My Process

Blades: I practice the “Stock Removal” approach to knife making. I begin with stainless steel bar stock, then design and shape knife blanks through grinding and polishing until I have the final blade profiles. This approach is based on my choosing to work in stainless steel metals—resulting in the highest durability, corrosion resistance, and finish quality. All my knives are full-tang, often with tapered tangs. Full tang provides the strength and design space I seek for the custom stone handles designs I find most rewarding.

Heat treating and tempering: I use Peters Heat Treating Inc. based in McKean, PA. Peter’s offers industrial-grade certification, process, and consistency for heat treating and cryogenic tempering. I use Peters for what they do best, so I can put my focus into designing and executing the best blades and gemstone handles.

Steel Bolsters: I use stainless steel bolsters (typically 416 stainless) cut with inside bevels to hold custom stone scales.

Gemstone Handles: There is nothing quite like stone. I love wood (that’s where I started) however polished stone is unrivaled in the way it can display a tiny universe of beauty and character.

Pricing and Distinction

I put considerable investment into my custom knives, featuring gemstone inlaid handles. It is rare to find knifemakers who use stone, driven by the significantly greater time, energy, and cost it requires. Simply put, choosing to work with stone is hard, but that’s what makes the final result so rewarding—ending up with something so unique and extraordinary. It’s a labor of love.

But the reward is very much earned. Working in stone extends beyond traditional knife and handle making, and crosses over squarely into the lapidary arts—necessitating specialized lapidary slabbing saws, trim saws, and diamond wheels for grinding and polishing, etc. Additionally, for every 5 minutes working with steel or wood, it requires 60+ minutes when considering stone. Go outside with sandpaper in hand, and try to shape a rock, and your appreciation for this reality might grow—stone handles are in a category of their own when it comes to both effort and reward.

I design knives for people who can appreciate something unique. Knives with classic lines and blade profiles, but complimented with something rare and beautiful that only the wonders of geology can create.