"American made" question.

Shorttime

Shorttime

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Country of origin is important to some, here.

It got me wondering if there are any makers on any part of the spectrum from fully hand-made to mass production, who source steel and raw materials that were mined, harvested, and manufactured within the States. Is this even possible? I remember Medford (?) was doing work to make sure the hardware they used was from American companies, but does anybody go so far as to make sure the steel and so forth are, too?

Please remember that this is a question about knives: lots of strong feelings about the way the nation is being run right now. I have some too, which is the origin of this question. But still, let's not make more work for Blues and Knarfeng.
 
I think this a great topic in the wrong subforum. My comments would be 'moved offline' here. Not critizing the Mods. Only try to work with them, as your last sentence urges.
 
Its a sensitive topic (shouldn't be) but is, and gets more difficult when one delves deeper into "made in America" and starts wondering if it just means "assembled in america" (with internationally sourced parts)
But that mouthful is entirely too honest so most don't run with that. This thread probably has a short shelf life. Hopefully insightful comments slip in before it expires
 
From top to bottom:

There are several makers that use their own hardware, make their own screws, etc., for example Hinderer and CRK. And there are good US screw makers that are used by many custom makers, for example TiConnector.

Regarding the steel, hard to tell what will happen now that Crucible went bust. But several distributors (e.g., Niagra) take pride in sourcing steel from the US.

Regarding the raw Iron, the US is the 3rd largest producer, and a lot comes from (US) scrap, too. No reason to think that the raw iron going into - say - CPM steel does not come from the US. This will become more certain with the changes in tariffs, etc.

Finally, Micarta and G10 are easily sourced made in the US, no reason that at least smaller US knife makers don't get it from here. But in the end, it will be hard to tell even for them where it comes from.

For example, if you have a full Ti CRK or Hinderer, you can be pretty confident it's all made in the US.

Roland.
 
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very hard to say. Steel, depending on the type etc comes from many sources. Even that produced in the US may have the different alloying materials sourced elsewhere. Cobalt, vanadium, Nickel, Iron, Manganese, Chromium , Copper and others are all found in steel. Some of it may not even be found in the US and must be imported. Even the touted Buy American act for Government Contracts concerning "Strategic Materials" have a good amount of wiggle room. This calls for certain steels, and ither materials to be Domestically produced. Now, Domestically produced in Government speak means US and Canada and ANYONE ELSE FROM A LIST OF QUALIFYING COUNTRIES of origin. The qualifying countries are for the most part NATO allies. So parts for a Government contract can be made from steel from France, Great Britain, Israel, Spain and many others and still be considered acceptable for use. Just don't make the mistake of using material from a country not on the list no matter how good the lab reports. I have seen parts get totally machined and finished only to be scrapped when it was found in final inspection that the steel came from, I believe, Argentina.
 
ShaiHulud said:
Its a sensitive topic (shouldn't be) but is, and gets more difficult when one delves deeper into "made in America" and starts wondering if it just means "assembled in america" (with internationally sourced parts)
But that mouthful is entirely too honest so most don't run with that. This thread probably has a short shelf life. Hopefully insightful comments slip in before it expires
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Oh, I don't expect it to run for very long! No pictures is one of the surest signs that a thread is going to drop to page two by within 72 hours.

It's a topic that comes up consistently, so all I'm looking to do is get some reliable information to sit in one place that people can (hopefully) find, down the road.
 
ferider said:
From top to bottom:

There are several makers that use their own hardware, make their own screws, etc., for example Hinderer and CRK. And there are good US screw makers that are used by many custom makers, for example TiConnector.

Regarding the steel, hard to tell what will happen now that Crucible went bust. But several distributors (e.g., Niagra) take pride in sourcing steel from the US.

Regarding the raw Iron, the US is the 3rd largest producer, and a lot comes from (US) scrap, too. No reason to think that the raw iron going into - say - CPM steel does not come from the US. This will become more certain with the changes in tariffs, etc.

Finally, Micarta and G10 are easily sourced made in the US, no reason that at least smaller US knife makers don't get it from here. But in the end, it will be hard to tell even for them where it comes from.

For example, if you have a full Ti CRK or Hinderer, you can be pretty confident it's all made in the US.

Roland.
Click to expand...
Would just like to add Les George to that list. 😉
 
LarryG said:
Wikipedia tells me that the US is not listed in the top 9 countries for titanium mining. At least as of 2017.
Click to expand...

