Early makers: Clyde Fischer

2knife

2knife

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Mar 13, 2002
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I have read that Clyde Fischer made his first knife in 1957. The following information & photos are copied from past BF threads and online sources.
He was inducted into the cutlery "Hall of Fame" in 2006, and a "Clyde Fischer Award" is given in his honor at the "Spirit of Steel Show" in Tx., annually. Apart from this, there are sparse references to his knives, so if anyone has
photos to share, please do. Thank you!



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"Clyde Fischer is another Texas legend, whose knives are famous for being
the popular knife used at the legendary YO Ranch. This particuar knife
features Texas Bull bone for the handle, and the extended guard marks it as
a YO special." - http://www.jbrucevoyles.com/AHM08/AHM08b.html
 
^^^ Above description refers to this one, below. In cow bone, he called "Texas ivory"
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Clyde Fischer was a man I enjoyed knowing for his indomitable spirit and his sense of humor in the face of … damn near anything. I didn’t know him well, but was fortunate enough to help him with a project dear to his heart, which involved introducing kids to hunting back in the 1990’s—a favorite activity we both loved. I was honored that he made a knife for me, and although it was no showpiece, it always reminded me of what kind of man he was—a little rough around the edges, but honest as they come, tough as nails, and always ready to help a friend—or a stranger, for that matter. He suffered paralysis on his right side from a stroke when he was in his 50’s, so he taught himself to make knives left-handed, then broke a hip and withstood a couple of hip replacements, and in later life suffered from arthritis in his shoulders—but he would never quit…anything, as far as I know. When it came to heart, there were none bigger.

Two things that might shed a little more light: B.R. Hughes published a nice article on Clyde in Blade Magazine in 1998, if you can find a copy. And as I recall, at one time Jerry Fisk collected Clyde Fischer knives and I know they were good friends, so I’m sure he’d be able to add to the story here.


2knife said:
"... This particuar knife features Texas Bull bone for the handle, and the extended guard marks it as a YO special."
Click to expand...

In his article on Clyde, Hughes said he (Hughes) took four handmade knives on safari in Africa in 1976 and asked the professional skinners to try them out. One was a YO Special, which quickly became their favorite.
 
Will,
Thanks so much! I was hoping to hear from someone who knew him, as you did. I will try to hunt down that article. If so, i'll copy it down here. The YO special has a Texas sized guard, doesnt it! - i do like it.
David
 
2knife said:
...
The YO special has a Texas sized guard, doesnt it! - i do like it.
David
Click to expand...

Yeah, Clyde always had his own style--and he always made it work for him, even if it might not have worked for others. True of both the man and his knives. I'm sure there are many here who knew Clyde better than I did, but I certainly admired him and he was impossible not to like--never met a stranger. One of those men who instantly put you at ease and within five minutes you felt like you were old friends.
 
I know that Brion Tomberlin was one of the recepients of the Clyde Fisher Awards.
 
The Clyde Fischer award is given to a knife who's purpose is the skinning & preparation of a whitetail deer. It has to be of single high carbon steel (no damascus), have no embelishments such as filework or engraving, and the handle material must be native to the State of Texas.

Off the top of my head, along with Brion, a few other winners of the Clyde Fischer award would be Dr. James Batson, Lin Rhea, and yours truly. :D

Cheers,

TV


Terry Vandeventer
ABS MS
 
Thats the kind of stuff that got me making knives 35 years ago. Back in the day when hunters made knives for hunters, and knew what they were for.
 
How many of Clyde Fischer's knives has anyone seen? Any photos or more stories to share? I am interested to learn about him, he is described as a pioneer maker of forged knives.

Terry, thanks for the information on the award. ..And congratulations! :)
David
 
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i recall having one of his flip folders in the 70s. the handle rotated from end to end. one ens was a small sturdy clip blade & the otherwas more a sturdy skinning blade. seems he was a registered n.r.a. guide that usually went for tex, mule deer..dennis
 
I have both fixed blades and folders from Clyde. After his stroke he made knives as ugly as he was but they also worked and did not give up as he was also. They would really cut. If I remember right he used L6 which is almost a sadly forgotten steel now with the new more 'hip' steels. I remember he as well as another old maker telling me that both felt that if you had time you could sit down and whittle a rail road track in half.
Clyde used only materials from Texas for his handles.

I know he did a few bowies and a few of them had a little pocket sheath on the Bowie sheath that held one of those little American Arms 22 cal pistols.
I found one of his Bowies at a show that had the pistol pocket, the gun was gone of course and I was too broke at the time to buy it.
I know I just missed at the Blade picking up one his hunters a couple of years ago that for some reason had a star and the ititals FH engraved on the butt cap. The new owner dropped by to show it off to me. When he got him he did the reasearch on it and the knife was made for Frank Hammer, the Texas Ranger that got Bonnie and Clyde.
 
Thank you to all who have commented. Great story, Mr. Fisk! The following photos were sent to me, if any of you have an interest in seeing a bit of history. These knives represent Clyde Fischer's standard offerings in 1973.
David

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My father grew up around Victoria, TX and it seems like everyone in his age range from that area has a Clyde story or two. My dad knew him in high school and saw him again when they both worked at Union Carbide in Victoria. He remembers seeing Clyde grinding scrap steel in the shop after work hours.

A few years ago I was lucky enough to score a near mint Texas Hunter with a brass spine and a YO stamp. I gave that one to my dad and would love to find another one for myself. BTW, If anyone is interested, keep an eye on Ebay; there has been somebody trying to sell one of the big bowies for a while now. He started out asking $1500 and the last I saw, he was down to $900. I have no idea if it ever sold but it may be back.

Clyde's son Sammy is making some very nice knives these days. I expect to see him at the TKCA show tomorrow. I'll mention this thread to him.
 
I know this is late but Clyde was a personal friend and mentor to me. He was very skilled crane operator and worked for me in the late 70's at Three Rivers at the Valero Refinery{Shamrock at the time} expansion we were building at the time. He was in the middle of a Messy divorce and had lost his house-shop and someone sent him a knife back to re work, sharpen-re-polish and he had been helping me with my hobby knife making and he asked me to re-do that knife! I was so proud that he trusted me to do the work ! We then transferred to Corpus Christi and I lost track of him but he was a "Mans Man"! He would take his dogs out hog hunting and with nothing more than one of his knives go into the brush and kill the hog. Bill Cooksey
 
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