Novice knife buying

[Charlie16ga]

There are a few places around me where guys make their own knives.  For a complete novice like myself, what can I look for when buying something locally made?

[MacGyver]

Making a knife isn’t terribly hard.  You can do it with a hack saw, hand files, some sanding/polishing stuff - and a lot of elbow grease.

Everybody needs a hobby - and this is a good one. I’d encourage anyone to try their hand at it. Even the patron saint of TGO knife makers @Grand Torino got started by looking at a few YouTube videos and saying, “yeah, I think I could do that.”

Just because anyone can - doesn’t necessarily mean everyone should.  Knifemaking takes time. And if people are at a market somewhere with a whole table full of knives - I’d look carefully at the quality before committing.

For my money, I’m first interested in the steel.  Is it 1095 or 1084? These aren’t the most modern steels - and that’s okay.  They can be effectively heat treated by a hobbyist - are easy to sharpen, and can be made just blisteringly sharp.  They’re a carbon steel - so they’ll rust if neglected.

Second, just take a good look at the blade.  Is it ground evenly? Is it consistently sharp down the length of the blade? You’ll be able to visually see the care a maker has put into a knife.

At the end of the day though, by what appeals to you - and by all means support your local makers.  If I lined all the knives I’ve bought over the years up end to end - they’d probably reach from here to the state line.  I could pare down to a few if need be I guess - but then I’d probably just start over. 

[TripleGGG]

5 minutes ago, MacGyver said:

Making a knife isn’t terribly hard.  You can do it with a hack saw, hand files, some sanding/polishing stuff - and a lot of elbow grease.

Everybody needs a hobby - and this is a good one. I’d encourage anyone to try their hand at it. Even the patron saint of TGO knife makers @Grand Torino got started by looking at a few YouTube videos and saying, “yeah, I think I could do that.”

Just because anyone can - doesn’t necessarily mean everyone should.  Knifemaking takes time. And if people are at a market somewhere with a whole table full of knives - I’d look carefully at the quality before committing.

For my money, I’m first interested in the steel.  Is it 1095 or 1084? These aren’t the most modern steels - and that’s okay.  They can be effectively heat treated by a hobbyist - are easy to sharpen, and can be made just blisteringly sharp.  They’re a carbon steel - so they’ll rust if neglected.

Second, just take a good look at the blade.  Is it ground evenly? Is it consistently sharp down the length of the blade? You’ll be able to visually see the care a maker has put into a knife.

At the end of the day though, by what appeals to you - and by all means support your local makers.  If I lined all the knives I’ve bought over the years up end to end - they’d probably reach from here to the state line.  I could pare down to a few if need be I guess - but then I’d probably just start over. 

This is spot on.

My @Grand Torinoknife collection alone lined up gets me well out of Knoxville area. Lol. I seem to have a hoarding problem with knives, guns and amateur radios and antennas.

I would add read a lot about knives, watch videos, and talk to the local guys and hear what they have to say. In the end it still comes down to what you like and makes you happy. If it brings a smile to your face then it's fair game.

[peejman]

@Grand Torino and @aknifemaker do excellent work. @willis68 can put a truly ridiculous edge on a knife. 

There's plenty of people trying to pass off cheap Chinese junk as "hand made", so you have to beware of that.  

Some guys make knives via stock removal and some forge them. The more work goes in, the more they cost. Good quality will last a lifetime. 

@MacGyver is spot on. More consistent details is a good place to start. Any good knife will go "tinggg" when tapped on a hard surface. If it goes "tink" or "clank" it's either cracked or has poorly attached scales. 

[Darrell]

@Grand Torino does excellent work and prices his knives very reasonably. I've bought a couple from him, and they're genuinely nice knives that I'll keep until I die. You need to be quick, though, when he advertises a couple of new knives for sale. They usually go very quickly.

[gary_boom]

I bought some kits and put made the wooden scales for them. I think they turned out pretty good. Not really knife making but a good start .

[gregintenn]

On 5/3/2025 at 12:55 PM, Charlie16ga said:

There are a few places around me where guys make their own knives.  For a complete novice like myself, what can I look for when buying something locally made?

I would look in the classified section here for a poster who goes by GrandTorino.

[ken_mays]

This list might be useful.  American Bladesmith Society smiths listed by location.   This won't have every knife maker on it (not everyone's a certified ABS smith) but it's a good resource.

https://www.americanbladesmith.org/2022/11/21/rated-abs-smiths-by-location/

Tennessee list:

Jason Knight – Master Bladesmith
Dwight Phillips – Master Bladesmith
Fuad Accawi – Journeyman Bladesmith
Heath Bartholomew – Journeyman Bladesmith
Casey Brown – Journeyman Bladesmith
James Gibson – Journeyman Bladesmith
Curtis Haaland – Journeyman Bladesmith
Mak Kelsay – Journeyman Bladesmith
Larry Kemp – Journeyman Bladesmith
Fred Loving III – Journeyman Bladesmith
Jay Replogle – Journeyman Bladesmith
Warren Thacker – Journeyman Bladesmith
Gary G Wheeler – Journeyman Bladesmith

[Charlie16ga]

Thank you for all the feedback.  I’ve never put much thought into the knives I carry hunting.