Showing my ignorance: What exactly is a Mid-tech knife?

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Crag the Brewer said:
Mid-tech's are great!

You get a well known brand or maker's knife at a lower cost.

Instead of the Owner actually making the knife, you are getting their apprentices, minion's, or maybe even someone from a far away country pressing the "Start Button." It's nice, Out poops a knife and you get that.

mid-tech are NOT custom, nor handmade. They aren't..

In My opinion........ with Customs (you) the consumer makes some input, Not just the color of the handles that some lackey screws on.... You, maybe say you like this model, but would like the blade to be 6.375" long. That. You get to talk to the maker, and they help you with making your Favorite knife.

In My opinion handmade means No 0's or 1's.
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What exactly is the point of your post? The OP asked "What exactly is a Mid-tech knife?"

How does anything you have said above answer that question? It just sounds like a general rant against things you don't like or disagree with.
 
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What really makes a knife a midtech is generally farmed out bevel grinding. Many custom makers will sub out waterjet, heat treat and maybe some flat/parallel grinding but once that bevel gets ground by someone else it is a midtech. You could also grind the blades and sub out the handles but that is uncommon. A midtech could not exist without a good contribution from the maker.
 
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SharpBits said:
I would consider them production knives.
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I may be wrong….. but I thought all Hinderer and Chris Reeve knives were hand tuned at the end of the line. Not that I’m saying that makes them mid tech but it does make me feel all warm and cozy to know actual hands have worked on my knives as opposed to just machines.
But again…… just ask my wife….. I’m probably wrong. 😑
 
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Steven65 said:
What exactly is the point of your post? The OP asked "What exactly is a Mid-tech knife?"

How does anything you have said above answer that question? It just sounds like a general rant against things you don't like or disagree with.
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I don't think I disagree with much of Anything?
What didn't you like?

Mid-tech is like a small production run. Something lower cost. Easier to obtain.
I thought he was wondering of distinctions between various methods of manufacturing?
Maybe I misunderstood?
 
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Terry M. said:
I may be wrong….. but I thought all Hinderer and Chris Reeve knives were hand tuned at the end of the line. Not that I’m saying that makes them mid tech but it does make me feel all warm and cozy to know actual hands have worked on my knives as opposed to just machines.
But again…… just ask my wife….. I’m probably wrong. 😑
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I think you are right about the hand tuning, but neither are touched by Hinderer or Reeve. Not these days at least. Hinderer still makes his own knives, but they are not part of the production line. I don’t know enough about the Reeve family to know if the son and ex-wife ever made a knife.
 
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GrumpySoreOldBastard said:
Not trying to be too cheeky but this thread is giving me a bad case of deja vu from the long running discussion of what makes a custom motorcycle VS a motorcycle with some parts bolted on.
Close friends and brothers have been known to come to violence over that one too.
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The question comes up pretty frequently.
Not sure what the hubbub is about?
People get defensive for some reason, but a good knife is a good knife.
Right?
Regardless if it's made by the maker, someone else, or a robot....
 
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Blues said:
I'll tell you what, I do love a handcrafted sandwich. LOL (I never ordered one from a machine though.)

It's all b.s.

Kit Carson told me years ago that he couldn't necessarily make a better knife than the Sebenza...but he could give the customer what they asked for. (And in a video, I remember Andrew Demko saying something similar, as in that he couldn't make the AD10 better than the manufacturing company for Cold Steel in Taiwan, all he could do was make it more expensive.)

Kit was a wonderful man who let many folks copy his designs and when it was mentioned to him, he said "we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us."

I say buy the best quality knives you can from the best quality people and companies. Forget the semantics.
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I’m seriously impressed. That is a hell of a lot of truth and humility jam packed into one statement. Sounds like a hell of a guy. We could use more like him. . .
 
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BP Green said:
I’m seriously impressed. That is a hell of a lot of truth and humility jam packed into one statement. Sounds like a hell of a guy. We could use more like him. . .
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He was a terrific guy and an excellent maker. I still have several knives from him in my collection. In fact, he built me my first custom knife.
 
