Thu. Nov 7th, 2024

Custom Knives

In this section I want to share some of my handmade/custom knives with you. The definition of custom knife bothers me because it is misused I think. For me a custom knife is made by a knifemaker according to the wishes and directions of the customer. Often the customer buys a handmade knife which is made by the maker according to his own standards.

Value or quality is not decisive. Custom = handmade. Handmade is not necessarily custom.

Anyway, I valua my custom/handmade knives a lot. Some are purchased from the first or second owner. Some directly from the maker. When I order a knife, I tend to leave it to the maker what design ellements/choices are made. The maker is the creative person who knows his materials and knows what is possible. So when I order a knife, most of the time you can not call it custom. Yes it is made because I ordered it. But design is left to the maker.

Lately I value European makers more and more. In the knife community people tend to watch/observe the developments in the United States most of the time and forget about their “own” knifemakers. And in Europe we have quite a history of knifemaking. Regions like Solingen (Germany), Maniago (Italy) and Thiers (France) are a cradle for knifemakers.

In The Netherlands, “my” country, also a couple of very talented knifemakers are around. It is not smart to mention a couple, because then of course, I also forget some. But I will mention a couple anyway. For example I like the work of Gudy van Poppel , Martin Annegarn, Ed de Pauw, Hillknives and more. Soon I will start a series of video’s of talented makers like PVE Knives and others.

Some of the knifemakers from Europe I like to mention: Rafal Brzeski, Miguel A Gil, Markus Reichard, Toni Tietzel, Mikkel Willumsen, Jens Anso, Grzegorz Grabarski, Ostap Helland so on. A lot of talent in Europe and a lot of craftmenship as well. Oh man! I forgot so many to mention. Sorry my friends I can not mention you all.

I hope you enjoy pictures of some of my “customs”. More Customs are featured in My Blog.

Marin Annegarn Fronflipper Bowie with “Egyptian Eye”