maker has a career that lasts 20 years, and he only makes 50 knives a year (that's probably more than average), that leaves 1000 knives with his name on them. If we figure only the collectors in the US, their chances of purchasing a knife from this favorite single maker are 1 in 5,000,000 in any given year. Wow. And what collector only wants one knife? As collecting of fine custom knives grows, these odds are bound to decrease (Incidentally, what do you think the worldwide odds are?). So there are some very rough numbers, but it's not just numbers.

As technology increases, and works of "art" are cranked out by computer assisted devices, the desire for handmade objects carefully crafted with attention to detail, high beauty, and originality increases. I call it the too-tech effect. Mass machining, mass marketing, mass appeal leaves a hole in the collector's soul. This rebound effect is no better seen than in the millions of mass-produced factory knives touted as collectible because they feature a cheap cast version of a popular motorcycle brand, or a factory etched commemorative issue etching on the blade, or because they follow a design that was popular in a recent action motion picture or sci-fi film. How will these knives appreciate over the years? You'll have to live two hundred years to cash in on that, friend.

Custom handmade knives, however, may appreciate 5-30% a year, and many dealers and purveyors make a fine living from buying and selling them. As mentioned in the topic above, I sold one knife for $750.00 and the next year a gentleman told me he purchased it from a dealer for $4000.00. This also illustrates the point that the cheapest place you can buy a fine custom knife is from the maker. After a dealer gets his hands on them the price goes up, up, up.

The truth is if it were easy to make fine handmade and custom knives, everybody would be making them. You've probably noticed that there aren't many really fine knives out there. As restrictions increase (and they will), and fewer artisans are willing to invest the tremendous amount of time to hand-make fine knives, fine knife value will continue to rise.

What makes your knives different from other makers?

Short answer: I make them.

Long answer: Every knifemaker is different. Some make only folders, some make only tactical knives. Some forge, some hand grind. Some heat treat, some don't. There are many beautiful, functional handmade custom knives out there, and each one displays the maker's own individual artistic style (that is if the maker isn't just copying someone else's work). The difference is in the whole package, that is, what the maker as an individual brings to the table.

Often, an enthusiastic individual will come to a Knifemaker's table at a custom knife show, or art and craft show, or website on the Internet, gawk at the beautiful finishes and glistening steel. He sees a clean, apparently simple knife offered for $600 and gasps. After the usual questions, some silent mental calculations about time and value (see "How long does it take?" above), and he'll proudly boast, "I can make that!" The knifemaker might have some pet phrase all set for the reply, like "Crap! I'm found out!" or "You flattering me?" or "Bring me one, I want to see." Some sadly misinformed might even look at a piece of carved and polished damascus and gemstone with intricate titanium filework and state, "I can do that on a CNC machine." The knifemaker usually shows great restraint at these comments, having burned or cut every finger on both hands as proof of his practice.

The most enthusiastic of these spectators will go on to be Garage Makers. They are usually men, usually retired or hobbyist types, intent on making a chunk of change in their spare time, envisioning perfect knives cranked out in a manner of hours in their spare time. After all, what has the professional knifemaker got that the garage maker doesn't? (after all, he's got an old drill press and a hand plane...) So they try, sometimes for years, to make a dent in the knife market and earn some beer money on the side and supplement their retirement.... but Garage Makers are a flash in the pan. There are hundreds of names on knives that have faded into obscurity, and after ten years, no one knows who the maker is or was or what happened to him (I get questions weekly about makers who don't exist anymore). And every guy who's acquired one of his knives swears it's the best ever. I'm not slamming Garage Makers. I was one, and that's how most of us start out... innocently enough-

The truth is, there are only a few dozen well-known full-time knifemakers who's work is highly valued. These are usually professionals, that is, their full-time living is made from knives, and knife making is their Profession. They are the ones that can demand high prices, their names are the ones recognized, their knives fetch high value initially and when resold. You don't break in to this profession or market. You build it: year after year, knife after knife, improving your skills and your client's investment with every blade.

