makers that are no longer active.

sceva

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Sep 18, 2002
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There are more than a few really good knifemakers that are no longer active for one reason or another. Some have died, some retired and some are simply no longer able to make knives.

They put out a great product and we should not forget them and relegate them to history. If you have a knife from someone like this you want to show, please do.

Here is mine: Geno Denning (Caveman Engineering) out of South Carolina and a student of George Herron.

As far as I know Geno is still with us but he is no longer actively making knives

Three different sizes of Herron influenced Drop points,
largest is a Caribou with Ironwood burl made in 2004,
next is a GM (Georges Model) in Ironwood made in 2004,
and the smallest is a MiniGM in stag made in 2006 The MiniGM is the first one ever made.






 
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Good Idea : When you post let us know if they are no longer with us.
 
I guess if we're not talking about the latest whiz bang makers there isn't much interest. I am sad to thing that we have arrived at a time when we hear Loveless, Who's that. Or Herron, Ruana, Scagal, and a lot of others that at one time were well thought of and made knives that were second to no one. I guess once they're no longer active they are forgotten.

I was looking forward to a lot of good photos of some classics.
 
Here are a few of mine.............(all these makers have sadly passed)

Frank Centafante. I was lucky to meet Frank a number of times in the '80's and early '90's. He is a past chairman of the U.S. Guild. An absolutely lovely man as I am sure anyone who knew him would agree.



George Herron and Cor van Ellinckhuijzen
I met George a number of times in the 80's, he was so friendly and a real OG of the US knife making scene.
Cor was a member of the KGSA (Knifemakers Guild of South Africa) and a loverly man. He absolutely loved the lambs foot pattern and he made some beautiful ones.



Rob Brown
Rob was one of the best fixed blade knifemakers on the planet. His knives can be found all over the world. His fit, finish and polish was second to none. He was my friend and I really miss him. I am fortunate to have some really special pieces from him.



Fanie La Grange
Fanie was a member of the KGSA and the founder of the Cape Knifemakers Guild which was a regional organisation which I was a member of. He was a wonderful knifemaker who produced amazing knives in a very basic workshop. I visited him many times at his home. He originally lived in famous mining town in South Africa called Orkney where he worked at Western Deep Levels Gold Mine, which was and still is the deepest mine on the planet.
This hunter was Scrimm'ed by Hilton Purvis who, I am happy to say, is still very much with us!



Bill Defreest
I met Bill in 1987 when he was grinding Balisong blades for Pacific Cutlery. His hollow grinding was superb, not surprising as he was a protege of George Herron.

 
Not deceased, but I bought one knife by J. Nielson and I haven't been able to find any new work of his in a long time, and his website hasn't had anything listed as available for at least a year now. As far as I know, he's retired from knifemaking as a career and is focused on instruction.
 
I just saw that Tom Downing of Ohio died earlier this year. He made a nice knife at a reasonable cost,
 
Here are a few of mine.............(all these makers have sadly passed)

Frank Centafante. I was lucky to meet Frank a number of times in the '80's and early '90's. He is a past chairman of the U.S. Guild. An absolutely lovely man as I am sure anyone who knew him would agree.



George Herron and Cor van Ellinckhuijzen
I met George a number of times in the 80's, he was so friendly and a real OG of the US knife making scene.
Cor was a member of the KGSA (Knifemakers Guild of South Africa) and a loverly man. He absolutely loved the lambs foot pattern and he made some beautiful ones.



Rob Brown
Rob was one of the best fixed blade knifemakers on the planet. His knives can be found all over the world. His fit, finish and polish was second to none. He was my friend and I really miss him. I am fortunate to have some really special pieces from him.



Fanie La Grange
Fanie was a member of the KGSA and the founder of the Cape Knifemakers Guild which was a regional organisation which I was a member of. He was a wonderful knifemaker who produced amazing knives in a very basic workshop. I visited him many times at his home. He originally lived in famous mining town in South Africa called Orkney where he worked at Western Deep Levels Gold Mine, which was and still is the deepest mine on the planet.
This hunter was Scrimm'ed by Hilton Purvis who, I am happy to say, is still very much with us!



Bill Defreest
I met Bill in 1987 when he was grinding Balisong blades for Pacific Cutlery. His hollow grinding was superb, not surprising as he was a protege of George Herron.

Those are beautiful. I especially like the Centofante. Just so crisp with beautiful lines.
 
Not deceased, but I bought one knife by J. Nielson and I haven't been able to find any new work of his in a long time, and his website hasn't had anything listed as available for at least a year now. As far as I know, he's retired from knifemaking as a career and is focused on instruction.
Hello.

He's not retired and he does offer knives for sale on occasion. I'm on his mailing list.

-Eric
 
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