| WHAT IS A CUSTOM KNIFE?, by Karl B. Anderson
According to World Book Dictionary:
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Custom: made specially for individual customers; made to order;
not ready-made.
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Knife: a flat piece of steel, silver, etc., with a sharp edge, fastened
in a handle used as a cutting tool.
 A
knife is most certainly one of mankinds' first handmade tools and they
are still being handmade today by knife makers all around the world.
The different types of knives and the ways in which they are made are
as varied and numbered as the knife makers themselves! And they can be
priced from a few hundred to many thousands of dollars!
Many knife makers begin with a solid piece of high grade stainless or
carbon steel. A profile of the knife is shaped from this bar of steel.
The "business" end of the knife is then ground to shape, utilizing either
a hollow or flat grind, depending on the purpose of the knife itself.
Hollow Grind or Flat Grind?
A hollow grind is actually a small section of a somewhat large circle!
Imagine the blade being held up against an abrasive wheel. That is a hollow
grind!
A flat grind is done with the blade against a flat abrasive surface,
which grinds the material away in a straight line from the cutting edge
up to the "spine" of the blade.
Both grinds have their supporters, and both are utilized by each knife
maker. The flat grind can often be seen on chopping type instruments such
as large camp knives, hatchets and axes, etc.
The hollow grind is often seen as a more difficult type of grind and
can take years to master! One of the main objectives in knife making is
symmetry. To get the hollow grind on one side of the knife to perfectly
match the other side is not an easy thing to do!
The Finger Guard
After grinding, the knife may or may not be fitted at this time with
some type of finger guard. Guards are often preferred if the knife is to
be used as a skinning knife or a field dressing knife to keep the fingers
from slipping onto cutting edge!
ALL of my knives at KBA Custom Knives
are fitted with guards. I have heard it said that putting guards on knives
is "cost prohibitive"! Personally, I think it's better than stitches!
The Knife's Tang
The area behind the guard and cutting edge is referred to as the "tang".
Some knives are called "full tang" knives and others called "hidden
tang" knives.
"Full tang" knives can be recognized by the handle area being
made of what could be called a "sandwich configuration". The handle area
is made up of slabs of material attached to either side of the continuous
knife structure.
"Hidden tang" knives have a shaft continuing back from the blade
area and being hidden in a one-piece handle material, such as going into
an antler handle.
The method of attaching the handle material may require fastening holes
to be drilled into the handle area. This would be done on a "full tang"
knife.
A threaded rod may be fashioned behind the guard to slide through the
handle material on a "hidden tang" knife.
Heat Treatemant & Tempering
When all shaping, grinding, cutting, sanding and drilling are completed
the knife blade is then heat-treated and tempered at the correct hardness
for edge retention and ease of sharpening. Heat treating and tempering
is accomplished in ovens designed to raise and hold temperatures at extremely
high levels in an oxygen-free atmosphere. This changes the steel at a molecular
level and is closely monitored to an exact formula for each type of steel,
thus resulting in very exact hardness.
Many knife makers today also utilize cryogenic freezing, otherwise known
as sub-zero quenching. This process completes a molecular change in a few
moments that otherwise may take many, many years. Have you ever heard how
concrete becomes harder and harder as years go by? Sometimes, the same
thing is true with steel, depending on which steel is used. Even after
hardening and tempering, there are still free-flowing molecules that just
haven't found a home yet!
Everything becoming stabilized is known as the martensite/austentite
transformation, which can take many decades. This is accomplished with
the cryogenic freezing in liquid nitrogen. I am not a metallurgist, and
claim NO laboratory accuracy on the proceeding method! But, I'm CLOSE!
Assembling The Knife
With the heat treating and tempering complete, the knife blade is re-ground
and sanded, (if required), and assembly can begin! On knives utilizing
a guard, the guard is pinned precisely in place and then soldered, most
often with high-grade silver solder. This soldering process, skipped by
many makers, keeps the area between the blade and the handle environment-proof!
