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All of my blades are hand-forged.  A forged blade is superior to one made by stock removal for several reasons.  (A stock removal blade is made by cutting, grinding or machining the blade from a section of bar stock.)  The first is that the forging of the blade is really an integral part of the heat treating process.  The cycling of the steel up and down from high to low heat as the blade is removed from the forge to the anvil causes the grain of the steel to be reduced.  Similarly, the manipulation of the steel with a hammer or hydraulic press mechanically breaks down the grain of the steel.  Since, for all practical purposes, smaller grain is superior to large grain, the forging process is able to push the performance of the steel beyond what is capable with a stock removal knife.  Now, I will say that some steels, particularly the high-tech stainless steels will not respond well to this type of thermal cycling and this makes them better candidates for stock removal work.

Another reason that I feel that forged blades are superior is that the process of making the knife is more representative of the blades of the past.  Knives were traditionally made by forging throughout the centuries and by continuing to make them this way, the blades I make have greater intrinsic value than one that was machined.  Therefore, I feel that a forged blade is a deeper representation of the craft of knife making than stock removal.  This is not to say that there is not a place for stock removal work, it is just that forging is a more fluid and creative process, and it is the way I choose to work. 

Lastly, from a collector's standpoint, is is fair to say that it takes longer to make a forged blade than it does to make a stock removal blade, because of the extra time spent on each blade.  Therefore it stands to reason that a particular bladesmith will craft fewer knives in a lifetime of work than his stock removal counterpart.  This means that is more likely that the bladesmith's knives will appreciate more in value since each knife represents a larger percentage of his life's work that otherwise would be the case.

Besides, forging is a lot more fun...

I begin with as close to raw materials as I can use in my shop.  This gives me as much control over the finished product as possible.  For instance, most of my carbon steel blades begin either as round bars, or as very thick flat bars.  That way, I have greater flexibility on blade shape and size than with a thin, flat bar.  At a knife show a few years ago, a guy was looking at one of my knives and asked, “How thick is this blade?”   I looked at the knife and responded, “Oh, about 3/16 of an inch.”  He said, “I mean, what size stock did you use?”  I handed him a little piece of steel I had on my table that is ¾” round 52100.  He looked at the round bar and back to the knife several times and asked, “What do you mean?!”  I love when that happens!  I find that even though I say a knife is handmade, most people still think I am just fitting parts.  Since so few things are really handmade from scratch, it can be hard for people to accept that a skilled bladesmith can do just that.

Integral knives are a good example of this.  Integrals have become favorites of mine, because they are a departure from typical flat-bar knives.  Integrals are forged from large round or square stock, and the blade and tang must be forged out from the parent material without disturbing the thick portion at the center.  Integrals are simple; so simple that they tend to be quite difficult.  They have no guard or bolsters, yet they typically require as much or more time to build correctly than a typical flat-bar knife with a guard.  Their intricacy lies within their simplicity, and small changes in length and thickness can alter their balance tremendously.  

I use natural handle materials almost exclusively.  The things one finds in nature have far more character than anything created in a lab.  And, with modern stabilizing equipment, I can now use wood burls and bones or ivories that previously would not have been suitable for use as handle material.  Handle materials are selected from rare and exotic hardwoods (usually stabilized), several varieties of ivory, horn, and bone.  Stabilizing the material almost totally eliminates the wood's propensity to shrink, swell or crack.  That way, natural materials can be used and used hard with little chance of the handle material reacting to the environment.  One other thing about natural handle materials is that you don’t “order” a particular size or shape.  You have to deal with what is available, and sometimes you actually make a knife to compliment a special handle, not the other way around.  And, since the summer of 2007, I have kept all my handle materials in a special cabinet that is maintained at 34% humidity year round.  This is one more thing I do to minimize the possibility of shrinkage in materials like ivory when exposed to dry environments.

