What's up with Mid-Tech knives?

Walking Man

Walking Man

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I'm seeing a few midtech knives mentioned for famous makers such as Ken Onion and Rob Simonich. How does this work? I mean exactly what does the term midtech mean, ie, handle is CNC cut, but finished and ground by maker, right? From what I understand the purpose is for the maker to give his fans knives while keeping prices a bit more under control, right?
And where do you get them? Directly from the maker or what?
 
Some midtech knives are also machine ground, and simply hand edged and finished.

Many makers sell them direct. Simonich midtechs come to mind immmediately.
 
I am pretty sure that not all mid-tech knives are produced using exactly the same manufacturing techniques. It is likely that there are differing amounts of automation used. This is something that could be better answered by the makers of mid-tech knives themselves.

I think the term mid-tech means mid-way between a custom knife and a production knife.

Makers are not producing mid-tech knives just to be able to lower costs. They are also doing this to be able to produce more knives for high demand situations.

I don't know about Ken's knives, but you can order mid-tech knives directly from Rob or get them from certain dealers. I think that Kit Carson is also starting to produce mid-tech knives. I think you will be able these directly from Kit and probably from some dealers as well.
 
Originally posted by Keith Montgomery
I think that Kit Carson is also starting to produce mid-tech knives. I think you will be able these directly from Kit and probably from some dealers as well.
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Kit Carson does not consider or call his new series of knives "Mid-Tech", they are a collaboration with his son Jody and Son In Law Mike Obenauf.
 
Call them what you want. I call them a great chance to get near custom quality for a fraction of the cost, and usually no backlog wait either.
 
Hey, I don't have any kind of problem with them.
I just wanted to know what's up.......
Thanks, everyone.
OH, any other makers, anyone?
 
I don't believe Bobby Branton has been mentioned. He has done work with Walter Brend. I believe there was a Wally Hayes also.

I have Simonich and Branton knives, they are great. Reasonably priced and very good users.

Wilson\Ralph I forgot all about these. There was also a Ralph\Simonich a while back.

I believe that Mike Draper of Wyoming and Rick Hinderer have been involved with projects but I'm not sure on these.
 
There is a very good article in the December edition of Blade magazine that talks about mid-techs.
 
Originally posted by PhilL
Kit Carson does not consider or call his new series of knives "Mid-Tech", they are a collaboration with his son Jody and Son In Law Mike Obenauf.
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Actually, when Kit emailed me about these knives, I am pretty sure he referred to them as mid-tech himself. I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that is the case. That email is why I thought of Kit when this subject was brought up.

Originally posted by mschwoeb
There is a very good article in the December edition of Blade magazine that talks about mid-techs.
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People that want to learn more about mid-tech knives should pick up this magazine. It is a very good article.
 
Originally posted by mschwoeb
There is a very good article in the December edition of Blade magazine that talks about mid-techs.
Click to expand...

Mid-Tech knives are also featured on the cover of the latest Knives Illistrated, nice articles in both mags but very similar. Both issues also include articles that cover hatchets and in depth pieces about the latest Guild Show. They even arrived on my doorstep on the same day.
 
Keith,
You may be right. At the time I probably was referring to them as mid tech. When Dexter did the initial post in the Manufacturers forum he also called them that.

I changed my mind:) We went a different route.

IMHO, a mid tech is where the bulk of the knife parts are made by an outside source and then the knives are put together by the maker. In some cases there is more involvement, and in some cases there is less by the maker. I think it is a wonderful idea and wholly support it. But, it wasn't what we wanted to do.

What we decided to do was have the titanium and blade steel laser cut (yep, first time I've done that since about 1996) and we would do the rest. When I say we, I mean my son Jody, who grew up in the shop and is a pretty competent knife guy; Mike Obenauf, my son in law and student for the last 3 years, and myself.

Jody owns the CNC mill in my shop. He's pretty good on it too. He takes the rough cut parts and make nice parts with it. He's also the CAD guy.

From those parts MikeO and I do the manual milling machine work, thread tapping, counter sinking, finish work, lock cutting, hollow grinding, heat treating and all the other steps that it takes to make a knife. We mark them C2O (C squared O) and each is engraved with the serial number and steel type.

So, I prefer the term "In House Collaboration" rather than Mid Tech. What that gives us is the freedom to use any blade steel, blade configuration, put any finish on them, and even do some in Timascus, damascus, and Stellite. :)

Is there a difference between a Mid Tech and what I'm doing? Hopefully this thread will generate some input and information.

How many Vine Grove, Kaintuckee knifemakers does it take to make a Model 4 GTH? One, but we all like putting our hands on it.

One other thing that I would like to add. Jody works full time for a major weapons manufacturer, and MikeO and I work full time trying to keep up with orders. We make these knives at night and on weekends and believe it or not, we do alot of bonding from 1800-2100 and on Sat/Sun in the shop:)

Walking Man, I hope I didn't detract from your thread. Maybe we will get more input from other makers.


Edited to add: My head hurts now. Longest post I think I've ever done :)
 
Thanks Kit. The information that you just provided has educated me a little bit more. It is great to always be learning.

Phil my friend, it looks like you had it correct right from the beginning.
 
Keith,
Thanks for responding. I thought it was headed to the Black Hole :)

Any thoughts or feedback?
 
FYI-in the Blade article Kit was mentioned. He has spoken with the editor and straightened it out and I'm sure they'll be a correction in the next issue.

As he stated, they are handmade knives, just 3 pairs of hands.
I never mind a maker having parts rough cut by an outside source as long as they're open about it. What's the difference who cuts the materials to size?
What I consider a mid-tech is when some of the grinding and finish work is done outside. Like having the blades ground by machine to where basically all the maker is doing is sharpening it and putting his mark on it. Likewise handles, if they're shaped and ground outside and just assembled by the maker. In these cases parts are interchangable so they all look basically alike.


Hey Kit, send me one of these babies with a clip point and I'll test it for you in the pressroom and on my chopper tv show:D Yeah, that's it, I'm a field tester.
 
Kit :


call it midtech...call it in-house Collab.

Know what I call it ?

The best dam knife for under $600 in my opinion.
I was able to handle one Blade West weekend thanks to the lovely Ida.
It is a sweetheart of a knife , smooth and built to last.

Major kudos to all involved.

Mid Techs don't bother me at all..... although the C20 felt all custom to me ! :D
 
Originally posted by Keith Montgomery

Phil my friend, it looks like you had it correct right from the beginning.
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Well Keith, not exactly.
Take a look. ;)

35449065.jpg
 
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