No blood, water, dirt or grime can enter if the area is filled with silver
solder! This is a VERY important part of ANY knife!
Custom Knife Handles
The handle materials used on custom knives are so numerous that it would
take an entire page just to begin naming them! Many man-made materials
are sought for working type knives. These types of materials can take a
lot of abuse! Also often used are natural materials such as antlers, animal
bones, exotic woods, precious gems, etc., etc. These can sometimes require
an element of maintenance!
The chosen handle material is then attached to the tang area. This is
often done with pins and bolts on the full tang knives. Or the threaded
rod attachment is placed into and/or through the material on the hidden
tang type knives. These methods, plus a whole lot of epoxy! And a knife
handle should be secure for life!
This material is then ground and sanded many times until the desired
shape is achieved.
Very coarse sandpaper and a lot of elbow grease are used at first to
get the handle shaped as desired. Once this is accomplished the handle
area is sanded again and again with progressively finer and finer grit
sand paper until complete. Depending on the material used, it may then
be buffed to a high luster.
Finishing The Blade
Some makers also polish their blades. This maker does NOT! And for a
few very simple reasons.
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It sure may look pretty, but only until it is used for the first time,
at which point it will be covered with scratches.
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To bring a blade to a mirror polish is to remove all the precise, sharp
and specific grinding lines. All definition disappears! Polishing can cover
up a sloppy grinding job!
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We have to think VERY TINY on this one! If a blade is mirror polished,
all microscopic pits, pores and scratches have been removed. The surface
is COMPLETELY SMOOTH! Because of this, the ENTIRE SURFACE is in contact
with the material being cut thus causing a LOT of drag and resistance when
pulling the knife through the material! If a blade is hand sanded, even
though it is almost impossible to see, the surface is covered with VERY
TINY valleys and ridges! Only the high spots -- the ridges- are in contact
with the material being cut! Much easier to pull a knife through a piece
of meat!
The amount of hand sanding can add significantly to the price of a well-made
knife. The more time spent on the knife -- the higher the price!
At this point we are well on our way to a completed knife!
The Sheath!
An often over-looked part of a knife purchase is the method with which
the knife is carried and protected. This should not be under-estimated
as the sheath is nearly as important as the knife itself.
A good rule to remember is this -- A knife that is carried in
a loosely fitting sheath is a DULL KNIFE! The knife simply flops around
in a loose sheath and loses its keen edge!
One major drawback of many factory-made knives is that the sheath
provided to protect and carry the knife is often sub-standard! Many factory
sheaths simply do not do justice to a well-made knife. It would be cost-prohibitive
to produce a high quality sheath and attempt to sell the knife/sheath package
at competitive factory prices!
Some knife makers will sell just a knife and require the customer to
acquire a sheath on his own! Some will sell a sheath as an extra and there
are other makers who include the sheath with the knife purchase.
The cost of having a sheath made for a custom knife can easily cost
up to a hundred dollars! And this is without using any exotic materials!
A well-made custom sheath utilizing exotic materials such as manta ray
skin or featuring silver and gold inlays, (not to mention rare jewels!),
would cost far more than most people have ever paid for a knife! This should
be considered when purchasing a custom knife! Part of the price should
include the making of a properly fitted sheath!
One method used by many knife makers is to "wet-mold" a leather sheath
around the knife. This is done by soaking high quality leather and shaping
it to the exact knife it is being made for. Once dried, it is stitched,
riveted and water proofed.
This method ensures a safe and proper fit for that exact knife!
A well made, precisely fitting sheath also protects the knife owner
from potentially hazardous mistakes!
Done in this manner, a knife can be used and enjoyed for many years
and even be handed down to the next generation!
As mentioned earlier, the different methods of making a custom knife
are as many as the knife makers that exist but you can be sure, as a custom
knife owner that you won't run into another knife like yours in hunting
camp!
A custom knife will be one of a kind!
Karl B. Anderson is a Master Knife Maker and owner of KBA Custom
Knives. To see different styles of custom knives please visit www.kbaknives.com
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