I once had a young maker come to my shop and bemoan his recent sales. He thought all he had to do was make a knife like he'd seen so often in magazines and at shows and he could make a fine living at it. After all, how hard could it be? I call it the "four inch drop point with a stag handle" syndrome. He had floundering sales and blamed the industry (shows and organizations particularly). I told him I was doing all right. He said, "Sure, you've got those gemstone handles and no one else does them." I told him that the ancient Persians have made gem handles centuries ago, and that was nothing new. He said, "Well then it's that little filework that you do." I asked him if he'd seen old so-and-so's filework back East; that he polishes the inside of the file cuts then plates them with titanium nitride and gold. He said, "Well it's the stands then. I need a gimmick." I fought my instincts to grab him by the back of his belt and toss him out of my shop. I thought I would give him, for once in his life, some real advice from a professional.

I said, "Look, sooner or later every knifemaker has to stop looking at other people's work and develop his own style. I encourage you to do that now, to not look at the magazines, or annuals, or factory trends, or other maker's web sites, and to not cruise knife shows memorizing what is on someone else's table in hopes of copying them and stealing their business. Make your own knife."

He looked at me strangely and left, never returning to my shop. I understand that he makes a fine four inch drop point now, with a stag handle... and still complains.

I do my best to make excellent knives. I use my own hands to tune them, my touch to make them balanced and fine, my eye to make them beautiful and unique. No one can duplicate my way (or anyone else's way) of thinking. I bring my own style, tempered with decades of practice, and a lifetime of skill, steeped in the study of history. The truth is, what we create is all that we have, and all that we'll leave behind. I owe this all to God, who has blessed me with a life at this time, in a free country, with a loving and supportive family. He deserves the credit; I'm just a man.

More about Knives and Style here, and a specific topic about Copying Another's Style.

Where did you learn to make knives?

Short answer: There was a mystical shaman in the badlands who brought the skill to me on the wings of an owl...

Long answer: I'm entirely self-taught. Early in my interest of knife making, I started purchasing books, ultimately every book I could find on making knives, machine shop practices, and metal testing and evaluation. I machined, I welded, I ground, I heat treated, I learned. I bought every book that I could that even remotely related to weapons, embellishment, jewelry, photography, sales, and self-improvement. I made knives and more knives, and I asked for others who used them to test them, abuse them, and evaluate them. I studied historical sources, records, illustrations and text. I read, I worked, I read and worked some more. I attended shows, compared other knives, studied, practiced and learned some more. I'm still learning, in every batch, often with every knife. I'm very lucky that I am one of those people who can read and learn from the written word.

People ask this question expecting to hear that I apprenticed under some master, or that I attended some certified knife making accredited course. When they read this section, they sometimes complain that it's unlikely or impossible that I trained myself, learned on my own. I've read commentary that "one person could not do that," and that the knives would not be as well accepted as they are if this were the case.

Please allow me to be distinctly clear on the matter: I did not teach myself (alone) how to grind: I read books that described grinding by accomplished masters. I did not teach myself (alone) how to heat treat; I read various books, guides, and scientific metallurgy publications on the matter. I did not teach myself (alone) lapidary; I studied some of the most well-written sources on the trade. I did not teach myself (alone) leather craft; I read numerous books on the craft. All of the reading I've done alone; all of the practice afterward I've done alone; all of my skills are my own. Or rather, it's the Lord's skill, who has been kind enough to allow me to use it for the short stay on this planet in this human form.

You see, I read, I apply what I've read, and I read and practice more. The people who taught me are all accomplished masters of their trade, and have thoughtfully provided texts, both basic and elaborate on what they knew. Who are they? Oppi Unitract, Bob Loveless, Al Stohlman, Richard F. Burton, June Zeitner, Dr. Tobias Capwell, John M. Yumoto, Harold L. Peterson, Frank Long, and dozens and dozens of others. Perhaps you can imagine my library, hundreds of books by current and long past masters, all waiting to offer the answers through the simple act of study. In that way, you may even surmise that I trained under these folks, and they kindly offer their knowledge to anyone who will simply read and try. There are many more volumes that can instruct in ways seldom considered in modern knifemaking, like business accounting and operation, internet business development, self-improvement, inspiration, and design. These masters, too have taught me well. In this way, I, too offer what I've learned, most of it residing right here on this very website. All you have to do to learn is read and comprehend. So I suppose I must thank my English teachers, and above all, my parents who encouraged me to read and learn.

