Knife River Customs
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Premium Custom Crafts. Craftsmanship and usability in our work, are both highly important to us.
A whole batch of walnut spatulas, and every one is a little different. Shaped, sanded, and almost ready for their finish. Handmade kitchen tools for people who cook. Want one? Join the list at the link in my bio
Look at that pattern. Every layer of this blade tells the story of how it was made, and the handle was shaped to match. Hand-made, hand-finished, one of a kind. Next batch is coming. Join the list at the link in my bio.
Every handle gets shaped by hand, one pass at a time, until it fits the knife it belongs to. The blue tape protects the blade while I work the wood. Slow, patient, and worth it. Next batch is coming. Join the list at the link in my bio
Friends, I've got a story about an 86-year-old red oak, exactly the same age as the Golden Gate Bridge, who lived a long, dignified life in the neighborhood and then shuffled off this mortal coil of natural causes, as we all hope to. Once the tree came down and a slab was cut, I let that cookie dry in my shop for better than two years, because good things come to those who have the patience to stare at a piece of wood and do nothing about it. Then came the router sled to knock it flat, a pass on the CNC for the final flattening, plum-tinted epoxy to hold that big ol' crack together, and a flood coat of black epoxy to seal up the micro-cracks. I sanded it to 220, popped the grain with water, and rubbed in Rubio Monocoat until it glowed like a campfire. The mid-century ash legs got cut on the CNC and painted black so they'd stay out of the way and let the tree do the talking. I don't typically make things for myself, but this one's staying put in our home for my wife and kids, who will hopefully spill a great many beverages on it. A tree gave us eighty-six years of shade and rings, and the least we can do is look at it every day and say thanks.
09/17/2026
Come on out and see us at the Unlimited Fall Market at the Mermaid in Mounds View, Minnesota, on
Saturday,
September 26th,
from 12–5 PM!
I’ll be there representing Knife River Customs, bringing along a good pile of handmade goods created right here by a local craftsman who has a particular fondness for taking perfectly good materials that might otherwise be forgotten and turning them into something worth keeping. I’ll have plenty of custom kitchen cutlery, hunting and camp knives, handcrafted wood gifts, and a variety of other one-of-a-kind creations, many made from salvaged and reclaimed materials that have been given a second life. If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by, say hello, talk some shop, look at some knives and woodwork, and maybe find yourself something you didn’t know you needed until you saw it sitting on the table. Come support your local makers, enjoy the market, and hopefully take home something made with a little more character than what you’ll find at the big box store. Hope to see you there!
09/10/2026
There's a particular kind of satisfaction that comes from a well-made object meeting the hands that'll actually use it. On Saturday, September 26th, from noon to five, I'll be setting up a table at The Mermaid Entertainment & Event Center for the Unlimited Fall Market — bringing along a modest collection of chef's knives and hunting knives, each one shaped the slow way: steel, fire, stone, patience.
I can't promise you fireworks. I can promise you an edge that'll outlast your patience for cheap cutlery, and a handle that fits your palm like it was grown there, because in a sense, it was.
Come by Knife River Customs' table. Bring your hands. We'll talk wood, we'll talk steel, and if you're lucky, I'll let you hold something sharp.
Saturday, 9/26. Noon–5PM.
The Mermaid, Mounds View.
I’m working on a brand new set of Western European style chef knives. And grinding is on the schedule for today!
I finished up a hunting knife today, and I’ll admit I stood in the driveway looking at it longer than a reasonable person should. This one’s got a random, ladder-pattern Damascus blade in black and silver. I ground, shaped, and finished the thing by hand, and I’m proud of how it came out. The handle’s a composite piece in orange and black that happens to echo the blade pattern almost too well, which I’d love to take credit for planning, but mostly I just got lucky and then acted like I meant to do that all along.
It’s headed out to its new owner sometime this week, and I hope it earns its keep — whether that’s field dressing something in the woods or just sitting on a shelf looking sharper than anything I own. Building knives is a strange way to spend your evenings, but there’s something honest about it: good materials, a lot of patience, and enough mistakes along the way to keep you humble. Thanks for looking, and thanks for supporting the kind of work that still gets made by hand, one stubborn piece of steel at a time.
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