HELP! Need names of custom knife makers for 2 special projects (aerospace related)

M

martian_engineer

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Dec 24, 2015
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Hello,

I am a long time knife enthusiast and lurker of this site. Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I am designing two folding knives, and I am looking for names of custom knife makers that would best suit these projects. If you have any ideas, please let me know!

Knife #1: Future Family Heirloom

I am designing this knife to honor the legacy of rocket scientists in my family. My grandfather worked for NASA during the Apollo program, and he worked closely with Wernher Von Braun to design the Saturn V rockets that got us to the moon. He was actually the guy who convinced Von Braun to use hydrogen fuel for the upper stages of the rocket (10 points if you can guess his name). As for myself, I am a mechanical engineer working for one of the largest commercial space companies in the world, and I can only hope that I will impact the industry like my grandfather did.

Anyway, I want this knife to have two personalities (one for each side of the knife). The first side will have features related to my grandfather's work at NASA, specifically the Saturn V rocket and the moon mission. The second side will reflect my work and my company's mission to establish a human colony on Mars (1 point if you can guess the company).

Knife #2: Anonymous gift to my company's founder

I am designing this knife for my company's founder. He is one of my person heroes, and I want to give it to him as an anonymous gift to thank him for all the work he's done (and still doing) for the human race (deep, I know). Anyway, I am designing this knife to honor his mission to get humans on Mars, and I want this thing to impress the hell out of him.

Custom knife makers I'm looking for:
  • I would prefer a well-known knife maker, someone who has a long history of excellence making functional pieces of art
  • Experience or knowledge of the aerospace industry is a big plus
  • Experience with various materials like titanium alloys, carbon fiber, laminated blades, gem stones, laser etching, engraving...
  • Someone who is willing to work with me on my designs, give me suggestions, and possibly utilize CAD drawngs I might make
  • Someone who can fabricate different types of locking mechanisms. So far, the patented benchmade axis lock is my favorite

I'm sorry for the long post, but if anyone knows of someone that would excel and enjoy these kinds of projects, please let me know! Thanks!
 
Is it Space X? Sounds like a hell of a great project.

As for the man who convinced von Braun, I'm guessing Abe Silverstein.
 
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Michael Walker would be my first choice.
 
1 point to Mecha for guessing SpaceX. Good guess with Abe Silverstein. My grandfather was a member of the Saturn Vehicle Evaluation Committee, which is also known as the Silverstein Comittee!
 
I love your enthusiasm. Good stuff. You may be in for a surprise. First criteria: What's your budget? It had better be a minimum of $20,000. (Lorien: Michael Walker would probably be four times that for (2) knives. Serious.)

My suggestion on what you are trying to achieve: Work with an noted engraver on a standard model (Warren Osborne or find a Joe Kious un-engraved pocket locket.) You can tell a MUCH more personal story in tribute with 'images' than your personal designs (which aren't historical and may be unrealistic for a prototype mechanism lock).

Google knife images: Ray Cover Jr, CJ Cai, or Jon Robyn. They have done tribute/thematic knives which are compelling.

This route will also cost BIG $$, but it may be more achievable.

Coop
 
Depending on the knife and the handles you might also consider Scrimshaw art which can be very colorful and very idea specific to the finest detail, Linda Karst Stone of Kerrville Texas would be an excellent choice in that medium.

Paul
 
A Randall Astro may be a good starting point; created for the space program and then go from there to make it special.
 
I don't know the style of knives that you are looking for but Dr. Jim Batson, MS received a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He worked for the US Army Missile Command for 33 years, before retiring in 1988. He became an American Bladesmith Society Mastersmith in 1993. He is also a former two time Chairman of the Board of the ABS.

His specialties include Antique Bowie knife and James Bowie historian, author, teacher, engraver, metallurgist, silver smith, ABS Master Smith and Blacksmith. Early American knives and forged Damascus blades & fittings in collectible period pieces are his primary specialties.

He certainly meets at least some of your requirements.
 
Michael walker would be great but that would take many years and would be very pricey. Id see what John W. Smith has to say. Hes a well rounded maker who does clean work for good prices. He can engrave and work with stones.
 
jjtjr said:
I don't know the style of knives that you are looking for but Dr. Jim Batson, MS received a Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He worked for the US Army Missile Command for 33 years, before retiring in 1988. He became an American Bladesmith Society Mastersmith in 1993. He is also a former two time Chairman of the Board of the ABS.

His specialties include Antique Bowie knife and James Bowie historian, author, teacher, engraver, metallurgist, silver smith, ABS Master Smith and Blacksmith. Early American knives and forged Damascus blades & fittings in collectible period pieces are his primary specialties.

He certainly meets at least some of your requirements.
Click to expand...

That is bad ass, excuse my French.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. I decided that I should probably pay off my student loans before purchasing these knives haha. However, if I can get a slightly dumbed down version of the heirloom knife for escape for under 2000, that would be awesome. If that means I can't contract a legendary smith, then that's fine. Do you guys think I could get one for that price point with the following features?
- convex grind, high quality stainless steel blade
- one handle slab made from titanium with a saturnV inlay
- one handle slab made of carbon fiber with a falcon 9 inlay
- red thumb stud one side to symbolize mars, and white on the other side for the moon
- push button or axis locking mechanism
 
The knife maker that comes to my mind is Bill Harsey. I don't pretend to know what the likelihood of him wanting to pick up a custom job would be, but he takes at least some of his design aesthetic from aerospace design principles, and his son works for Space X as well.

I really don't know what he would want for a knife, or if he would want to work on this project, or if he would be available, etc. but he has a lot of experience in designing and prototyping and working with new lock designs and such.
 
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