A survey of local knife makers

not2sharp

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There are many very popular knife makers and manufacturers, some of which participate on these pages, that have become and will remain very well known in the industry.

But for each one of these there are perhaps hundreds of other makers that will never get that level of exposure. Some are local, others work part-time, many simply fail in the business, and a few are simply not as good at marketing themselves as they are at making knives. You probably will not find their names in the Knives annuals or various magazines, nor would they be members of the Knife Makers Guild or American Blade Smiths Society. But, there are lots of these guys and their absence from events like the Blade Show, says nothing about the quality of their artistic talents. For many of us they are part of the vast sea of makers that we mostly ignore as we seek out the better known names.

Lets try to identify some of these people. We are not going to link their websites or sales ads, since that would violate our rules. But, lets get their name, trade marks, general location and perhaps a picture or two of their work documented. It would be even better if we could get an idea of their active dates, by finding out when they started making knives

It is my hope that with everyone's cooperation we can eventually search this thread to help collectors to identify some of the many "mystery knives" that circulate in the secondary market. Who knows, perhaps some of these guys will eventually get a big break and join the ranks of the better known makers. But our goal here is not to market them; the only thing we want to do here is try to identify them and some of those weird trademarks that randomly pop up.

If you know one of these people post the following information on here:
1) Name
2) City and State (we don't want the full address, emails, telephones or websites...etc, - if they want to share that they can buy an appropriate membership here)
3) Description of trade mark
4) When they started making knives
5) A brief description of what they tend to produce (e.g. bowies, tactical, hunting, fixed/folders)
6) A picture of an example of their work

n2s
 
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Robert Garner knives.jpg

Let me get us started.

These knives were forged by a local knife smith.

Robert Garner
West Palm Beach, Florida
His mark is a small stylized "RG"
He has been making knives since 1986 and likes to make fixed blades of all sizes and shapes from high carbon steels, including 1084, 1095 and 5160.
He also makes his own quality sheaths in leather or kydex.

note: His stamp is small and hard to read at time (it is clear on the top knife but not on the one below), but he also stamps his sheaths which makes it possible to identify his work.

Robert Garner Mark.jpg

n2s
 
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This list exists in the Knives Annual books that are released each year. Not every maker can be found in it of course. But it is a large list.
 
Larrin,

Thanks.

As I mentioned in the opening post, I am familiar with the list and am looking specifically looking for those makers who are not on that list.

n2s
 
Wow! Is everyone shy or have we grown that indifferent to the many thousands of local makers? There is a lot of talent out there. Here is an opportunity to share them with the rest of us.

n2s
 
I admittedly don't know any custom makers around me. I'm not on fb, insta, or any other social media where I might find/join some of them. My only introduction to custom makers is the For Sale thread under Knife Makers. I have purchased a grand total of 3 fixed blades during my 12+ years here. The only maker still here and active on BFs is GL Drew :thumbsup:.
 
Maybe this should move to the GBU. Then folks can talk about makers that aren't supporting Blade Forums without earning infractions.
 
Maybe this should move to the GBU. Then folks can talk about makers that aren't supporting Blade Forums without earning infractions.

That shouldn't be a problem if we keep the contact information out. But feel free to report this thread if it bothers you.

n2s
 
That shouldn't be a problem if we keep the contact information out. But feel free to report this thread if it bothers you.

n2s
Oh it doesn't bother me at all. Just trying to help you out with your thread before it sinks to page nine.

Here in Bugtussle where I live there aren't any customer makers so I can't add any names.
 
Easy! "None".

There are no custom makers "local" or with-in 300 - 400 miles to me, that I am aware of.

Even Buck and CRK, both located in the same state, are both almost 600 miles away.
 
Easy! "None".

There are no custom makers "local" or with-in 300 - 400 miles to me, that I am aware of.

Even Buck and CRK, both located in the same state, are both almost 600 miles away.
Idaho isn't even 600 miles long, how can they both be that far when they are at opposite ends of the state? There is probably a knifemaker somewhere within a days drive of you.
 
North to South. I'm in the Twin Falls area. 560 miles to Buck's city of Post Falls, Idaho, which is more than 50 miles south from Canada.
CRK is in the same area?
West to East Idaho is only around 400 miles in the wider southern part. I think it is 186 miles to Boise in the west, and the same to Pocatello, in the east from where I am.
 
North to South. I'm in the Twin Falls area. 560 miles to Buck's city of Post Falls, Idaho, which is more than 50 miles south from Canada.
CRK is in the same area?
West to East Idaho is only around 400 miles in the wider southern part. I think it is 186 miles to Boise in the west, and the same to Pocatello, in the east from where I am.
Chris Reeve Knives is in Boise so there is good news. Bill Burke is also in Boise. Grant and Gavin Hawk are in Idaho City. There are several other makers in the Boise area but those are big enough names for a start. Scot Horton lives near Twin Falls in Buhl.
 
North to South. I'm in the Twin Falls area. 560 miles to Buck's city of Post Falls, Idaho, which is more than 50 miles south from Canada.
CRK is in the same area?
West to East Idaho is only around 400 miles in the wider southern part. I think it is 186 miles to Boise in the west, and the same to Pocatello, in the east from where I am.

Timothy Hodge knife maker for 25 years, Mark Wolfe knife maker for 15 years, James Starling and Josh Anderson both hobbyist knife makers all live right in Twin Falls.
 
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