By the way, I'm still learning, reading, researching, studying, and growing. I hope to do this until the day I die.

There is no accredited or official place you can go to learn knife making, though there have been interests trying to start professional courses. I was once approached once by one of the directors of the Knifemakers Guild, and asked to be the southwestern representative and instructor for professional knife making, and the course was to be officially certified and administered by a University in Tennessee. It sounded like a great idea. They would have a handful of instructors who would teach from their own studios, and be paid for instructing small groups.

Then, like a realist, I brought up insurance and liability. Who would cover the instructor, students, and studio with liability insurance? After all, knife makers work with high speed rotating machinery and hardened, pointed, sharp blades, mostly offhand. They work with heat, chemicals, and in dusty atmospheres. The idea came to a screeching halt. It seems no one wants to be liable in these litigious times. This is the main reason I don't take any outside help or instruct anyone in my shop even today (except close family members). Documents like waivers are essentially useless in this trade. Guys who take others under their wing are asking for huge, career-ending lawsuits. I'll go into this in more detail in my book.

How does a new maker then learn? Each maker should make his own way, purchase and absorb his own books, make his own mistakes, and spill his own blood for the quality and passion he believes in. It's something few clients consider when handling their shiny new knife.

Do I have a favorite knife?

Short answer: Yep, every single one.

Long answer: I get this question a lot. I don't know why; it could be that the person asking is just making conversation, because if you ask anyone their favorite anything, get ready for a long-winded diatribe about what they find exciting about their favorite thing. It could be that the person asking has read a book on how to create new friends, and under the section, "How to start cold conversations," one of the tips is to ask your intended conversational mark about their favorites. Okay, forgive me; that sounds a little cynical.

Perhaps they figure if they knew my favorite knife, it would be a safe bet that it is a good knife, suitable for their interest. Or maybe, just maybe, they genuinely want to know. The truth is, I've never had a favorite. No favorite knife, filework, or handle material. No favorite sheath, embellishment, or stand. I try my best to accept and complete every single project as if it was my favorite; that way, I know that the owner will see the care and detail and consideration that I invest into their piece, and consider it their favorite. Then, when they order a second knife or art piece, they will have a hard time deciding which is their favorite!

Under this topic I have to admit that I miss them all, because once they leave the studio, I'll never see them again. Thankfully, for a lot of them, I've kept photographs. I make each knife with the intent that it will be hard for me to part with, and that way I know the client will love it, too.

What if I tell you that it's too pretty to use?

Short answer: Give me a hammer and some sandpaper, I'll "ugly it up" for you.

Long answer: It still amazes me after all these years how often this comes up. There are a host of reasons why someone would think this:

• I'm used to ugly knives, just make me a plain, ugly knife.
• Every knife I've had in the past is ugly, why change?
• If I get it dirty, it won't be pretty. I want to get it dirty.
• I'm afraid to use it. Pretty things are delicate.
• A good-looking knife is just for good looking.
• My life is full of plain, ugly tools, and they would be jealous if I brought home a pretty knife.
• If I have a pretty knife, others might think I'm a pansy.
• My car is plain, my house is plain, my guns are plain, my tools are plain, my wife-
• I'm just not good enough for a good-looking knife.

Okay, guys, beautiful does not mean delicate. And good looking knives can perform well. When you got that new truck, did you just park it in the garage, or did you want to drive it around... everywhere? I'm not going to play psychologist and analyze why you might think you're not good enough for a fine knife. If you actually believe that, there are plenty of factory knives and other custom knife makers who can make you that plain, ugly tool. You're on the wrong web site. Go away now.

