Miles custom knives and knife parts
See my bio under home page for information on how they're made etc.
Use dropdown menu under knifes to see product for sale or link to finished knives.
I make custom knives. I make everything, the handle, guard, blade, and do all the hardening, tempering, and art myself.
This knife is D2 steel with etched wolf head. Custom cast guard of copper and bronze, Handle is 40,000 year old fossil bison rib bone I found myself. If you build your own knifes look at the dropdown menu for blanks blades, guards pommels. Guards are custom cast from barge propeller bronze, or old 1920's copper water pipes from my village. All etching done with acid hand drawn one at a time unique to that knife only. D2 steel and high carbon 1084 are the steels I work with the most. I generally 'edge harden' so can keep the edge harder, while keeping back softer for a less fragile blade. All blades get tested. 20 pounds of flex torque, and minimum 200 swipes on brass rod test. Note that most factory blades like Buck, reach about 50 swipes on this test. Most blades are etched with a permanent number I keep a record of with details of how steel was treated etc. Lifetime warranty on normal to heavy use- as long as not deliberate neglect.
More on the steel ---video of one of my blades cutting steel
I do sometimes use high carbon 1884 or 1095. I prefer the simper steels. Partly I am not set up in Nenana Alaska to deal with 'exotic,' requiring oxygen free environments and computerized equipment. My lifestyle I sell is substance, somewhat simple, repurpose, recycle and feel for a very long time the high cabin still worked well did it's job in a day the the knife was about saving our lives. Also I am told in knife contests for custom blades, some of the plain carbon steel blades win against everything else. My personal goal was the ability to skin and take care of a Mose without needing resharpening or failing. I like D2 most because it shows my etching without the usual staining of plain steels. I like the chrome in it as making this a tough tool steel other makers do not like to work with because it wears out equipment and can be hard to work. I sometimes like materials with problems I can solve with simple tools. I hand draw each blade and hand cut it so no two blades are alike and I do not even use a template. I do find working half a dozen blades at a time is s secret to keeping the time down on each individual blade and so keep the costs down.
More on handles. I got into the selling of raw handle materials due to knife making. I prefer to have as much raw material on hand as possible to match it to the blade and find what I wish. I do not come up with a blade then order a piece of material for that knife. I go to my stash of 100 pounds and find a good match. I also find my own look by working with raw material, especially mammoth ivory that I work down to the texture and colors that suit my style. I find it important in selling anything, to get known for your style and look that others should recognize and is hard to reproduce. In this way I am not so much in competition with China or mass production. Now and then I experiment with 'unknowns.' for handle material. I may use resin with interesting inclusions like tied flies for fisherman or watch gears for gear-heads. I have used shark skin, or Alaska jade, I may inlay or wrap with metal or cast a handle in bronze. I may create a sheath and handle that match from the same material. I make ladies neck knives where a hummingbird is the knife and beak is blade that goes in a flower sheath made of fossil material that matches the handle. It is hard to know ahead of time what direction an idea might go. I have story knives as a series that is meant to be a story told in the material the sheath and the etching. It may be a survival story or something with a message. I may have a wolf design hard to see hidden in the foliage yo have to look for. I may shape the entire knife into an otter where the tail is the blade and you can see the eye up in the handle as a 'water knife.' In the past I used moose bone in hidden tang for a moose skinner knife. I use fossil bison bones the same way for 'living in the old way.' Some knifes are more magic or ceremonial as native American might be, or spiritual, even shaman type that get into occult matters. Some have a 'Mother Nature,' theme. Often I do not design the knife I simply 'begin.' As a well known Shaman once instructed me..."The material tells me what it wishes to be and my role is to release its spirit." I am not a Tarot card or spirit board kind of person. Perhaps I have lived in the wilds long enough to feel there are things gong on beyond our understanding taht is shared universal baby all of us and we connect to it through the material world. Or we just need a good functional knife that works, spare us a song and dance. I can do that.
