In The (obscure) Cutlery News: Arrowhead Manufacturing Co.

Codger_64

Codger_64

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For this brief ramble I am bringing forward a post I made last October regarding the Chapter 11 dissolution bankruptcy of United Cutlery and more specifically their manufacturing division, Arrowhead Manufacturing in Rockford, Tennessee.

Codger_64 said:
I know this is the Schrade Collector's forum, but I believe this news is somewhat relevant since this company did produce some Schrade pattern derivatives, most notably the Sharpfinger knives with various branding (Outdoor Life, Harley Davidson, Rigid), and I believe some Schrade patterns for Taylor Cutlery such as the X-Timer series of fixed blades.

After a week or so of chasing rumors of a chapter 13 reorganization bankruptcy filing, finally I have confirmation from two seperate sources of what was in fact a chapter 11 dissolution filing for United Cutlery. United Cutlery has declared bankruptcy and is going to be dissolved/sold according to a post by Kit Rae on a fantasy knife forum five days ago.

UC did file chapter 11 last Monday. I resigned as UC's product development director several months ago to pursue my own design business. I had been with them for 20 years and felt it was time to move on, though another one of my reasons was the direction the company was going. It was once a great company to work for and we did a lot of good projects there.

A few weeks ago UC laid off the entire PD staff, so it looks like any new projects are dead. They filed chapter 11 last week. There may be a chance they can reorganize and get bought by another company, though the LOTR license is gone.
__________________
Kit Rae
Kit Rae Design Studio LLC
www.kitrae.net

http://www.ucforums.com/showthread.php?t=3781&page=2

United Cutlery was started by four partners. Originally begun as a design and importing company in the sporting cutlery industry. As United markets grew, they started producing and distributing products under the United brand.

United Cutlery Brands was founded in 1984 by Kevin Pipes and John Parker (SMKW), David Hall and Phil Martin of Blue Ridge Knives. David Hall ran the operation. Hall bought out the last of the partners in 2000 and is now sole owner. Tomahawk is their sourcing division finding, importing and wholsaling knives from overseas. Arrowhead is their manufacturing division in East Tennessee. Arrowhead's President is Jim Hamilton. They use the latest CNC milling machines, laser cutters to cut blanks etc. The factory began running full tilt in August of 2003. They purchased some of the machinery from the ISC liquidation in late 2004.

I believe Kit Rae was one of the first employees. Kit was an artist and designer from the start, I believe, designing not only knives but the packaging artwork. He began doing collaborations with Gil Hibben, including the production versions of his Rambo knives. Over the years, Kit leaned more and more toward his own fantasy designs, a lot rooted in the Tolkien "Lord Of The RIngs" books influence. In about 1997, the success of his designs led Mr. Hall to add the Kit Rae knives as a seperate branded line.

You can spot Kit's knives in the television shows Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Millennium, The X-Files, Baylon 5, Crusade, Space Rangers, White Dwarf, Lexx, Good Vs Evil, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Witchblade, America's Most Wanted, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And in the movies The Lightening Incident, Gladiator, Natural Born Killers, From Dusk Til Dawn, Solo, Heavy Metal 2000, The Perfect Weapon, Timecop, Hideaway, Mr. Nice Guy, Jury Duty, Spawn, The Fifth Element, End of Days, Star Trek Generations, Dogma, Wishmaster 4, Queen of the Damned, Star Trek: Nemesis.

I am not a big fan of this type knife, but it is, afterall, knife history now, and Kit is a major player in the genre. He refers to his knives as " edged fantasy art". And that is as good of a description as any.

Codger
Click to expand...

Codger_64 said:
Whether I am a customer/fan of a particular cutlery and their products or not, I do hate to see any company go down that produces knives here in the U.S.

Arrowhead did make knives here, and the ones I have personally handled were well made knives. No, not high end like Canal Street is making, but some good using knives at reasonable prices. And they directly employed skilled American workers to make them.

Codger
Click to expand...

The United Cutlery name was purchased earlier this year by online retailer BudK, and Kit Rae has reported that they are intending to set up a “facility” somewhere in Georgia. He is working with them on licensing some of his fantasy knife designs. However, Arrowhead Manufacturing Company is no more. The modern factory machinery was auctioned last week (April 18th), several pieces having been bought by United/Arrowhead during the Imperial Schrade auction in October of 2004.

Love United or hate them, this division with great aspirations, a state of the art facility made knives here in the U.S.A. and employed skilled cutlery workers. Would it surprise you if some were former Imperial Schrade employees?