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Blues said:
He was a terrific guy and an excellent maker. I still have several knives from him in my collection. In fact, he built me my first custom knife.
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I know Gus loved him and was broken when he passed. I am sorry I never got to know him.
A recommendation from both you and Gus is all I need to know about him. ;)

I think a company Like Demko epitomises my view of what a mid-tech is. Straddling both production and custom....... :)
 
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Blues said:
I'll tell you what, I do love a handcrafted sandwich. LOL (I never ordered one from a machine though.)

It's all b.s.

Kit Carson told me years ago that he couldn't necessarily make a better knife than the Sebenza...but he could give the customer what they asked for. (And in a video, I remember Andrew Demko saying something similar, as in that he couldn't make the AD10 better than the manufacturing company for Cold Steel in Taiwan, all he could do was make it more expensive.)

Kit was a wonderful man who let many folks copy his designs and when it was mentioned to him, he said "we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us."

I say buy the best quality knives you can from the best quality people and companies. Forget the semantics.
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Here, here...👍👍👍. Or.is.it??? Hear, hear....???.......
 
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Steven65 said:
I know Gus loved him and was broken when he passed. I am sorry I never got to know him.
A recommendation from both you and Gus is all I need to know about him. ;)

I think a company Like Demko epitomises my view of what a mid-tech is. Straddling both production and custom....... :)
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You would have become fast friends...

I'm also a fan of the Demkos
 
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"High end" or "small batch" production would be a better term. Knives that are uncommon. I see custom as a 1 of 1 situation, especially if you get your say in the materials.

I view both my RH Knives Tasca 2 and Biryukov's as custom. The Tasca 2 I picked both the handle material and steel. My Biryukov #7 is the only one I've ever seen in person or online with a blue cf scale and a mirror polished S390 blade.

My Arno Bernard iMamba I see as a midtech, as well as my Cheburkov small Strizh. You see pictures of the same patterns online. If I lost one I could get another. But the fit, finish, and materials are far beyond that of a mass produced knife.
 
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Here's another way of looking at it, I think:

A. Number of people involved in making a knife:
1. Single maker doing all the work.
2. Single maker with apprentice(s), i.e. people learning to be independent knifemakers, both the lead maker and apprentices are physically involved in making the knife.
3. Single maker with apprentice(s), i.e. people learning to be independent knifemakers, apprentices making the knife, lead maker only inspecting.
4. Single maker with employees, i.e. machinists or other people hired to do specific factory-type tasks who are not learning the knifemaking process as a whole, both lead maker and employees physically involved in making the knife.
5. Single maker with employees, i.e. machinists or other people hired to do specific factory-type tasks who are not learning the knifemaking process as a whole, lead maker only supervises or does quality control.
6. Single maker with outsourced labor at another company doing OEM manufacturing, maker still involved in some meaningful part of the knifemaking.
7. Single designer with entire knifemaking process outsourced to OEM. Designer created the knife design but has no physical role in making the knife.

B. Level of handcrafting involved in making a knife:
1. Made by hand with no power tools from completely raw or repurposed materials.
2. Made by hand with power tools from raw or repurposed materials.
3. Made by hand with power tools from partially processed materials, such as bar or round stock, handle material already cut to size, pin stock, etc.
4. Partially made by hand with power tools from components machined in-house with CNC.
5. Made by hand with power tools with some parts purchased in complete or near-complete state, such as waterjet blade blanks, screws, pivot pins and collars, thumb studs, etc.
6. Made predominantly by CNC in-house.
7. Assembled from components made by OEM with limited hand work such as sharpening and parts assembly.

C. Level of customer involvement in making a knife:
1. Maker designs knife completely to customer specifications. This is actually fairly rare as few makers are willing to give complete carte blanche to customer whimsy.
2. Maker allows wide customer variation to existing maker designs, such as guards, size, handle shape, etc.
3. Maker allows wide customer choice of materials but no substantial changes to existing design, such as blade steel, guard material, handle material, etc.
4. Maker allows limited selection of changes to materials.
5. Maker only produces knives to his or her taste and allows no customer choice.
 
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SharpBits said:
I think you are right about the hand tuning, but neither are touched by Hinderer or Reeve. Not these days at least. Hinderer still makes his own knives, but they are not part of the production line. I don’t know enough about the Reeve family to know if the son and ex-wife ever made a knife.
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Tim Reeve has absolutely made and designed knives. And they still have hands on their knives at the factory.
 
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