About the Knifemaker

I retired in 2012 after teaching for four decades, mostly in a small, rural high school on an island in Northwestern Washington.

Conventional wisdom states that death will follow in three years unless one has something meaningful to occupy mind and body.  According to my wife, I have always been obsessed with knives.    I’ve always carried a pocket knife, have a couple of samurai swords, and a variety of hunting knives.  Whenever I visited the relatives for any length of time, I’d pull out my stone and sharpen their kitchen knives.

After 9/11 carrying pocket knives on airplanes became a thing of the past.  I don’t often check luggage, so that became a problem.   Now when I land at a vacation destination my first search is an inexpensive pocket knife.  At the end of the vacation I mail it home.  It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get there, as I now have over a dozen to chose from at home.

So making knives seemed the perfect way to spend my time.  I’ve always been a woodworker so I knew I’d make my knives with wooden handles.  For the blades, I started out with old saw blades and files like many do.  I used my pottery kiln to temper some carbon steel blades.  Redrilling a hole in a file-made knife required a trip to the doctor’s and seven stitches.  Reworking a ninja throwing star after two glasses of wine required a Super Glue treatment to the small gash.  The whole thing has been a learning experience, but I rarely repeat the same mistake.  Unlike the classroom, life’s lessons are frequently learned after the test.

Testimonials

Mark II:

“My Mark II Hunter is the perfect length and has the perfect heft for quickly and confidently gutting those big hogs.   What a mighty fine piece of equipment!  I appreciate it more today than when it was first given it to me.”     -Ron A.

“I have the Mark II with the lanyard and think that combo of metal and wood is as good as it gets for an all around sheath knife.  Maybe it is my Indian heritage but something about Kurt's work just makes me feel like with his blade in my hand I could take on most anything and win.”    -Dave R.

SRK Chef Knife:

“It's hard to express how impressed and excited I am about using the chefs knife for years to come.”  - Emily R.

"Since I put the SRK Chef Knife in the kitchen, it is the only one I use.  This handle design, blade size, and heft, is useful in cutting almost everything.”   - Terry W.