Blade March 2023

“THE DIFFERENCES MAY ONLY BE IN THE STEEL. I DIG IT!” Viva la Steel Differences In response to the writer of “Outside Looking In” (page 6, January BLADE®), sorry that Spyderco isn’t your bee’s knees. I know for a fact that the knife market is not saturated; maybe you should try your luck manufacturing knives. Use your astute observations to create something. I’m not a huge collector, 100 knives max, and have around 20 Spyderco knives, fixed blades and folders. Blindfold knife collectors and allow them the opportunity to open, close and feel 100 knives, and I bet they could pick the odd one out of the bunch. Design pedigree and differences in manufacturing are the only thing the blindfolded knife collectors can rely on in this case. It should be easy enough…

All made in the USA, the cover knives include the Raven (page 24) by Toor Knives of El Cajon, California, just outside San Diego. It features a 5.5-inch blade of CPM 3V carbon steel and a “breacher ball” in the handle butt for breaking glass and other like tasks. Flexcut Carving Tools of Erie, Pennsylvania, manufactures the two-blade Whittlin’ Jack (page 68), a slip-joint pocketknife designed for whittling and carving wood. The 1.5- and 2-inch blades are flat ground from Flexcut’s in-house tool steel. Manufactured in Ucon, Idaho, just outside Idaho Falls, the TOPS Knives Szabo Express (page 24) is a combat knife built thin but tough for fast handling and medium-to-light-duty jobs. The 5.63-inch blade is 1095 Cro-Van carbon steel. At top left is the one-armed Alaska Ulu (page 82) custom-made by…

“You can get off in the weeds real quick when you try to talk about uniquely American knives,” observes BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bruce Voyles in our story about the nine most iconic American knife styles. We agree—but then traipsing off into the cutlery kudzu has never stopped us before, so why should it now? Picking the styles to cut from consideration was almost as difficult as picking the ones to keep. One element of our rationale to cut or keep was the style had to be one that not only remains relevant today but also continues to be made in large numbers and/or by many. Hence, Rambo knives with hollow handles and sawbacks, as well as interframe folders, did not make the cut. Rambo knives dominated most of the decade…

By now most knife enthusiasts are familiar with pattern-welded steel, commonly called damascus, whose re-invention for use in knife blades is attributed to BLADE Magazine Cutlery Hall-Of-Fame® member Bill Moran (page 50). The damascus world has since exploded with complicated mosaics, exotic-tiled canister billets, and, more recently, even some interaction between pattern welding and 3-D printing (page 42, November 2022 BLADE®). These new techniques are mind-blowing for sure. One of the hottest new trends in damascus is the inclusion of copper into pattern-welded billets. Commonly called copper-mai, copper san-mai or cu-mai, the technique has been brought to near perfection by Coy Baker at Baker Forge & Tool. In 2019 at the request of a customer, Baker created his first copper damascus billet. Starting with Baker as a one-at-a-time weekend garage craftsman,…

SPEC CHART KNIFE NAME: Deadlock Model C by Hawk Knives KNIFE TYPE: Automatic folder BLADE LENGTH: 3.5” BLADE STEEL: 20CV stainless BLADE GRIND: Double edge BLADE FINISH: DLC (diamond-like coating) HANDLE MATERIAL: Aluminum w/titanium inlays ENGRAVER: Wilfred “Chip” Valtakis II CLOSED LENGTH: 5” ENGRAVER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $6,000 ENGRAVER: Wilfred “Chip” Valtakis II, c/o Chipped Metal, Dept. BL3, 2388 Forrest St., Sacramento, CA 95815 707-365-2003 Chippedmetal@gmail.com (SharpByCoop image) SPEC CHART KNIFE NAME: Fordite Spearhead KNIFE TYPE: Fixed blade BLADE LENGTH: 3” BLADE MATERIAL: 416-layer damascus of 5160 carbon and 15N20 and Ni200 nickel-alloy steels BLADE GRIND: Hollow BLADE PATTERN: Harpoon HANDLE MATERIAL: Desert ironwood w/Fordite inlay, red spacers and Micarta® pins OVERALL LENGTH: 8” KNIFE TO KNOW: Fordite is old car paint hardened sufficiently to be cut and polished MAKER’S PRICE FOR A SIMILAR KNIFE: $395 MAKER: Brian Milinski, Meadows Place, Texas, Mrknives@yahoo.com (Jocelyn Frasier image edit) SPEC CHART PATTERN: Paring knife BLADE LENGTH: 35⁄8” BLADE MATERIAL:…

There’s a particular satisfaction that comes with a “Made in the USA” sticker on your newest knife purchase. Not only is it extra patriotic to buy an American-made knife, but you can feel good about the quality of materials and craftsmanship represented by manufacturers in the U.S. of A. Toor Knives is a representative example. Toor has a classic American backstory. Founded by Connor Toor in a backyard forge to address deficiencies in knives used by his fellow servicemen, Toor Knives has since grown to become a real-deal knife company capable of matching and besting long-established brands. The knives they make are simple, straightforward and purpose driven. Toor Knives is in Connor’s hometown of San Diego, California, and employs over 30 craftsmen. New from Toor, the Raven achieves the extremely American ideal…