Anderson Custom Knives
67 March street K0K 2C0 Frankford, ON, Canada

Spreading epoxy when gluing my handles has always been a daunting and frustrating task. I used to scrounge around the shop looking for a little piece of wood or steel that I could use and not worry about. The most recent item I used was a scrap piece of brass. Well it ended up working so well and was super easy to clean off that it became worth saving. That's how this new tool came about and it's made my life so much easier!

Slowly but surely they're coming to life! 20 more to finish up and they get shipped out. Turns out 1 week isn't quite enough to finish 50 knives... lesson learned though!

It's been a long day to say the least. Working on my first order of custom carving knives to hopefully have them finished by mid to end of next week. I've never had a schedule per say when it came to my knife making so this is a new challenge that I'm setting to accomplish. So far I'm proud to say that I'm further ahead than expected with almost 150 blades cut out and enough material ripped for 70 handles. Tomorrow will consist of bevelling the blades for this order of 50 and cutting the spacer material for the interior of the handles. Pictured are the 3 different sizes of blades in their individual boxes along with the handle material which for this round will be mahogany. I'm still debating on either a maple or black walnut spacer. Any input is appreciated!

I've said it time and time again, and I'll continue to say it... I don't know where I would be with my business if I didn't have my @evenheatkilns kiln. Next to my grinder, it has been the backbone of my business. I'm able to consistently hit these high numbers with ease. The reliability of the equipment you use daily can make or break you and I've been blown away by this kiln.

Ready for heat treat! Currently there are 4 of these straight razors still available as well as one of the small neck knives. No handle materials have been chosen as of yet so if your thinking of picking one of these up while they're still available then be sure to send me a message and we can figure the handles from there!

I've been pretty inactive here for the last few months or more and figured I'd share a sneak preview on my current project. These are some of the new wood carving knives I've been working on. Stay tuned for more to come!

I can't get over the look of this spalted maple. By far one of my favorite handle materials to date.

Really feeling the love today! Thanks so much from everybody that's shown their support, it's meant more to me than anyone could know with the hards times I've been going through lately. Without you guys I wouldn't be able to continue doing what I love. I'll be starting my next round of straight razors this week. If you've been looking to purchase one, I'm taking preorders right now and they're goin fast as 3 of these 5 are already spoken for.

Thanks @__trinityanderson !!

Well I'm back in the shop after a few of the worst weeks I've ever had. I wont be getting into any details but I would like to share some of my feelings. I went from feeling like I was on the top of the world, able to achieve whatever I put my mind to. I had everything I wanted or the ability to get it. But in one day that all changed for me. I ended up going weeks with only one hour of sleep or less a night. I lost over 15lbs in 2 weeks. I was an emotional wreck. But sometimes in this life it takes being broken down and having everything laid bare before you to be able to build yourself back up stronger than you were before. I'm back on the up and up now and hitting the ground running. With that said, please stay tuned and see what I'll be pumping out of the shop in the weeks to come!

Thank you @eric_fon10

Time to get back to work! Got a great mail call from @mossington_knives today. Should hold me over for a bit.

Thanks @cambreeanderson32 !!!

All cut out, time to start grinding!

@bespoke_bloke_designs thanks for the support!

All ready to take an edge and head off to it's new home.

Templates all glued up, time to start cutting!

All pinned up and glued, time for some shaping.

I love this this! Got all the handle materials in the vacuum chamber for stabilization. Another couple days of gluing and sanding and these 5 razors should be ready by the weekend. Gonna have to get cracking on the next 5 as these ones are all spoken for.

72 inches of sweet, sweet O1 for the next batch of straight razors.

Mail call! Finally got some razor material in house again. Lots of new goodies to come over the next couple months.

I feel like two of the best purchases I've ever made for my business were my @evenheatkilns kiln and this Rockwell tester. The ease of use of the kiln along with the ability to accurately test the hardness of my blades truly makes a difference.

Latest round fresh out of heat treat. 3 razors are sold already, leaving 2 available at the moment as well as the hunting knife.

And here they are! First 3 straight razors out the gate with many more to come.

Contouring the edges of these razors is by far the hardest and most time consuming part of making them. Even with my makeshift piece of wood jig. Next step, pivot holes and finally heat treat!

Quick pre-assembly shot of the blades and stabilized spalted maple handles.

Thanks for the likes @kd_trinblades!

New changes done to the blade, nicely mirror polished if I do say so myself. I never knew what a true mirror finish was until I purchased sandpaper finer than 0.5 micron. It's like night and day! And also fairly difficult to find in my area as it turns out...

With the prototype done I went back to the drawing board. The blade had to be redesigned, edges smoothed and minor changes to the handle. Overall though I was happy with the outcome. The spalted maple that @ben.ferri.52 and @mysticwoodcarving had found last year was an absolutely incredible handle material to work with. One down, 6 to go on the orders!

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything up here but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy at it in the shop. A friend of mine had commissioned me for a special project. He wanted some straight razors for an upcoming event. Having never made a straight razor, but always wanting to, I figured I'd take on the challenge. There were a few mistakes, and thus lessons learned, along the way. Pictured was the initial prototype blade design.

Come check us out at Dahlia May Flower Farm today on Stockdale Road in Trenton. I'll be offering my hand crafted knives along with beer steins from Mystic Wood. You can find me at the same table as iCarry Apiaries.

Made quite the discovery the other day at the scrapyard. Found this antique Charles Parker Co. Vise. From what I've gather on the internet, these vises were produced in Meriden Connecticut. It has dates ranging from June 20 1854 when it was first patented on the one side and from May 28 to Dec. 17 1867 on the other side. I haven't been able to learn much about the No. 4 vise specifically, so if anybody has any information they could share it would be much appreciated!