The truth lies in history. The finest weapons and tools, the most sought after, the most trustworthy and dependable, the most worthwhile and valuable have always been beautiful, even mythical in value and impact, style, color, and embellishment. Not only does beauty add to the long term value of your investment, it brands your knife as unique, and reflects on you as someone who appreciates fine workmanship. Maybe you can't afford to buy an multi-million dollar estate that is a work of art (or maybe you can and need some fine knives to outfit your kitchen), but you can bring art to your hands, to use, to cherish, to pass along to your grandchildren in the form of a fine custom knife. You can hang it on the wall, shelve it in a display case, take it hunting, carry it on a hike, wear it as a proud, trusted friend, keep it as a ready ally in combat. And if you scratch the blade or ding the sheath, it will speak of maturity and dependable use, like a story behind every wrinkle on an old face. It will still be beautiful.

An old ugly plain factory knife will always be junk, and it won't be worth one penny more than you paid for it in your lifetime, your son's lifetime, or your grandson's.

They don't really use these knives in combat do they?

Short answer: You would prefer to use a sharp stick?

Long answer: I'm proud to serve my country and those professionals who protect it from terrorists, murderers, and our enemies. To do this sometimes requires the use of bladed or edged weapons. Yes, I do make weapons, not just pretty knives for show, and they are Primary Edged Weapons, not merely accessories. I listen to my clients to fulfill their needs using their field experience combined with my shop experience. Some of these men and women actually come to the shop to design their dream weapons that they use and carry in the field, and they know very well the requirements their weapon will have to meet. I know just what is possible in making an edged weapon, and the appropriate materials, geometry, shape and sizes, fixtures, and sheaths or accessories for the job. Some clients use email and mail patterns with specifics, and we work the details of their weapon out online. We put together their field experience and my shop experience, and they get the knives they want. Then I offer those same designs, styles, and features to the public. It is a partnership between warrior and weapons maker, and I take it very seriously. My combat and tactical primary edged weapons are the real thing.

I was at a knife show, and showing several clients my photo album of combat and tactical knives and swords. A young man seemed offended and said, "They don't really use those knives and swords in combat. If they want to kill someone, they just shoot them."
An old, grizzled veteran of WWII overheard and turned to him. "Son," he said, "do you know what war is?"
The kid had a blank stare that said he didn't.
"Sometimes," the old man said, "you want to sneak up behind someone and cut their head off."
The kid turned pasty white and disappeared into the crowd.

In another encounter:
One military client thanked me saying, "Your knives are doing the job over there."
I told him that I knew that, and that I had just shipped a couple to an APO military address.
He said, "No, Jay, they're doing THE job."
My job as knifemaker is more serious than I had ever imagined.

At my Military, Combat, Rescue, and Professional Knife Portal, you'll see links to the many pages of knives I make for this serious duty.

What about Tactical Folding Knives?

Short answer: Wait while I pull it out, position it in my hand, flip it open, and make sure it clicks...

Long answer: Serious combat knives are strong. That is why you don't see any knives called "Tactical Folders" on this site. Folding knives rely on a less than .250" piece of steel to hold them together. It's called the pivot, and it's about a third the diameter of your little fingernail. That pivot is supposed to be strong and unyielding when you need it most, when you need it to save your life. That little piece of steel is supposed to transfer great energy from the handle to the blade and cutting edge. That little piece of steel is supposed to prevent twisting, resist torque, and remain rigid when thrusting, jabbing, slashing, prying, and stabbing its way through seven layers of clothing, ballistic nylon, or even body armor. And it's supposed to stay together, stay locked, and not fold up and sever the fingers of your own hand during these wild and desperate moments.

Another thing that a combat and tactical knife is supposed to do is possess enough weight, momentum, and strength at the blade spine to support the edge and point for those same aggressive and violent movements. Usually, this means that the blade must be heavier, larger, thicker, and meatier than the handle. But on so-called "Tactical Folding Knives," the handle is and must always be larger than the blade in order for the blade to fold into it. Simple mechanics. So a folding knife is out of balance... always.

