THK News, Events and Updates

Pirates, Ka-Bar reps/makers and Beckerheads, you have been challenged!

See the video and explanation here...

 

In a few short hours, I'm heading to the BeckerHead Gathering at Ethan's place. I've decided I'm goin' old school this weekend... I'll be bringing a couple new things for input and critique, but for my personal use I will be carrying and using exclusively the very first knife I ever built from kit parts way back in high school roughly a quarter-century ago. That should be fun.

 

Got home a while ago from the 2014 Fall Beckerhead Gathering in East Tennessee. Once again, it was an absolute blast with a bunch of really fun and interesting people. As always, I learned a great deal and made new friends, as well as getting back in touch with people who have already helped me a great deal. Thanks, Ethan :thumbup:

 

Got a couple custom Fugitives, as well as a standard, almost ready to go out. Also, some kitchen knives and a few general-purpose blades.

Meanwhile, here's a sneak peek at a brand new model...

 

This will be undergoing a lot of testing over the next few weeks. If I don't break it, it will indeed be coming to the Beckerhead Gathering with me in May... along with a Standard model. (non-tapered tang, unsharpened clip, plain G10 scales, different sheath)

 

That's a concept that comes up from time to time... "Hey, JT, what if I really want your design that you've spent a couple decades testing and refining, with the alloys and HT protocols of your choice... but I'm looking for a discount so I can put it together myself. And BTW, I want you to entrust hundreds of hours of blood, sweat and tears and your entire reputation on some anonymous goof slapping a half-vast handle on a genuine Terrio Knife."


I wouldn't bet on that happening. Anyone who wants a Terrio Knife is gonna have to buy a real Terrio Knife.


I sincerely love the fact that regular folks support me. I'm right here with y'all! I make knives because I love knives. I put my name on the knives I make because they're the very best I can make.

But... geez... At best, it's "cute" when y'all offer trades for my work. At worst, it's offensive. I got bills to pay, brothers and sisters. Steel and handle materials and professional HT cost real actual cash money. *shrug*

This ain't a hobby to me; I'm trying to make a living here. Sorry to be a jerk or a greedy bastard, but here's some reality for ya: the bank that holds my mortgage and the utility company that provides my electricity don't give a fat-flyin' leap about a jar of jelly.

 

And it was a valid question. No offense taken or intended. The short answer is, there's a reason why overseas factories churn out thousands of cheap blade blanks, and almost no US knifemakers or factories do.

I reserve judgement on the topic of offering certain very basic blades for sale as blanks to be built/finished by whomever. There's no doubt that at least initially, that would be a smart business decision. More product out the door with less work... sure, why not?

Well, when you really get to thinking through the "why nots" from my POV... there are a whole lot of "why nots". I'm not a factory and I most likely never will be... and the numbers just don't add up for a one-man shop cranking out ground, HT'ed blanks at a lower price-point for someone else.

Utter fantasy. It just doesn't work that way... I wish it did; I'd be a much richer man if that was true. Not only is no one gonna pay 2/3 cost for a blade with no handle or sheath, your figure of 1/2 cost is way off-base.

Trust me, I've explored that avenue before, on a contract basis... it simply doesn't work for anyone involved unless you want the very cheapest steel and the half-assedest HT possible. That's why most of the knives on the planet today are made in terrible working conditions by people making slave wages.

A proper THK blade with no handles or sheath would be a heckuva good bargain for the cat who wants a pro-level blade at a steep discount, that's for sure.

Not much of a deal at all for the guy (me) buying the steel, grinding it, having it HT'ed, etc. It's basically a wash, minus my time. So, that's a net loss. I'd be better off tending my vegetable garden, in terms of actual food on my table.

What folks don't understand is that a guy like me barely breaks even on just grinding and HT'ing a blade... the overhead, consumables, electricity, and so forth eat up all the cash on the table before I even begin to think about paying myself any kind of hourly wage. So by asking me to make top-notch, professionally-ground blades out of the best steel I can get, then have it HT'ed well beyond the norm and let you or someone else "build" a knife around it... you're basically asking me to work all day for free and pay you some extra for the privilege.

Not gonna happen.

The only way that sort of idea makes financial sense is to go full mid-tech and have a boat-load of steel waterjet cut, CNC ground, and HT'ed in large batches, then pay barely-skilled wage-workers to either ship 'em out one-by-one or assemble them. There's nothing "wrong" with that, of course; plenty companies do exactly that... but it's not what I do. And that's not what people expect when they get a knife with my name on it.

It also depends a lot on whether a person is thinking of making a quick buck this month, or trying to build a lasting career over the next 20 or 30 years. Personally, I'm a 20-30-year guy.

A big part of why I'm growing towards a certain level of success is that my grinds are different from most other makers'. I grind 'em thin and tapered and light so they cut better... that takes more time, more belts, more skill, and requires more care in HT. It also requires better steel and greater attention through the entire process, so my thin high-performance edges don't chip or roll or wobble in use. It ain't magic, and it doesn't "just happen". It's hard, time-consuming, painstaking work. Work that most makers and definitely most manufacturers don't even try to do... because frankly, doing it sucks pretty hard and the additional payoff is very slight.

My other "claim to fame" is that my handles are among the most comfortable in the business. By far, most of my clients gush about my comfy handles before they even cut anything with my knives. I take a great deal of pride in that.

That doesn't happen by accident either, and I'm sure not gonna trust someone else to put "their" handles on my signature blades. At that point, I'd have completely de-valued everything that makes a Terrio knife, a Terrio knife, and completely cut myself out of my own market. Career suicide...

Every bit of that costs a great deal of money and time, and I'm just not willing to turn that kind of attention over to anyone else.

As for me making and selling blanks of my own favorite signature models like the SideKick, Strix, Growl, Ma Deuce, Fugitive, my favorite kitchen knife design, etc... no, that's just not gonna happen.

Those designs are the result of my lifetime of research and development. I realize that sounds weird, even oddly ego-centric or arrogant... so be it. I'll say it again... anyone who wants a real Terrio knife is gonna have to get it from me. (or maybe a dealer who sells real Terrio knives for me).

If by some bizarre stroke of luck, a major manufacturing facility wants to build one of my signature designs for mass production, I'd be a fool not to consider it. But I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen, and neither should anyone else.

 

I dunno... seems like every time someone puts out a "manifesto", they eventually wind up with an FBI team kicking in their door...