Chuck Hallberg Custom Knives

[chuckmeade]

Howdy,

I just got my first Hallberg Knife. The
quality of the knife is impeccable. Just as importantly, dealing with Chuck is as enjoyable as owning this new Hallberg knife.

I asked him a bunch of questions during the knife design process, which he more than amply answered. He made a custom design for me which included combining the blade and handle from 2 different knives from his website. Take a look at this beauty: http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=124877&a=2758122

Chuck Hallberg is a friendly and knowledgeable guy. I definitely recommend his fine work. Maybe the best testimonial is that I am already working with him on another knife order.

Visit him at: http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/hallberg

Chuck Meade

 

[Donna Barnas]

Chuck,
That is a beautiful looking knife. What kind of steel is it made from?

 

[chuckmeade]

Thanks. If you go to his website, it is the handle of the skinner at the top of Gallery 2, with the blade of the knife at the bottom of Gallery 2. However, instead of 154-CM I requested ATS-34.

I'm currently working with Chuck to order the camp knife at the bottom of Gallery 3 (also on front page of his website), but with desert ironwood handles, in cryo-treated ATS-34.

Thanks again,
Chuck Meade

 

[BladeMan]

why ats34 instead 154? its almost the same, only the name and the origin is different.

 

[chuckmeade]

Good question. I've only recently been seriously getting into knife collecting and learning about the steels, etc. What little I knew a couple months ago was that ats-34 is at least very good, possibly one of the best stainless steels for custom knifemaking. I also own a Kershaw Wild Wild Turkey that is ats-34, and I love it. Since then, I looked into it further and found that 154-CM is basically the US version of ats-34, a japanese steel. If I had known then that they were virtually identical I would have been more comfortable going with the 154-CM. But I had never heard of 154-CM at that time, so I just felt better going with the ats-34.
If anyone knows of a good blade steel comparison table on the web, let me know. I have seen a couple, but no one seems to get it -- we (I?) want to see a table with all blade steels compared for edge retention, durability, corrosion resistance, etc.