Look at the combat knives on this web site. They are thickest and heaviest at the front bolster, the area where the blade and handle become one. That is the weakest point of a folding knife, and that is where the pivot is. Also, in the folding knife,the spring and locking mechanism are there, and the whole affair is usually ground very thin to try to compensate for an overly large, weighty, and disproportionate handle, which further weakens the blade-handle junction. Close to the ricasso is often a thumb stud, mounted in a hole that is drilled through the blade, further weakening it. Often, the handle area is milled to try to balance the weight, further weakening the handle.

Another often seen knife is the "Tactical Automatic" or "Tactical Gravity Knife" or "Tactical Switchblade." When a knife has a folding, sliding, or pivoting mechanism that requires little effort to operate, that means that there is little mechanical resistance in the pivot or slide area. That means loose tolerances, so the small spring or gravity that is used to operate these knives will work. The knife action must be sloppy, or resistance would prevent motion. So that means that the fit during lockup is also sloppy. It simply cannot be tight and true and solid and at the same time have unrestricted movement. Folding knives are NOT durable knives; they are NOT strong knives.

Scenario: critical and immediate use of your primary edged weapon is required. Do you:

1. Reach into your pocket with gloves on or reach for your side pouch and snap loose the flap, then grab the knife with your fingertips and position the knife correctly in the hand for the opening, use a thumb edge to open the knife or click a small button to release your vicious little 3.5 inch long blade in the direction of your opponent, or
2. Grab your primary edged weapon handle with your hand and in one motion remove it from the sheath and make your first defensive slash with seven inches of hollow ground razor keen steel-

Well?

I'm not saying that folding knives do not have applications in the combat arena, in rescues, in tactical operations, or in professional use. I just want to make it clear that NONE of my professional military, police, tactical teams, SWAT, and emergency response team clients trust a folding knife for their primary edged weapon. They carry folders, sure. For light cutting, personal use, off-duty chores, cleaning their fingernails, and to flip and click and play with while they're waiting for those extremely critical moments. And when those moments come, they've got a real edged weapon, a substantial blade and point, strong and sharp and true, in it's sheath, ready for life and death response.

Folding knives are fine. Utility folders, duty folders, service folders, working folders, and collector's folders... okay. But tactical folders or combat folding knives? NO, that's just ridiculous.

I urge you to talk to a real solider, an infantryman, a ranger, a Pararescueman. Talk to a SWAT team member, an emergency response team member, a SEAL team member. Talk to any professional who might use a knife in actual combat, rescue, or response, and ask them what kind of knife they might trust their life to. It's not a little black painted blade with a camo colored hollow handle.

For a much more detailed discussion of the folding knife issue, please take a look at the subject at these bookmarks on my Counterterrorism Knives page and on my Military Combat Tactical Knives page.

What's the biggest problem or complaint your knife clients have?

Short answer: There is only one of me, and the knife should be care free.

Long answer: The biggest complaint is that their knife takes too long to make. I've even seen this posted on knife forums, that, "Jay's a great maker, but he has a "loooong" waiting list."

Well, yes, and that's how it should be. Sure, I worry about getting the knives out, about getting them to their clients (especially when they're military and need the knives for a deployment). But I am only one person and can only do so much. I keep telling myself that when my hands ache from grinding 15 rock handles for 12 hours a day or I'm nursing a torn rotator cuff. And that's my complaint: that I can't work more, because if I could, I probably would!

And what about this carefree knife?

I've been very lucky to not have many complaints about the knives themselves. My number one complaint (that is, from only a handful of clients so far, in thirty years of knife making and thousands of knives and clients) is that the client has stored his knife in the sheath, or forgotten that he's left it in the sheath (sometimes for months or years) and that there are little spots of rust starting to form. Thankfully, this is a very rare occurrence, and even the high carbon steel blades have fared very well in use, collections, and even combat.