True. Also Vanadium likely comes from China, Russia or South Africa.

Then again, the costs of making a knife go mostly into Labor and innovation. I personally like to support US makers, more so then control where they take their materials from.

(Written on an iPhone assembled in China - it’s impossible to be completely black and white on the subject)
 
I take pride in only buying American made knives. I enjoy supporting American knife makers simply because I enjoy knowing my purchases help to keep these companies open and their employees busy and hopefully well paid. I also appreciate the extra effort it takes to make these knives here knowing how much easier it would be and is to outsource manufacturing overseas.

I also really appreciate that buying American made is still a viable/plentiful option in the knife community. I’m however very concerned about how much longer we will get to enjoy so many options because I do believe the American made knife companies are directly under assault by the overseas competition. I find it very unfortunate that so many knife enthusiasts support these companies.

As far as only buying/supporting makers that every single piece of material (steel) is sourced in the US would probably be as hard as shopping at Walmart for only American made products. As long as the knives and parts are manufactured here in the US is all I need to know. I draw the line at assembled in America or designed in America etc.
 
I believe products can have one of two labels for Made in USA.

1. Made in USA with domestic and imported parts - Can be as low as 10-20 % actually made in the USA even with crucial parts importated.
2. Made in USA - requires substantially more and higher percentage of USA made/assembled but no actually percentage is given by the FTC.
 
Aside from blade steel, which is now all made in Europe with the demise of Crucible, every single component of my knives is made in the USA or has a USA made option.

My Tyrant bowie, made from CPM 3V and with TeroTuf or G10 scales is completely, 100% made in the USA (my carbon fiber scales are made from Polish sheets).

Blade steel, scales, screws, threaded barrels, kydex, eyelets, tek lock, all American made.

Every manufacturing, machining, and milling process is done here as well. Hopefully the tarriffs wont hit me too bad haha.
 
mitchnola said:
I take pride in only buying American made knives. I enjoy supporting American knife makers simply because I enjoy knowing my purchases help to keep these companies open and their employees busy and hopefully well paid. I also appreciate the extra effort it takes to make these knives here knowing how much easier it would be and is to outsource manufacturing overseas.

I also really appreciate that buying American made is still a viable/plentiful option in the knife community. I’m however very concerned about how much longer we will get to enjoy so many options because I do believe the American made knife companies are directly under assault by the overseas competition. I find it very unfortunate that so many knife enthusiasts support these companies.

As far as only buying/supporting makers that every single piece of material (steel) is sourced in the US would probably be as hard as shopping at Walmart for only American made products. As long as the knives and parts are manufactured here in the US is all I need to know. I draw the line at assembled in America or designed in America etc.
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Well said!
 
I take pride in my works.
If I'm buying foreign materials, it's because of their inherent qualities, not because of lowered cost....... If I want Swedish steels, I want Swedish steel. If I want ebony, I can't get that in Ohio......
 
Also, most bone for scales comes from South America and then there is Giraffe bone, Mammoth Ivory, Rosewood, Ebony was mentioned, and so on.

I am pretty happy if the actual knife is made here although I do like my Bokers from Solingen. A quick check shows I have 3 GEC, 1 Schatt & Morgan, 2 John Primble ( Boker USA), 2 Case, and a Kamp King in the US made folders, An A. Wright (Sheffield), 4 German Bokers, and a Schmidt & Ziegler in my foreign made folders. Fixed blades I have 3 Geno Denning, a Marbles (from 2000), and a Weske all US made. Hmmm, Maybe I have too many?
 
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Knives are a niche industry where it's pretty easy to keep all or almost all of the production within the US. There are two reasons for this. One, none of the components are so specialized or difficult to make that they can't be sourced locally. And two, the quantities produced are so small that it would actually be more difficult to outsource; companies in China that make good quality custom components typically won't talk to you if you aren't ordering massive quantities.

There is a lot of outsourcing being done by knife brands, but most of it stays in the country. I don't think people realize how many companies send out their grinding to companies like Larkin Precision. Which makes sense, because to do that efficiency on a large scale you'd need a $1 million Burger grinder, which most brands don't have the quantities to justify. Heat treating blades and Swiss work for fasteners also often gets sent out, as well as waterjet or EDM cutting the blanks. When you look at the logistics involved, it would really be a nightmare to send it out of the country.
 
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