My leather sheaths are also made entirely from scratch, one at a time to fit each knife.  I use the highest quality vegetable-tanned leather I can find, and cut, dye and tool it by hand.  My leather sheaths continue to improve in both visual appeal and practical design.  I initially began making sheaths as an obligation, but I never really liked it.  Leather can be a terribly frustrating material to work with.  A friend of mine who is a saddle maker says that "Leather is more alive when it's dead than most anything else."  However, after many years, I have actually begun to enjoy leatherwork.  I think it just took me a while to find my "look."  I have begun to offer other leather products like handmade belts to accompany my knives.  If you order a knife from me, consider getting a really nice belt that matches your sheath, just to round out the package.  

Every knife maker makes a personal decision about the types of tools he will and will not use.  I like to stay on the low end of dependence on tools.  Obviously, at some point, money makes it impossible to buy any more tools.  However, even when I have money available, I think very carefully about whether that tool is really in the best interest of my work.  Most of the time, I pass on the new miracle machine.  It just de-personalizes the finished product.  Much of the work I do would be sped along greatly with the use of CNC equipment, or even precision milling machines, lathes, etc.  Since I don’t own those things, it seems contrary to the typical business model that says the faster you can produce a product, the more profit can be generated.  However, at some point, a handmade knife will become a production knife and it will cease to have any intrinsic value as the product of a craftsman.  

I perform every aspect the construction of my knives myself.  I have no assistants, and I don’t buy anything pre-fabricated. If it’s on my knife, I made it from scratch.  This is not to say that the only value to a handmade knife is the fact that it was made by hand.   The perfect marriage in this craft is when a knife is made totally by hand and it exhibits the highest level of fit and finish.  What I strive for is a knife that is totally handmade, yet the average guy looks at it and wonders how it could have been made without all the sophisticated tools we have come to see in our society as necessary.  I like to call it, "Precision work in a non-precision environment."

To be honest, making a good knife by hand is not the hardest thing in the world.   It is just that the advent of modern machinery has spelled the death of many great crafts.  Our grandfathers could have made a pretty decent knife if they’d needed to.  I used to wonder at ancient civilizations and be surprised at the techniques they employed in their construction and their handcrafts.  I am even more surprised that the knowledge was, in many cases, lost forever when certain people passed away, having never passed along their skills.  Usually, the master craftsman were not especially miserly with their information, it was just that no one was there wanting to learn.  And so, thousands of years of accumulated learning can die with a single man.  And so nearly died the craft of bladesmithing.   

In this country, much if the do-whatever-it-takes individualism is being replaced by the ease and cheapness of mass production.  We have become a society that is overcome with disposability.  At a gas station recently, I saw a small bucket of folding knives for $4.99 each.  Now they weren’t great knives, but they would probably have gotten the job done in most cases. The guy who buys a knife like that is happy he picked up something for so little, and when he loses it, he won’t feel too bad. 

Our fathers and grandfathers would buy something as simple as a knife with great pride, not even considering what might happen if they lost it.  They weren’t going to lose it.  They made their decision based on whether it would get the job done as well as anything they could afford, knowing that some day they would pass that knife on to their son or daughter.  The way we are going, our children will inherit not land or property, but a mortgaged house and a bunch of credit card debt.  They won’t get their mother’s china, but her paper plates.

Hand made knives, like many hand crafts represent a slower time when everything a person owned was made with care by a craftsman, and most stuff took a while to make.  Even dinner took all day to make!  Our society usually doesn’t permit us to live at in the slow lane, and to do so is death in the modern world, but if we can step down sometimes and consider the future, not the next hour or day or week, but for a generation or two, we would put greater value on things that last.  While I’m digressing, let me digress further.  Why not put some thought into something that will last forever?  If you’re not sure where you are going after you shuffle off this mortal coil, you may want to find out before you get any further…

My rantings are nearly at an end.  I say nearly because I’m sure I will find something else I want to say that I think someone might be interested in, so when I do, I’ll stop in and add it.  Thanks for stopping by!  I hope it has been interesting for you. 

Thanks again,

Burt