Recommendation? Small makers doing high-end production

From your list: Les George or a CRK Zaan, if you want to stay tacticool.

I'd add...
Hinderer XM or MP-1
Chaves 228 if you can find one
 
I almost forgot Grayman. The Dua is a great little knife. (SATU as well...just a bit large).

Edit: Curtiss Knives too if you can swing $625-650 (I haven't had one of these, but great rep).
 
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LionSteel is not a high-end/small-batch maker. They make production knives along the lines of Spyderco, ZT, Benchmade, etc.

Oh, and I'm sure it's Millit making the G&G Hawk midtechs. They're excellent.
 
Sharp By Design and Koenig are also good options. As are the many makers that offer folders on the Bladeforums exchange.

Edited to add:
Oops, I missed that Koenig was already listed.
 
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Another vote for William Henry knives, way back in the day when Matt started WHK with tier first series, their plain Pearl Handled, Ti linered man jewelry. I bought a William Henry T10-P Lancet. It was a very plain knife by William Henry standards but even back in the beginning his knives exhibited exceptional quality and craftsmanship. I was lucky, I got this knife reasonably cheap by today's standards and it's reasonably rare. It's one of the least decorated, least ornate William Henry knives I recall ever seeing.

ATS34 blade, blue anodized Ti liners and Stainless fittings, at just under a a buck and a half it was a lot of $ back then but there wasn't much out there in the same category that wasn't a handmade one off for 3X the amount. Matt Conable was ahead of his time and knew there was a market for a swiss watch quality knife. CRK with the Mnandi wasn't the only game in town anymore and Matt was gonna be certain to leave his mark on the industry. A fact I wasn't aware of, did you know Matt apprenticed under David Boye when he was just 19 back in the day? If you'r'e lookin' for high end made with premium materials definitely look into William Henry Knives.
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vanadium said:
These look amazing, but they're marketed as customs, not production. Also way outside the price range.
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You might be able to snag one for under $600 off the Exchange, but you're probably right there.
Also, I understand your aversion to "customs" in your price range, but I wouldn't discount Nadeau's knives based on that criteria. I would group his pieces right in with Olamic, Koenig, Southard (Performance Series), Hoback (UHEP), and Millit, who all rely on CNC technology to varying degrees and are able to produce pieces directly comparable in precision and consistency to what you would find coming out of a "small high-end production" shop. IMO they all fall under the same category though.
 
vanadium said:
A lot of the stuff in this forum looks amazing, of course. But the number of custom makers out there seems endless, many customs are terrible, the reputation system on bladeforums is pretty weak, the effort needed to navigate this field is substantial, and even people who try to navigate it seem to be frequently burned. I think it's not for me, unless I'm going to spend $1k+ on the work of someone well-known, which I'm not. Hence why I'm asking about makers who are unabashedly "production".
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I understand and won't argue.....but we do have some amazing makers on BF:D
To make amends for my error I offer Andrew De Villers, overbuilt folders from a maker with a history of less than stellar customer service. Still great knives that you should at least try to hold in your hands before passing judgement.
 
  1. Kingdom Armory
  2. Grimsmo Knives
  3. Clyde Challenor does both custom & small batch production
  4. Strider may qualify here now
  5. Brian Tigh & Friends
  6. Todd Begg Design
  7. Gerry McGinnis Pro Line
  8. Medford Knife & Tool
  9. Shirogorov
 
I'm not sure if mcusta has been mentioned or fits the bill, but I hear good things.

Edit

I just noticed the mcusta knives are somewhat underpriced for the type of folder you're looking for.. (the ones I looked at anyway)

Well, since we're in Japan have you considered Rockstead? Small batch, high quality production.
 
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NorthernSouthpaw said:
Kingdom Armory
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"Custom Designed & Hand Built by David M. Rydbom" doesn't sound like production to me.
NorthernSouthpaw said:
Todd Begg Design
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Anything they make in the $400-600 bracket is manufactured by Reate.
NorthernSouthpaw said:
Grimsmo Knives
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Aren't their prices in the stratosphere now?
NorthernSouthpaw said:
Brian Tighe
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Are their midtechs actually made in-house?
NorthernSouthpaw said:
Shirogorov
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Good call
 
vanadium said:
Most of the knives in my collection are in the $100-250 range, but I own a nice large Sebenza 21 with inlays, which in some ways kicks the ass of every other knife in my collection. So I'm thinking about picking up another class act in this price range (~$400-600) this year, and examining my options. I think there's a growing number of smaller shops doing "high end production" work in that price range these days, so I'm making a list of them:
  • CRK
  • Millit (including G&G Hawk midtechs)
  • Koenig
  • Ferrum Forge
  • Les George
  • Gerry McGinnis
  • Nick Chuprin (NCC)
  • David Brown
  • Brad Southard
  • Three Sisters Forge [whp]
  • Olamic [spysmasher]
  • Spartan [spysmasher]
  • Medford [scooterg]
  • Hoback [scooterg]
  • Andre de Villiers (w/ customer service caveat) [fishiker]
Out of my price range:
  • Demko [scooterg]
  • Curtiss [scooterg]
  • Chaves [fullmetaljackass]
  • Sharp by Design (Brian Nadeau) [archvv]
Who can add to this list? I will update this post with [thanks] as people reply.

Note that I'm not talking about "brands" or mostly outsourced "mid-techs" where we have no idea who the maker is. I'm talking about small makers.

Update: I'm not going to list "Instagram makers" unless they have dealers, or serious independent critical reviews out there, or at least someone with a reputation vouching for them being actually high-end and not just high-priced. Instagram is a hodgepodge of professional gems and amateur trash, so I don't want to look like I'm endorsing anything unless there's a reason to.

Thanks all.
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Allen Elishewitz does small runs of production knives.
 
Check out Gavko custom knives.
Hes got some sweet designs. Lots of great flippers. In that price range for the most part. All of his stuff is designed with use in mind. Nice thin grinds, good steel, etc. I have a midtech collab. (Ferrum forge/gavko knives Mako) i also have a bigfoot. But thats a massive kukri. Lol
 
William Henry. Great designs, great execution, good customer service, ZDP and damascus blades. I have a Sebenza, Ti-lock and a WH Tom Brown Tracker folder, all are good knives, but if I had to keep only one it'd be the WH :)
 
ShannonSteelLabs said:
Check out Gavko custom knives.
Hes got some sweet designs. Lots of great flippers. In that price range for the most part.
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Thanks, I didn't know they had any offerings around $500. Looks like they do have midtechs at this price, but they're made by Millit, which is already on the list. I'll annotate that with Gavko. :thumbsup:
 
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