The most expensive knives in the world are – disappointingly – there to look at, not to use. However, there is a new strand in British knifemaking that makes utilitarian knives which are also custommade for users to use. They are designed around what people want to do.
We have made a series of films with these knifemakers about what to look for in a knife, especially a hunting knife. Here they impart their wisdom.
Leader in this field is Emberleaf in Sussex. In this film, we visit the Emberleaf works:
From Yorkshire, Danum Blades is another good knifemaker. Master knifemaker Alan Johnson talks through the process, including choosing steel, cutting a shape, grinding an edge, making and fitting a handle, and the leatherwork to make a good sheath. He runs Danum Blades in South Yorkshire, the home of British steelmaking, comparable with Solingen in Germany for its knife making heritage.
Newcomer to the commercial custom knife market, Dean Smallwood of ADG Custom Knives in Gloucestershire makes a range of blades, as he discusses here, epxlaining why he chooses the shapes he offers:
Knife maker Phil Siddell from Wellington Bladeworks in Somerset explains the three things to look for in a new knife: tang, steel and edge geometry.