I can't say it enough: Don't store knives in sheaths! Incidentally, what do you think would happen if you stored a blued firearm in its leather holster for years, and never looked at it? Sure, you want to keep it with the sheath, and carry it in the sheath, but long term storage in the knife sheath is probably the most destructive thing you can do to your fine custom knife. There are a couple things that can cause this problem.

Please remember that all steels can corrode, even stainless tool steels. If a blade is O1 and blued, it can corrode as easily as a firearm if not kept dry. The high carbon martensitic stainless tool steels are more resistant to corrosion than non-stainless, but can also corrode.

I have posted this on my care sheet that I hand out with every knife (and has been available on this website since the beginning (1996)  in standard and military form). It makes no difference whether the sheath is leather or kydex and aluminum, whether the air is as humid as Florida or as dry as Nevada. The knife blade needs to breathe and stay dry. When humidity and temperature changes in the normal course of the day or seasons, condensation can form on any steel. If the steel is allowed access to free air, it can stay relatively dry, and corrosion can not gain a foothold. But if the knife is stored in the sheath, and an ever so slight bit of moisture is allowed to stay against the blade, the blade will start to rust. On a mirror polished blade, this can be ruinous, and if the knife has been custom etched, the only recourse is to grind off all the etching and corrosion, regrind and refinish the blade (including polish) and re-etch, which is very expensive and time consuming and may not even be possible. Even if the knife is coated heavily with wax, long-term storage in the sheath will encourage corrosion. Don't do it!

I believe a knife should be handled. Held once in a while, waxed and buffed, fondled, looked over, admired and cherished. To put it away in a drawer or closet is almost an insult. Look, if you want to store the knife long term without ever looking at it, there are a couple options:

• you can clean it thoroughly with denatured alcohol, dry it completely with warm forced air, then coat it well with high quality wax and then put the knife (without the sheath) in a well-sealed plastic bag with a new dry packet of commercial grade desiccant, or
• you can coat the entire knife with Cosmolene, a plastic and oil based melted-on military grade storage medium (which I can't guarantee will not affect woods, epoxies or gemstone long term), or
• package the knife up neatly and send it to someone who will care for it.

It's simple, really: store your knife where it can breathe, not in the sheath, not where there are fluctuations of temperature or humidity, out of bright sunlight and high heat sources, and pick it up and buff it off with a soft cloth, wax it now and then.

More about refinishing knives (or not) on my Business of Knifemaking page at this bookmark.

Will you make a sheath, stand, or embellishment for another maker's knives?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: I have enough work with my own knives. When someone asks this question, It usually means that the place or person who they purchased the knife from in the first place did not make a suitable accouterment, stand, sheath, or embellishment. The knife owner should ask them why. I would question why the maker didn't finish the ensemble in a manner commensurate with the quality of the knife. Perhaps the maker or supplier doesn't do sheaths, engraving, embellishment or stands. You might wonder just how committed the maker is to his trade craft.

Sometimes, a collector or dealer is looking to gussy up his investment with some fine workmanship to increase its value. I don't contribute to such cases. I see many knives that are fractured in their style and form because too many hands have worked on them, and have drawn away from an original artistic idea.

At about 100,000 hits a day on this website, I get asked to do a lot of things. So much email comes in that I've had to post a clear, definitive list of what I do and don't do.

How long will it take for you to complete my order?

Short answer: That depends. Are you a nice person?

Long Answer: It usually depends on my work load. Most of the time, I have over 100 knives in process. A knife may be waiting to be heat treated, or it may be in the stack of order sheets in my office. It may be waiting at the engraving block, or ready for a sheath. Because demand is high, my order list is long. If you were to visit the shop and studio, you might be overwhelmed at the amount of knives that are in the works. I know I am! I can only keep working, day by day, to complete orders, my oldest ones first.

