Most Famous Knife Maker in the US?

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The OP was asking about "knife makers", not manufacturers (Case, Buck, Spyderco...) and not guys that didn't make knives at all (Bowie [btw, who exactly made Jim Bowie's knife used in the Sandbar Fight is hotly debated]).

"Modern" is going to have to be defined by the OP, but amongst knife collectors "modern" typically starts in the 60's for folders when folding knives begin to depart from "traditional" patterns.
 
Well as far as 'modern' is concerned I would say no earlier than WWII. Unless there was some major evolution or era that happened just previous to that.

I did say makers, but will concede to a story such as the Buck family. If they are involved in design or have a history as a maker.
 
The OP was asking about "knife makers", not manufacturers (Case, Buck, Spyderco...) and not guys that didn't make knives at all (Bowie [btw, who exactly made Jim Bowie's knife used in the Sandbar Fight is hotly debated]).

"Modern" is going to have to be defined by the OP, but amongst knife collectors "modern" typically starts in the 60's for folders when folding knives begin to depart from "traditional" patterns.

Thank you!

The OP ask the MOST famous?

You got too say Loveless.
And I also named Tony Bose for folders.
The other guys named are very famous, but I bet if you ask them who the king of folders is?
They would say Tony Bose.
You have to under stand how hard slip joint knives are to make AND make well.

This is just my opinion - I may be WRONG!.......:D

Todd Davison


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I have to think back to when I knew little about knives and the names I recognized as being quality knives. Most commonly known American knives are Case XX, Buck, and perhaps Schrade (before they went out of business).

Things have changed in the last 20 years with new faces mixed with the old. Bill Moran is still pounding steel on his forge in a good place watching his students move on. Loveless, Lile, Randall, and Bagwell are significant names in the business. They are famous to folks that appreciate custom knives. I never heard of any of these people until the 1990's and I had been using knives for years prior to that.

I think you have to look back to the 60's to see who the significant knife makers are or were and see what they did in the last 40 years.
 
Todd,

I can't imagine that you'd be biased about Tony's work. I mean, he's only the king of traditional folders is all. ;)
 
This may sound foolish, but it wasn't until the movie "First Blood" that the average person even thought about custom knives.
 
It's only my opinion and certainly not worth more than the time it takes to type, but I personally would say Loveless, Randall, Collins and Kit Carson. You sell a couple of jillion knives through Walmart like CRKT did with Mr. Carson's design, people are going to know your name!
 
Al Mar was actually never a custom knife maker.
He never made any custom knives himself.

He was an industrial designer, and worked for Gerber in the late 1960's.
He later left Gerber and started his own import company in 1979.

I believe all his knive designs were made in Japan.

He died in 1992.

rc
 
rcmodel,

I believe all his knive designs were made in Japan.

Almost completely correct. The SERE folder was designed by Al and made by a well known custom maker in the pacific NW.
 
or even before him by about a year on folders , Ron Lake

Ron Lake was the proverbial god of the single blade, lock back knife. While he may have been doing it before Tony Bose, the two men are worlds apart in the knives they specialized in.

Not knocking either one. Bose is the cats pajamas when it comes to slipjoints. Lake created the modern lock-back and does/did stellar work. They're just two different offerings when ya get down to it.

I wouldn't be upset if I found either one under the Christmas tree. Just saying that their offerings are like comparing a classic Chris Craft yacht to a modern Donzi off shore racer. Both float. Both sought after. Both pricey. Both hold their value if taken care of but that's about where the similarity ends.

Chris
 
I agree but I personally don't feel Tony is the king of folders as was claimed earlier in this thread. King of modern slipjoints , perhaps , certainly the most recognized name in modern slip joints , but not in overall modern knives.
 
I agree as well. By all means.
Because people have different tastes and needs, I don't think there can be one true "king". There are just too many innovators and makers out there to crown just one.

Richard Petty was crowned King in the NASCAR circle but not open wheel racing or ralley car. Elvis was crowned King of Rock and Roll but not the blues or classical music.

Bose is (IMHO) the king of slip joint folders.
 
