How to pick a knife

1. What's the difference between a hunting knife and a woodsman's knife?

   There's quite a few differences in a hunting knife and a woodsman's (a.k.a. bushcraft) knife. Here's a few:

    A hunting knife will generally have a much thinner grind and be made from much thinner stock than a woodsman's knife. A hunting knife's primary use is to gut, skin and work up game so the better it slices the faster and more efficient it performs. A woodsman's knife's primary duty is to carve, split and notch wood. Therefore the edge should be thicker and tougher than the hunting knife. Both can do a passable job at tasks other than the primary uses but neither will excel out of their element.

    A hunting knife usually has more belly and a finer tip than a woodsman's knife. A woodsman's knife needs to be fairly stout at the tip for drilling into hardwoods. A hunting knife should have a decent amount of belly in the edge and a more rounded tip to keep from puncturing the gut sack (and skin if you're saving it) as easily. Most prodcution hunting knives however have a very fine sharp tip.

   Hunting knives are typically on the smaller side to make them more manageable at finer work. Bushcraft knives range from a small size to very large.

   
   

2. What type of grind should I get?

   Good question. heh. One that is to involved to answer here.

   Check out this link for a general idea of what each grind is best for

   http://www.turleyknives.com/grindheightinfo.htm
   

   If you're still confused just shoot me an email and we'll work it out.
   

3. What kind of handle should I get?

   It depends, if you want beauty then there's nothing better than a nice chunk of stabilized wood. If you want utility and toughness then there's nothing better than micarta or g10.

   Generally speaking, even with stabilized wood you still run a risk of the handle having problems. Especially with some of the spalted (aka rotted) woods. They tend to crack at the spalt lines when vibrations from battoning hit them. So if you're easy on your knives then stabilized wood may be for you. If you're harder on your knives then go with micarta or g10.
   

4. What kind of handle pins should I get?

   Again, it all comes down to whether you want beauty or toughness.

   For toughness, stainless steel and brass pins are right at the top.

   For handle security you can't beat corby bolts. They are also tough so they are the best of both worlds.

   For beauty then some of the micarta pins might be for you. Remember though , the micarta pins are comparable to the toughness of a micarta handle. They are made from the same stuff but have a lot less micarta to strengthen them.  The shock of battoning may be enough to sheer the thinner micarta pins.
   

Options

1. What are spacers for?

   Spacers, in most cases, are only for looks. In some cases the handle material you pick may not be offered in stock that is thick enough to make a comfortable handle so spacers will be needed.

   I've heard people say that spacers help hide any glue gaps or imperfections on a knife, I haven't found that to be true at all. I've made enough mistakes to know. When I've had a glue gap it shows up with or without spacers.

   I've also heard it said that vulcanized spacers (I use g10, not vulcanized) will act as an expansion joint if a wood handle swells. I'm not sure if that is fact or fiction, I've never seen any proof one way or the other.  I generally recommend stabilized wood so expansion should be minimal any way.
   

2. Can I get options that aren't listed on the site?

   Possibly. Just send me an email with what you'd like and I'll get back to you.
   

3. I've got some wood I'd like put on the knife, do you offer that option?

   I will put your custom handle material on with some exceptions. 

   If you choose stabilized wood , natural wood, antler or some other natural material you can purchase whatever you like and send it to me to put on your knife. If you decide to send in material for your handle you should send it with the understanding that you send it at your own risk should it have internal voids, external voids or become damaged during construction making it unusable. I hope you understand that I can not afford to replace expensive handle material that I did not choose to put on the knife myself.

   If it were up to me every full tang knife would have micarta or g10 and every hidden tang would have leather , micarta or g10. All of which I will replace at my own cost if damaged during construction.

    

   
   

4. Will you make a knife of my design?

   Maybe. It all depends on what it is. If it's a two handed broad sword with a scandi grind then I probably won't. But if it's something reasonably close to what I offer on my site then I'll likely make it for you.

   
   

5. Will you lengthen a blade or handle?

   I used to offer this service but no longer do it. If you'd like a lengthened handle or blade on an existing model I will have to charge you the custom charge.
   

6. Do you make flat scandi ground knives?

   No.
   

Military personel

1. Do you offer any special perks to military personel?

   Yes I do.

   Military goes to the front of the list.

   Depending on a few qualifications:

   Any and all branches welcome.

   First thing is you have to have a combat arms m.o.s. (job).

   Secondly you have to be deploying in the future or deployed to the combat zone.

   **Pilots and crew members of fixed or rotary wing aircraft are the exception to the above requirements. If you are a military pilot of any kind or crew member you can go to the front of the list whether you are deploying or not.**

   Thirdly I need a scan of your i.d. card with name, branch of service and expiration date. All the rest of the info should be blacked out.

   Lastly send me a unit patch or crest from the unit you are with now. (if your unit doesn't wear patches or crests don't worry about this last requirement) I have a patch jacket that I sew on the patches of all the military personnel who buy a knife from me. I'd be honored to add yours.

   If you fit these requirements do not hesitate to contact me, I will put you in the first available batch of knives that I can. Usually that means only about a month or less of waiting.