If your knife requires a lot of engraving, detail work, etching, carving, filework and other laborious and meticulous hand work, it's going to take longer. To illustrate this, at the time of this writing, I have almost a dozen knives that need their bolsters engraved. Some of these are 304 stainless steel, which is 25% chromium and 8% nickel, and very tough to cut. Since this is done by my hands alone, I can only engrave for about 6 hours, then I need to do something else so I don't cramp up and make a mistake. So I have to spread out particular tasks over time. Please remember, too, that I do everything in the shop, that's everything, including sweeping the floor, repairing machinery, and playing webmaster, accountant, and photographer. I've photographed every single knife on this website and the the multi-disc CD FlipAlbum archive. I'm also working on a book on modern custom handmade knives. That's a lot of work!

Once in a while, a knife you might be interested in is half finished, perhaps without a handle, and hanging on my rack, waiting for someone like you. In that case your waiting period might be whittled down. You can see some of the knives and orders I'm working on and their status on my "Where's my knife, Jay?" page.

So many patterns! How do I decide?

Short answer: What do you see yourself owning or carrying?

Long answer: It's a matter of appeal. Your choice of knife design must fit you, that's why there are over 500 patterns available on this site, and I also create new ones on request. Is it a knife you'll use every day, or will it remain in your collection? Will you use it for utility purposes, or for field use (such as hunting)? Do you like to use a point, or are you a "belly" man? A drop point is easier to put in the sheath, a trailing point is harder to sheath, but has a smaller point. A short blade suits some, a longer blade allows heavier work. A hidden tang has a more sculpted, rounder handle, a full tang is stronger. What kind of handle would you like? How about the sheath, stand, or case? Do you see something on this web site that appeals to you?

The neat thing here is that you can take your time, there are literally thousands of photographs of knives on this site alone, all here, for free. I encourage you to take this opportunity to select just the knife you want, and if you don't want to spend a lot of time worrying about details, just trust your knifemaker to make a beautiful, balanced, useful knife for you. Remember that a lot of "custom" makers make only a limited selection of knives that they like to call custom, and aren't likely to work the details out with you to fit your hand and your investment. I will.

Sometimes, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the amount, styles, types, sizes, and differences in the knives just on this site, not to mention the internet and in publications. As you are looking, one or several knives will stand out for you, catch your eye, and cause you to linger. Pay attention to that feeling. There is something about them that appeal personally to you. It may be a blade shape, a handle color, a sheath pattern. Examine these interests and identify specific features you like. That's the best way to start your quest.

If you want to get hands on with every detail of your knife, familiarize yourself with Knife Anatomy first, then look over the Patterns page. Once you're ready to detail your interest, email me.

Will you accept my commission or order?

Short answer: Maybe.

Long answer: I am only making a limited amount of knives per year, so I can not accept every commission or project. Interest in my knives has been growing, and while I am a full time maker, it would be impossible for me to take on every knife project that is submitted. Please take a look at my page on Custom Knives. The best way to know for sure is to Email me with your project idea. More detailed information in the topic just below.

If I submit a design, will you make my knife?

Short answer: If I like it...

Long answer: Perhaps I will, but maybe I will not or can not make your custom knife. To learn more about fine custom handmade knives, please visit my Custom Knives page.

• I'm limited by the amount of knives I make, and I reserve the right to refuse to make a particular knife.
• If my order list is long, I may not be able to accommodate your needs in a timely fashion.
• The knife design may be unworkable, or not in my design style.
• Not every maker makes the same type of knife, and though I make a lot of types, I do not make them all.
• The materials requested may not be available.
• The budget for the knife may be unworkable.
• A specific request for materials used, geometry, mechanical fittings, or finish may not be something I would recommend, so I wouldn't make a knife in that fashion.
• The artwork requested may simply not be my style.

About my style: you can see the style of knife I make right here on my website. You can see that I prefer finer works, cleanly executed, with bold handles, and mainly in gemstone. Most of the hardwood handles I make are on my tactical combat knives, working or utility knives. If the knife deserves the finer treatment: full filework, engraving, mirror polish, then it usually deserves commensurate handle materials (gemstone) and a commensurate sheath, stand, or case. It then makes sense that if a knife is to be handled in manmade materials like Micarta phenolic or G10, these are best served on the tactical combat knives and not on finer pieces.