When your trying to demonstrate just how sharp your knives are, be sure you have a proper angle... and that you haven't had too many rye and coke

Got some sheaths goin together tonight for the friction folders. These things sure are a pain to make!

The brass hardware will attach the lid to the coffin display case. It took 4 tries to properly cut the glass for this display. This being my first time cutting glass was quite the trial by fire!

A while back I had mentioned that there was a secret additional item coming with this purple Heart coffin handled dagger. Well here it is! Cherry wood coffin with repurposed greenhouse glass and red velvet lining form fitted to the dagger. It will also feature a brass latch and hinges. This whole ensemble is available for purchase. DM for details

Just got all my knives back today from their photoshoot. All but 3 of these knives will be available next week. I'll be posting individual photos of each one along with pricing on my Facebook page. Come find me at Anderson Custom Knives if you'd like to make a purchase! Availability will be updated as each knife is sold.

Here's the fully finished sheath with the knife in it. Any thoughts on this design? What would you like to see changed for the next one?

Working on a new sheath design for the friction folders. This is by far the hardest design I've tried to date in terms of stitching.

The 2 upright bricks in the front will be cut back to create the "porch" on the front so that I have an area to set my workpiece.

Got the main forge body pretty well laid out and ready for the finishing touches. Ended up finding an old toolbox that worked out perfectly for the exterior casing. All that's left to do is drill my holes for the burners, lay on the refractory cement and paint the exterior!

The forge burner test run was successful! Got a decent flame going, just needs a couple adjustments and it should be good to go.

Any guesses at what we've got goin on in the shop!?

A while back when I was at my supervisors home from my other job he pulled out a knife and asked what I thought of it. He had had the blade made up by one person and somebody else had done the handle for it. As soon as he handed it to me I knew what he was truly asking... The handle was made of antler that wasn't properly shaped to the knife, they had used construction glue to fill the overlap on the antler and wooden dowel as pins. The bevels were way too short on top of it all. His actual question was "could you fix this for me?". Being the nice guy that I am, I did. On the left is the original, the right is my modification. The one major flaw that isn't pictured is the other side of the handle that had an antler tine left on the slab of antler they had used! The new handle was made of cherry with brass pins.

Most recent addition to the line of friction folders. Features full brass scales and back spacer.

Fourth of six friction folders is complete. Two more to go. This knife features purple heart handle scales with a cherry back spacer.

First 3 in a series of 6 folding knives, each featuring a different handle material. From left to right: Black walnut with brass liners Purple and black micarta Cherry wood

The lighting doesn't do this purple heart any justice

The dagger is finished! All that's left now is to make up the scabbard and the final secret piece to go with this dagger. Stay tuned in over the next couple days to see what it is!

Handles all roughed out, pins glued and everything fits perfectly. Time for some final shaping and sanding.

Made a lot of progress on the dagger today. The guard I had on it before wasn't quite right so I hit the drawing board again and managed to pull off a new one. As for the handle itself, @mysticwoodcarving graciously offered me some amazing material. Any guesses at what kind of wood it is..?

A little while back I had started prototyping a friction folder. I was happy with the design for the most part. After a little bit of tweaking this was the final design I came up with. Here are the features of this knife: Blade: O1 Tool Steel Handle: Black Walnut Spacers: Brass... Pivot and Stop Pin: Brass Back Spacer: Cherry See more

Also finding out very quickly just how hard it is to hand sand all the pieces of this hidden tang construction. This brass guard alone has taken over 2 hours and it still won't fit on the blade fully. But it truly is a labor of love.

Back in November I decided I was going to try making a dagger out of a scrap piece of steel I had kicking around. I was busy going through training for another job at that time though so it got put in the "To Do" box and stayed there until recently. When I had initially cut it all out and started grinding the bevels in I thought I had ruined it shortly after I started as my grinds were not where they should have been. Not wanting to give up on my work however and knowing that... I was trying something beyond my skill level I continued at it. This is that dagger now, one half of the bevel mirror polished, the other half only rough ground and I am reminded why nothing is a failure, only a learning curve as well as the fact that sometimes you just have to put one thing aside and come back to it later with a fresh look at it to get it where you want it to be. See more

Lots and lots of spalted!

Look at that! Gonna be some awesome handles to come!

With the cold weather we've been having, and me starting a new job, it's been pretty slow in the knife shop. Today however was a perfect day for firewood and @merkinhustle managed to find this beauty! Some local spalted maple that's gonna find it's home in the stabilizing unit and then on some knives.

It's so cold out today that bare skin is putting off steam! Stay warm everybody!

Three down, three to go! These 6 blades will all be available on Saturday on a first come, first served basis. Few details on these knives: Blade length: 2.75" Overall length: 6"... Blade steel: O1 Tool Steel Rockwell hardness: 58-60 Handle: Locally acquired cherry wood Handle pins: Brass Each knife is $150 and comes with a hand made sheath as well as a 60mL bottle of maintenance oil to help keep your blade maintained. All knives come with a lifetime guarantee.

Lots of work going into this new dagger I've just started!

Here are a few photos of my most recent creation. Blade steel: O1 Tool Steel Blade Length: 4" Overall Length: 8.5"... Handle Material: Handmade Jean Micarta Pin Material: Copper Tube Included with this knife was a handmade leather sheath and a black walnut and antler stand.

The sheaths are started and coming along nicely!

***For Sale*** Two down, five to go! These 2 1/2" blades are made from O1 Tool Steel and sport an Ontario grown cherry wood handle that was kindly supplied by @mysticwoodcarving. Each blade is going for $100 tax in and for $30 you can get a custom made sheath to go along with it. Currently taking cash, cheque and e-transfer. Willing to ship worldwide! Orders can be placed through Facebook or Instagram or directly at 613-322-3333.