Berger DRGI CNC Surface Grinder
Siepmann Type WS2 CNC Serration Grinder
Wilton Model TL1236 Gap Bed Lathe
Bridgeport Series 1 Vertical Mill
Vibratory Finishing System

The list goes on and on. More history on the auction block.

Michael
 
interesting. heard just the other day that there was company that bought up alot of land in rabun county georgia, and that they had already hired folks to clean off the land. if it is the area i know of, its is in a fairly backwoods town, near talullah falls ga. i heard about it because a guy i know does landscaping and whatever and offered me weekend work down there. wonder if this is the knife factory will be?

kris
 
Factory? Dunno. I saw them use the word "facility" which sounds like a warehouse to me. BudK is not, to my knowledge, a manufacturer, but an importer like Taylor.They are currently addressed Moultrie, GA.
 
oh! had my hopes up huh? i know they bought the land right off hwy 441, where not to long ago they put in a super wal-mart. i find that funny, wal-mart will put a store anywhere!! this place is backwoods as all get-out, but it is a nice place though, there are alot of antique stores around there, and even a all cutlery store near dillon.
 
"Facility" is probably a warehouse with a couple of offices. If there's any knifemaking to happen there, it'll just be prototypes as part of the design process. That's my guess anyway.

What sort of knives did they make recently at the Arrowhead factory? I don't have anything of their's...

-Bob
 
United had their own stable of name brands like Harley Davidson, Rigid, Outdoor Life, Ford, United States Army Ranger Association® and the UZI Firearms® licenses, Colt® Firearms cutlery license, Stanley®Tools cutlery license.

This is their Rigid RGO152MX-T Bear Foot Hunter styled after the ill-fated Schrade 152OTX.


There were several variants of these Sharpfinger clones. And a lot more patterns not associated with Imperial Schrade. They did make a few of the XT series knives for Taylor as well.

This is their Outdoor Life Small Fixed Hunter FS0152C



And their Harley Davidson Roadrunner branded version:


These are the only ones I archived (for obvious reasons). And only a small sampling of the brandings produced by Arrowhead for United.

Michael

Edit: Checked their website...ooff! Says nothing about manufacturing facilities or products other than that they have worked deals with Kit Rae and Gil Hibben to continue their fantasy knife lines.

04/11/2007
United Cutlery is Alive and Well
Clint Kadel,
CEO & President

United Cutlery Corp. is alive and well and operating under new ownership from a new and improved facility in Thomasville, Georgia. For over 20 years United Cutlery Corp. has been the leader in offering creative designs, patented mechanisms, and exclusive brands in the cutlery and edged collectible industry. Clint Kadel, CEO and President of United Cutlery, states the future is bright and United Cutlery Corp. will be stronger and better than ever! Questions and ordering information are available by calling 1-800-548-0835 or 229-551-0180 or fax 1-229-551-0182.
We are currently updating our website to better serve you.

Thank you for patience during this transition..


To Our Valued Customers

Thank you for being a valued United Cutlery customer. We are excited to share some new and exciting things happening at United Cutlery. We are now operating under new ownership and in a brand new location in Thomasville, Georgia. The Customer Service and Distribution Center have been updated with innovative technology providing ease of ordering and prompt shipping. We are working on getting a new product catalog out as well as a clearance catalog with some unbelievable bargain pricing. Our new contact information is listed below for your reference. As always you can order using our Toll Free Hotline at 1-800-548-0835.
We are very excited about this coming year at United Cutlery. We will have some outstanding new product lines to offer you, in addition to innovative new items from our current best-selling brands such as United, Kit Rae, Gil Hibben and Tomahawk. Thank you for your patience during our brief transition period. We are very happy to have United Cutlery back up and running. We look forward to enjoying a great business relationship with you.

Chris Keller
Vice-President
United Cutlery Corporation
 
ooohhh, so these are the guys that rule the market in KMART huh?? i have seen some rigid knives that were copies of schrade knives, even down to the delrin handles and staglon handles. i know the kmarts here all carry the little stag colts and the larger outdoor life knives. i was wondering who made them. so this is a pretty big company huh? what exactly did they do in tennesee?? most of these knives are marked "china", but i have heard of "assembled in china", so were the parts made here or over there. i mentioned in a earlier post that i have the outdoor life folder with a bird hook in it, and on the back of the main blade is a stamped "china". i have always wondered how that worked. i have heard several rumors that case sends knives to mexico to be assembled, is that true?

kris
 
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