About
I’ve always enjoyed making things and dabbled in simple woodworking and DIY projects around the house. Early in 2015 I stumbled across a video on YouTube showing how to make Kydex holsters. It looked pretty easy, fun, and practical. I needed a few holsters and it was hard to find the right features so I figured I’d give it a try. This began my “full time hobby” of making. At the time, YouTube was the best source for self-teaching material and I was always searching for new videos on Kydex. YouTube added a number of maker videos to my suggestions and one of those was a stock removal knife making video. It looked really interesting and since I had really enjoyed learning the process of doing Kydex, I figured I’d give it a shot.
This was before the Forged in Fire knife making craze started, so there wasn’t much in the way of educational material on knife making. It was also still in the earlier days of YouTube, so I only had a few channels and videos to use as a guide. I didn’t have very many tools, so I decided to try my first knife by hand with what I had. I bought a few files and made a bevel jig. With those, a hack saw, and a battery powered drill, I got started. It took me about 5 months of chipping away at the project on days off and evenings, but I finally got it done. I was hooked. Since then, I’ve made hundreds of knives with a wide variety of materials. I’ve been able to learn from some great knife makers along the way and plan to pursue my ABS Journeyman Rating in the next few years.
I don’t really have a favorite knife profile or style. I like trying new things and new materials, so when it comes to my handmade knives, I’ll make anything that seems interesting or presents a challenge. A great opportunity to exercise creativity has been the knives I’ve made for a number of non-profit fundraising events. I do this a few times a year and use these events to try things that I might not otherwise. This has been my favorite and most fulfilling aspect of knife making. You can see some examples of these knives for non-profits in the Gallery Section.
I’ve been a user of knives my whole life. As a teenager I spent a lot of time in the outdoors and had a knife with me always. Now, I use knives of all types in hard use situations every day. I hunt, fish, camp, cook, and lead an overall outdoor lifestyle. I’ve also spent some time in the military. Those activities and experiences have allowed me to develop a pretty good idea of what makes a knife effective across a wide variety of use cases. So when it comes to design, I spend a lot of time making sure the tool I’m creating will be functional, durable, and practical. The production knife design process is a long one. I’ll make one initial prototype and carry it myself for several months. Then, after a few tweaks, I’ll make a few and pass them out to friends and family for feedback. Only after another round of updates will the knife move on to the production process. I’m a perfectionist and I expect the same level of perfection for my production knives as I do the custom knives I make by hand.
On this site you’ll find a combination of handmade and productions knives. I make everything in my garage, by myself, in my off time. I do my own design, heat treat, Cerakote, Kydex, leather, and photography. I’ve also had a few of my knives produced by American OEM knife manufacturers. They were designed by me and QC’d by me before shipping to the customer. In some cases, only part of the process is outsourced and I finish the rest. Production and custom knives are clearly labeled in the shop. From time to time, I’ll make something non-knife related and I’ll throw it on the site as well.
I hope you enjoy my work, and if you feel so inclined, buy something. If you do, you’ll be getting a functional, well made tool that will last a lifetime.