Robert James Custom Knives

Based in Murray Utah, I have always had a passion for knives and swords. I decided to try my hand at making them and found that I really very much enjoyed the entire process.  There is a strong sense of accomplishment from taking raw materials and shaping them into something useful and beautiful.  The fact I get to stick things in fire and hit them with hammers is also a great perk.

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This Blade is being auctioned off, with all profit being donated to the Hurricane Harvey relief fund.  This is my best work to date, I planned to keep it for myself. But I cant sit here and watch all of the suffering and hardships those affected by the Hurricane are dealing with. So its going up on Ebay tomorrow.  Right now I am just spreading the word, Tomorrow I will have official posts and links to the auction. 

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Here is some of my current works in progress.  Top Image, is from my Stress test, I took 2 knives I made about 6 months ago ( 5160 steel ) and tested them as hard as I could.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NusqHdoIlA is a link to the video I made of the testing.  Next is a Sheepsfoot ( O1 Tool Steel )  I am forging out for a friend who wants a knife he can shave with, should prove interesting.  Next is a little necker Sheepsfoot with a mirror polish, this one just needs some oil on the handle and a sheath and its complete.  Next is the other knife from the testing video, This one I could not break even when attempting to bend it past 45 deg. And the next image is the two knives prior to the Stress test, and the next is the grain structure of the knife that broke during the Stress test.  Next is the clip point I have been working on, This one just needs to be polished and sharpened and the handle wood treated now, Unfortunately this one the brass pins show through the bolsters so instead of selling this one, I am putting it up for a giveaway for a Facebook group I am a part of.  Next is a couple little O1 blades I am forging for hidden tang blades, Since its Winter here in Utah, I only get a few chances per season to forge, so when the chance comes up, I take it. 

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Here are some recent pieces I either have completed, or are currently working on as we speak.  Top photo is of a 2.75 inch sheepsfoot with an Acid etched stonewash finish.  Bocote scales, mild steel pins and 5160 Blade steel.  Next is a pair of 5160 blades I am currently working on, 4 inch drop point and a 4 inch harpoon point. Both will get brass bolsters, Harpoon point is getting bloodwood scales and the drop point will have bubinga scales.  Next is a pair I finished up a few months back, both are 5160 steel, the Paracord blade has a dual layer paracord wrap, 4 inch blade with brushed finish, and Kydex Sheath ( still available for sale $55.00 + shipping ) and the other is a hard drop point with Bubinga scales, The following image is another shot of the same knife.  Then we have a 6 inch 5160 blade with a mirror polish, brass pins and Bocote scales, its a heavy duty camp chopper workhorse blade meant to handle whatever the outdoors can throw your way. $165.00 + Shipping and still available.  Next image is another 2.75 inch sheepsfoot with a mirror polished blade, This picture was taken prior to the mild steel pins and Bubinga scales being fitted to it, Updated pictures will be posted once the handle is fully treated and a kydex sheath is made. $55.00 + Shipping is going to be the cost on this little beast.  Lastly, a pair of 4 inch 5160 blades, The drop point is the same one from the image with the Harpoon point above, and then a nice Seax styled hard drop point. Both have satin finishes, As mentioned the drop point will get Bubinga scales, the Seax’ish one will get Bocote scales.  Thank you for looking. If you are interested in purchasing a Knife, or are interested in a custom order, You can contact me directly at [email protected] or you can message me on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/robertjamescustoms/

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This Knife is nearly completed, needs some clean up on the spine after some durability testing and a sheath made. 5160 Steel, Brass and Bocote handle. This one will be going to its new home this week with my Friend who wanted something heavy duty to take on his backpacking trips. 

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This is my current working stock I am working on.  Brand new 5160 steel from Admiral Steel.  The 4 similar ones are a test run of a design I have wanted to give a try to for a while now. 4 inch blades, with recessed top handle section, these will be paracord wrapped as the second image shows, That picture was taken prior to heat treating. my goal was to get the handle lines to run a little smoother along the spine then a normal full tang. Personally I like the look of the knife all wrapped up.  The two that are not similar are part of some testing I am doing, the larger drop point shown in the tempering pic, is leaf spring, which I have been working using a 5160 process. I am going to take one of these 4, and that knife and do some durability testing to see if they perform similar.  The hidden tang, is mystery steel, so far it appears to have hardened up fine, but since I am entirely unsure what it is made of, I will be keeping this one and destructive testing it. 

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American style Tanto test blade. This was more of a test experiment then a finished product, I have been working with 5160 steel for about a year, I have had some ups and downs with the heat treating of this particular steel. With suggestions from many other knifemakers I have refined my process for 5160 and decided a brutal test was in order.  So I took this knife out, and used it to baton some logs, then I used it to start chopping a log in half, which made me realize that even though it was not meant to be pretty, my next destruction test handle needs to be more then a single wrap of gutted paracord. The knife handled the testing like a champ, with only a single small ding that was the result of having to use a rail road spike to pry the knife out of a very stubborn knot in one of the logs I was attempting to baton.  The spike ended up shifting in the split in the wood and most of the force was transferred to the edge in a very small area.  Considering how well the blade took the abuse I put it through, I decided i needed to attempt to actually do some serious damage to it, So I started hitting the knife edge against a cinderblock, I gave the block 20 good whacks with the knife, and that last picture is the current condition of the knife.  I am going to clean the edge up, throw another layer of paracord on the handle, and then I am going to do the entire process again for a youtube video. 

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First Post - Sheepsfoot.  These are some pictures of the various aspects of constructing this knife. The blade started off as a 4 inch long 1/2 inch thick round section of O1 tool steel. This knife was forged as an attempt to try a different blade shape then my more commonly done drop point style knives.   O1 tool steel blade, Brass for the guard and pommel, Hickory, Copper and Bloodwood for the handle treated with Linseed oil and sealed with minwax acrylic coating.  3.5 inch blade, 8.5 inches overall length.