My fascination with knives started when I was a young man. As an avid collector for many years, I felt I had to take my love of knives to the next level and get into knife making. I surprised myself with my first knife................I was hooked! I set out looking for knife makers to learn from and found two of the best.
Working with Murray Carter, I forged knives along side him and gleaned knowledge few in this country have been exposed to.
I also spent time with Ed Fowler. His techniques in the forging and heat treating of 52100 and 5160 steels are second to none. Ed is known as the father of the "performance blade." His accomplishments are recognized the world over.
At Ed's Willow Bow Ranch in Wyoming I learned the process to create the endurance performance blade. Multiple quenchs, hot and cold cycled heat treating (and a few other little tricks) creates and refines the grain structure for a superior cutting edge and a tough durable tool.
Here we are at Ed's place in Wyoming. In this photo Chris is bending a test blade 90 degrees, no cracks, no fractures, in fact it didn't crack until the eighth 90 degree bend............. now that's tough! We also "cut test" our blades. Hemp rope, ever cut that stuff? Run your own test, try getting 200+ slices on 1/2" hemp rope!
I strive to make each blade
as tough as the one pictured
here. Only through testing
can one know what he's
selling to the public and feel
good about it.
High Endurance Performance Knife
The knives in pictures bearing this symbol were made using guidelines of the High Endurance Performance Knife group. We are a small group. It takes a great many hours to make a blade using the process we use; and while it's no secret, it is time consuming.