Sometimes, a client's design (knife blade and handle shape) submitted is simply not a design I would make. This is harder to define, but I use the analogy: "Beauty is like the ocean; you know it when you see it." This is the same for knife pattern drawings and profiles. I'll instantly know if it is a design that I would not make, a design that is not comfortable to me, or one that, with some slight tweaking and adjustment, would be one with potential. Please understand that although I'm a custom maker, this does not mean I will make every kind of knife pattern submitted, and do not think that the submitted design is wrong, bad, or incorrect in some way, just not my style.

Another consideration is that some knife designs, ideas, and proposals submitted are common and frequently appear in the handmade knife world. Some designs, types and materials are hackneyed and cliché, like drop points in heat-colored damascus with mammoth ivory handles, or period-type bowies in ivory or pearl with blued fittings, or working knives in plain carbon steels with hamon lines and three rivets in the handle. There is nothing wrong with these designs, and there are many other makers who make this kind of knife. I simply choose to make knives that are not mainstream.

One more important thing. At the time of this writing, I'm working on plenty of orders, and also consult about knives professionally. While this is great, I'm getting older, and am currently having to consider how I'll spend my time in my 60s! While I don't plan to retire anytime soon, and hope to make knives another 20 years, I'll be more selective of my projects that are quoted for the future. I'm only interested in making the very best in my particular style that continues to evolve and develop, and I reserve the right to say no to projects that do not fit that artistic and technical ideal.

If I turn you down, no worry; you are on the internet, and there are many other fine knife makers who may accept your commission.

What are my payment options?

Short answer: Visit the "Purchase" page.

Long answer: Visit the "Purchase" page.
This page details how I accept payments and work with custom orders and finished knives in my inventory. You could have a ready made knife in your hands in three days, a custom order from several weeks to several months if a knife is already in production. Email me directly and you'll  be able to select styles, sizes, materials, finish, and everything that I do to detail your knife order.

Is there a satisfaction policy or guarantee?

Short Answer: Yes. Visit my Knife Sales Policy page.

Long Answer: Visit my Knife Sales Policy page. There, you will see that upon receipt of knives from my inventory, you have a day to examine them, look them over, and return them for a full refund if you're not satisfied in any way, no questions asked. Obviously, I cannot accept knives returned that have been used.
Custom orders are different, and all the details are on the page.

Do you offer discounts for dealers or multiple purchases?

Short answer: No, that's not fair.

Long answer: I don’t offer discounts. It wouldn’t be fair to other clients. How would it appear to say that an Army soldier must pay more for his knife than a knife collector because he can only afford one knife? How fair is it to clients who have ordered or have on order multiple knives to then give a discount to another person? How fair would it be to sell knives at a lower price to a dealer who makes his living off the labor of knifemakers (and their reputation), than a young man who is defending our country (and my family) against terrorists with his life on the line?

I follow a strict pricing structure, a program that accounts for every effort, every ounce and inch of steel, every expendable, the overhead, electricity, and utilities it takes to make a knife, as well as the current market value. See "How much do your knives cost?" above. This structure defines my exact cost to make the knife, and thus the exact price to sell it. With so many modifications in the features and options of a knife, I take into account over 65 variations in the pricing breakdown.

For me to discount would suggest that the knife is not worth what the structure has assigned, or that I can’t sell within that structure framework, or that the knife has some flaw or defect or that someone paying full price is unfairly treated. This degrades the piece, its value, my craftsmanship, the client, and all other clients who purchase my custom knives. It's best to have one price, fixed, and a solid purchase based on that price. This is ultimately fair to all.

For more information and detail about discounts, please visit this bookmark on my Business of Knifemaking page.

I didn't get my answer here.

Short answer: Because of the huge amount of traffic the website receives, I can only answer questions about knife orders. Email me, and I'll try to answer it directly.

Long answer: Read the entire FAQ section again, then read every other page on this site. Find out what I do and don't do here, and then email me to let me know what I've left out!