| Tips & Thoughts |
• Don't cut on ceramic plates. Ceramic will sharpen OR DULL knives.
• Don't throw knives that have handle scales on them.
• Don't put handmade knives in a dishwasher.
• Don't confuse the quality between handmade and production knives.
• You can survive life with K-Mart knives, the handmade is just one of those finer things in life, cheaper than motorcycles or guitars.
• I'm not trying to make " magazine cover" knives, rather, an affordable perfectly made knife, putting you in charge of the appointments.
• In choosing steel, there is a lot of ways to view what you may want or need. The harder supersteels (those beyond 440c and carbons, beginning with D2) will give you more working time between sharpenings. When they do need sharpening, a decent sharpening system is handy, like the one I offer. Also, there's no harm in having to sharpen at the interval rate that 440c will provide unless you are in a PROLONGED emergency situation. Even in Armageddon, sharpening would still be neccessary, as that of eating, in which case any steel I offer will outperform most production knives and allow you to go for plenty of time and use between sharpening.
• If the cost of knives presses your budget, I recommend going for 440c, a popular choice for those not wanting the extra cost of a supersteel. If affording the more exotic supersteels is not a budget strain, they're a great investment, but either choice will serve you well. In many cases some folks have a favorite steel, either because of "steel knowledge" or the type of edge grind they're attracted to.
• My handles are not excessively large because as much as you may use your knive, you need to carry it more. Having a large handle sticking out of a belt is a nuisance. I have a medium large hand and I've found that i can really "horse" a medium sized handle brutally well. However, to appeal to everyone, I do not take the handles down too small, so all medium and larger knives will have a full hand grip. This keeps the knife as efficiently sized as possible to match the blades' performance.
• I do not use automatic CNC machines, so if you submit me a drawn design or altered description of a model, I make it manually while "feeling" the knife along the way. If I need to make a decision on a design issue along the way, I'll email you and ask for your preference in your design. This keeps your knife VERY personal.