This has brought to the surface many names that I have never heard of, thanks to everyone for their opinions. Now I have quite a list of makers to learn about.
 
gga357 -- This has brought to the surface many names that I have never heard of, thanks to everyone for their opinions. Now I have quite a list of makers to learn about.

The problem is that the majority of the people listed are either completely retired or in most cases dead so our $70 Loveless Hunter is now worth $5.500, the $40 Scagle is $3,200, the $75 Randall is $1,800 and on and on like that...

Although who made Bowie's famous knife has been in dispute, we know that Rezin did make knives for him...whether it was the famous Sandbar knife with a piece of a meteor in it is up to debate...Now, his name is synonymous with a style or maybe a whole class of knives even though we have no idea what his knife actually looked like but not discounting the Mexican officer's found knife as proof of ownership is debatable...Look at Randall and they have a number of Bowies including the one they made for the movie "The Iron Mistress."

Now the new trend is towards multi purpose, do everything "Survival" knives and of course the infamous "Tactical" knife which in both cases is just marketing hype but soon a whole new class(es) will be recognized, alas!

Another style and one of the most recognizable knives ever, the famous Gurkha Kukhri...

One name that I forgot and of a fellow Canadian, is that of D. H. Russell whose knife design, the much copied Canadian Belt knife was made by Rudolph Grohmann and has been on display in the New York Museum of Modern Art gallery since just after it was made in the 1950s...
 
The problem is that the majority of the people listed are either completely retired or in most cases dead
Might wanna go back thru the list... I didnt look at every name in depth but
ALive:
Terzoula
Ken Onion
Kit Carson
Tony Bose
Bob Loveless
Ken Onion
Chris Reeve
Gil Hibben

Passed:
Bo Randall
 
I nominate T. A. Davidson. You're famous here Bud. :)

What about William Henry? I don't own any of "their" knives, but I think highly of the quality. (Fixed it.)

A small point, I think Case, and so forth do "make" knives. Yes, they are manufacturers. What do manufacturers do? They make stuff.

Added : HSO, I seldom look at WH knives as they are just too expensive for me. Guess that's why I really thought there was a "William Henry".
 
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William Henry , I dunno if you could consider their company " Most famous " , certainly of high quality , but when I think of someone who could be deemed as one of the fathers of modern knives , I look to see what new they brought to the table. William Henry knife company refined a lot of things they use , and do hold some tight tolerances , but what have they done that brings them to the forefront. That is a serious question , as I may have missed something in their designs that may move them up.

One of my first high end production knives I had was W & H T10 Black & Tan Lancet , a very finely made gents knife , but a tad to dainty for heavy use.
 
I agree, WH is certainly not in the same league as Hibben, Loveless, Moran, Randall, and I guess Bosse in terms of being a fore runner in the business. You could probably look at the knife making guild (can't think of the name off hand at the moment) and the original members were certainly fore runners.
 
What about William Henry? I don't own any of his knives,

Ummm, hate to break it to you but William Henry isn't a person. Matthew William Conable and Michael Henry Honack (and their 20 gnomes) are the William Henry Studio.

Bo Randall was an excellent knifemaker in his own right, but Randall Knives has been a company with employees for over 40 years.

The problem is that the majority of the people listed are either completely retired or in most cases dead

I'll tell Kit and Bob and Ken and Chris that their knives are worth more now that they're retired and dead (hey, they could make a killing on their "postmortem" prices)!;)

I have a couple of Russell style knives and the Grohmann #1 knife is one of the best most ignored designs out there. It had many features that weren't seen in other knives for 30 years.

As said before "famous" and "influential" aren't always the same. Look at the fact that Bob Lum (he actually is dead) was one of the most influential 3 makers in the past 20 years, but outside of knife circles hardly anyone knows his name or his contribution. Anyone know who Al Pendray is and what his huge contribution was (Al's still alive)?

Not all the first members of the Knifemaker's Guild or the American Bladsmith Society were significant contributors in adding to knifemaking. Some of them were just guys that made knives really well. Like any group there are usually only a few real innovators.
 
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Kevin McClung is infamous to most as Mad Dog! Funny his knives sell so well to real world bonafied field operators and such.He actually makes his knives with no employees.
 
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