    

   To those who don't meet those qualifications please understand that I value all of you and your service to our nation. I have to limit who goes to the front though since the wait list is so long. By doing this I hope to get knives in the hands of the individuals who need them the most at this time.

    

   Thanks a ton for understanding. God bless and keep you all.

   
   

2. Do you offer any perks for former military?

   Yes I do.

   I offer a $10.00 discount if you send me a unit patch. I have a wool shirt that I sew unit patches on from customers who currently serve and formerly served our country.

   
   

Pricing

1. How come you no longer make sheaths?

   Because I have a three year wait list at the time of this writing. Sheaths take me almost as much tim to make as the knives do. I'm a knife maker not a sheath maker.

    But I try to give alternatives for you. One sheath maker near me has all my patterns so he can make a sheath for you without having the knife.

   In the future I hope to have a few links up on the site for ready made sheaths that will fit my knives.
   

2. Why is your custom mycarta so high?

   Because it's costly to make in both money and time.
   

3. Why are pommel plates on knives other than the green river so high?

   Because I have a very large amount of people who want one on a knife other than the green river. A pommel plate takes way to much time in fit up and construction to not charge extra for putting them on a knife. 

   So if I didn't charge an exorbitant amount I'd be putting them on just about every order and the wait list would be ten year long instead of five.
   

Knife construction

1. How do you heat treat the knives?

   I heat treat all the knives myself using an electronic kiln for hardening and a conventional oven for tempering.
   

2. What rockwell hardness are your knives?

   I have no idea. I test every new knife model the way it is to be used to make sure it's hard enough to hold an edge and not roll but soft enough to not chip at the edge or bust in half. I don't have a rockwell tester and don't really want one.

   
   

3. Do you use stainless steel or any powdered steels?

   Not at this point. Eventually I want to try some stainless steel to see how well it holds up the way I use a knife. The powered steels haven't proven to me that they are worth the extra cost to the customer. And I would have to send the knife out for heat treat if I used the newer powdered steels and I don't want to do that. I like having that fine tuning ability of heat treating the knife myself.
   

Miscellaneous

1. How come there are knives in the store sometimes when the wait list is so long?

   Three reasons usually.

   1. I screwed up on an order. Something like cutting the knife from the wrong thickness of stock or putting the wrong grind on by mistake. So instead of eating the cost of a perfectly good knife, I go ahead and finish it out and offer it for sale.

   2. Prototypes and specials. Occasionally I make up a couple extra knives if I have the steel. These are knives that I either want to test (prototypes) for possibly adding to the line up or knives that I want to have fun with. It gets to be a labor sometimes following rigid specs over and over again so I let off a little steam by making a unique knife every now and then.

   3. With having to plan at least a batch ahead of time it's inevitable that there will be extra knives. If I plan to cut (for example) 8 green rivers for that batch and two people back out then I have two extra green rivers to sell. I can't afford to wait until the next batch to complete them so I have to put them in the store.
   

Getting a knife

1. How do I order a knife?

   You can't technically order a knife at this time but you can request that your name be put on the contact list. Please see the home page for more info. 

2. I don't want to wait, how can I get a knife now?

   There's only two ways around the wait list.

   1. You have to be in the military and be deploying in the very near future.

   (see military requirements above)
   

   2. You sign up for a free membership on this site and get a chance at any extra knives I put up in the store. You have to be quick though, they usually go within an hour of being put up.

   2b. If you sign up for a free membership I occasionally will send out an email notifying the membership of an auction. I do it that way sometimes because I have people who want a better chance at a knife then they usually get when a knife goes up in the store and they don't mind paying more.
   

3. Can I pay you twice as much to go to the front of the list?

   No, I like to keep things as fair as I can. For themost part I make knives on a first come first serve basis at a price that is pretty standard across the board. 
   

4. Why is there an extra charge for knives without a model number?

   I change the line up as of 4/26/13

   These knives all reflect what I consider my design ideas of what each knife should be for it's intended task. In other words I came up with these patterns based on testing and use and I consider them my truest designs. Most of them come from (as much as possible) no other outside influences. The ones that are influenced by other designs all incorporate (pretty heavily) the design elements that I find useful.

   By doing this I want to focus more on what I think a knife should be for a given task and less on other patterns that have come before. IE: woodlore patterns, kephardt patterns, nessmuck patterns etc. I'll still likely use other designs as inspiration but they will incorporate much more heavily my design and not stay true to the original patterns.

   In short I want to do my own thing.

   Anything that does not have a model number will be a "special".

   Anything that is now considered a "special" will have an extra charge of $50.00. That means if you order a Dogwood for example it will be $50.00 higher than a knife that is "in the line up".

   As I have always done in the past, I will notify you of the price increase before we proceed on your order. If you're not good with it I totally understand, just say "no thanks" and I'll take you off the list. Or if you have paid a deposit I will refund it and take you off the list even though it's a non refundable, non transferable deposit. I've got no problem with that because I'm making the change, not you.

   Keep in mind (and this is my motivation for the extra charge) instead of staying with your special order knife you can pick a similar knife from the line up and save the $50.00 charge. That's the whole reason for it anyway, I want to focus on making things I believe in the most and it's my way of encouraging people to pick a knife that is in the line up.