Modern knife era - what defines it

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Here's my opinion, and it's worth what you paid for it.

Loveless brought "modern" materials and methods: stainless steel, micarta, and stock removal. Up to that point, my understanding is that knifemaking had been almost all hot work, with maybe some grinding at the end to shape bevels. But he was still making sole-author knives.

Michael Walker took the first step toward what we think of as "modern" folders by making the first liner lock knife. This paved the way for open-handed opening and the variations in blade shape that people realized were possible once they stopped concentrating on putting in the nail nick.

The next demarcation of "modern" knives came when somebody realized that mass production and economy of scale could be applied to them: reduce the role of the craftsman, replace him with a large group of low- to medium-skilled workers, jigs, fixtures, and powered machinery. The parts went through a series of operations that turned out consistent, repeatable tolerances, so they could all be tossed in bins and taken to another large room full of tables where people spent all day assembling knives.

There will be another era of "modern" knives when humans are removed entirely from the design and implementation process: "artificial intelligence" will "design" a knife, which will be posted to social media. If the "design" gets enough likes, it will be automatically converted into tooling paths, fed to a CNC mill which is loaded with flat stock from another robot, machined (hopefully heat treated somewhere along the way), assembled, sharpened, and packed for shipping without ever being touched by so much as a human doing quality assurance inspections.

In the meantime, I would like to ask you to remove yourself from my lawn.
 
I think quality Spyderco's coming out with the Hole and serrations made knives explode with the public. Benchmade and Cold Steel helped the avalanche. The more custom knife makers, the merrier. Knife magazines, showcasing custom and factory were very helpful to me. I may not know as much as most people, but I am a knife addicted. Always have been.
 
It’s telling to see what we all choose to post as the modern half of our “modern and traditional pairs “ photo thread. I generally pull an “old timey” GEC or Case slip joint (or SAK) and pair it with a newfangled steel knife that has a one-hand deploy method and possibly clip, like a Spyderco or Benchmade or TRM…That’s my favorite daily carry pairing anyway so these combinations are easy to take pics of. Also endless variations to keep things interesting.
 
Shorttime said:
There will be another era of "modern" knives when humans are removed entirely from the design and implementation process: "artificial intelligence" will "design" a knife, which will be posted to social media. If the "design" gets enough likes, it will be automatically converted into tooling paths, fed to a CNC mill which is loaded with flat stock from another robot, machined (hopefully heat treated somewhere along the way), assembled, sharpened, and packed for shipping without ever being touched by so much as a human doing quality assurance inspections.
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I’m pretty sure the Chinese makers are 90% of the way there. If not closer…
 
When I think of modern pocket knives, I think of SpyderCo and to a lesser degree Cold Steel and Demko. First to etch the blade steel type on the blade, first to use a pocket clip, first to use thumb holes, first to use newer exotic steels and have their own (SPY27), first to develop new new locks (compression, triad, ball bearing, etc.).

IMO, SpyderCo make the safest modern knives, even their split joint models are safe... easy to open too compared to the old nail nick.

Of course, they have been doing this since the 1990s, right? Not just the last 5 years.

Just my opinion.
 
SharpBits said:
I’m pretty sure the Chinese makers are 90% of the way there. If not closer…
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I was trying to walk around "country of origin" statements, because strong words have been used about the topic.

But, yes. I remember looking at the catalog of some China OEM (I forget which one), and thinking that all their knives look like iterative design: the computer was fed an image and told to draw variations on it. Those variations were rendered to steel.

Seeing as how I've been getting more into modern traditionals, and three of my last four purchases were electrician-pattern knives, this may all be because I'm getting old and my eyes can no longer distinguish the subtle details that set each of their designs apart. At least, not unless I hold the computer further away from my face.......
 
Style and preference is subjective, so really the only thing that can be used to define “modern” would be techniques and methods that elevate the majority of the market beyond what was previously available. To me that means the rise of CNC use with extreme tolerances. Design aside- there’s sub $100 dollar Chinese folders out today that rival the tolerance and techniques of the early Microtechs.

The modern era is defined to me as the era of machine built, overthought pocket knives. There’s more designs than ever before, and for the most part QC has become more a test of design, not ability.
 
Just personally , for me , the 80's marked a New Era of Knife Enthusiasm , with Spyderco and Cold Steel type "tactical" folders for starters . :cool: :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Before that , I carried a Puma folder for decades , but it was really nothing more than a cutting tool . Did the job, but not exciting .
 
A modern knife is never meant to fulfill its purpose to cut things. It’s now intended to forever retain the factory edge. It’s to be pictured with trees, cats, flashlights, and whatever else may get some likes. They are to be bought and sold as lnib. They excel as fidget toys and probably cut well we assume.

And I absolutely love em! 😂
 
Here is my thoughts on the "modern knife era". From the 1600's, most pocket knives were either friction folders or slip joints. The next major change was when Buck popularized the lock back in the 60's. Slip joints were still a popular option through the 80's but I started seeing most people shift to lock backs in some form. There were some radically new products released in the 80's with pliers based multitools such as Leatherman (which made the traditional scout knives obsolete), the Spyderco Police, and some cool new materials became popular like FRN in the Gerber LST. Prior to the 80's every viewed anything made of "plastic" as a cheap inferior product but I believe the release and reputation of Glock pistols started to change this perception. This paved the way for more modern materials in knives in my opinion.
In the 90's was when everything really started to change rapidly, almost too rapidly to keep up with. In the time between around 1991 until the mid-2000's is when everything exploded into an abundance of "modern" pocket knives.
Interestingly enough this time period coincides with the closing of Imperial Shrade, Camillus, and Colonial who were the major suppliers of slip joints over the years.
While there is still a market for slip joints among knife enthusiasts and collectors, for the most part the modern pocket clip one handed opening knife is king among the masses these days.
So to me the decade from 1991 until 2001 (when the Benchmade Griptilian was released if I am not mistaken) could be considered the dawn of the modern era. Since then everything has been tweaks in designs, lock styles, and materials.
 
Shorttime said:
There will be another era of "modern" knives when humans are removed entirely from the design and implementation process: "artificial intelligence" will "design" a knife, which will be posted to social media. If the "design" gets enough likes, it will be automatically converted into tooling paths, fed to a CNC mill which is loaded with flat stock from another robot, machined (hopefully heat treated somewhere along the way), assembled, sharpened, and packed for shipping without ever being touched by so much as a human doing quality assurance inspections.
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That's an interesting thought, I'd argue that we're pretty far from that, though. As far as machining operations go, knife manufacturers tend to be slow to adopt automation and technology. And I'd say that they don't really need to; they make a luxury product with cushy profit margins. I see machine shops specializing in aerospace and defense implementing palletized lights-out automation and still struggling to break even. Meanwhile, shops that make a specific branded consumer product can be profitable without having to optimize their production much. It's a huge step to automate to the point where human hands are only needed for assembly, and most knifemakers will never feel the need to get there. In China, the low cost of labor makes automation an even less attractive proposition.

It's kind of like how 3D printing was so hyped when it came out, people thought that everything would be made using this method and we'd see all sorts of things that couldn't have been manufactured before. But when the fervor died down, people realized that 3D printing will always be less cost-effective than traditional mass production methods due to the energy requirements, so its application only makes sense in rare instances.

ferider said:
A modern knife is what you are not allowed to carry in London or Paris. That's the modern era.
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I hear that having a modern knife used on you in London or Paris is allowed, though, arguably even encouraged...
 
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