Blank blades- parts-- I offer custom high end blank blades for knife makers to create their own works. I have custom limited run pommels guards as well
Blank blades
Pommels -guards
This knife is D2 steel with etched wolf head. Custom cast guard of copper and bronze, Handle is 40,000 year old fossil bison rib bone I found myself. If you build your own knifes look at the dropdown menu for blanks blades, guards pommels. Guards are custom cast from barge propeller bronze, or old 1920's copper water pipes from my village. All etching done with acid hand drawn one at a time unique to that knife only. D2 steel and high carbon 1084 are the steels I work with the most. I generally 'edge harden' so can keep the edge harder, while keeping back softer for a less fragile blade. All blades get tested. 20 pounds of flex torque, and minimum 200 swipes on brass rod test. Note that most factory blades like Buck, reach about 50 swipes on this test. Most blades are etched with a permanent number I keep a record of with details of how steel was treated etc. Lifetime warranty on normal to heavy use- as long as not deliberate neglect.
More on the steel ---video of one of my blades cutting steel
I do sometimes use high carbon 1884 or 1095. I prefer the simper steels. Partly I am not set up in Nenana Alaska to deal with 'exotic,' requiring oxygen free environments and computerized equipment. My lifestyle I sell is substance, somewhat simple, repurpose, recycle and feel for a very long time the high cabin still worked well did it's job in a day the the knife was about saving our lives. Also I am told in knife contests for custom blades, some of the plain carbon steel blades win against everything else. My personal goal was the ability to skin and take care of a Mose without needing resharpening or failing. I like D2 most because it shows my etching without the usual staining of plain steels. I like the chrome in it as making this a tough tool steel other makers do not like to work with because it wears out equipment and can be hard to work. I sometimes like materials with problems I can solve with simple tools. I hand draw each blade and hand cut it so no two blades are alike and I do not even use a template. I do find working half a dozen blades at a time is s secret to keeping the time down on each individual blade and so keep the costs down.
More on handles. I got into the selling of raw handle materials due to knife making. I prefer to have as much raw material on hand as possible to match it to the blade and find what I wish. I do not come up with a blade then order a piece of material for that knife. I go to my stash of 100 pounds and find a good match. I also find my own look by working with raw material, especially mammoth ivory that I work down to the texture and colors that suit my style. I find it important in selling anything, to get known for your style and look that others should recognize and is hard to reproduce. In this way I am not so much in competition with China or mass production. Now and then I experiment with 'unknowns.' for handle material. I may use resin with interesting inclusions like tied flies for fisherman or watch gears for gear-heads. I have used shark skin, or Alaska jade, I may inlay or wrap with metal or cast a handle in bronze. I may create a sheath and handle that match from the same material. I make ladies neck knives where a hummingbird is the knife and beak is blade that goes in a flower sheath made of fossil material that matches the handle. It is hard to know ahead of time what direction an idea might go. I have story knives as a series that is meant to be a story told in the material the sheath and the etching. It may be a survival story or something with a message. I may have a wolf design hard to see hidden in the foliage yo have to look for. I may shape the entire knife into an otter where the tail is the blade and you can see the eye up in the handle as a 'water knife.' In the past I used moose bone in hidden tang for a moose skinner knife. I use fossil bison bones the same way for 'living in the old way.' Some knifes are more magic or ceremonial as native American might be, or spiritual, even shaman type that get into occult matters. Some have a 'Mother Nature,' theme. Often I do not design the knife I simply 'begin.' As a well known Shaman once instructed me..."The material tells me what it wishes to be and my role is to release its spirit." I am not a Tarot card or spirit board kind of person. Perhaps I have lived in the wilds long enough to feel there are things gong on beyond our understanding taht is shared universal baby all of us and we connect to it through the material world. Or we just need a good functional knife that works, spare us a song and dance. I can do that.
Blank blades- parts-- I offer custom high end blank blades for knife makers to create their own works. I have custom limited run pommels guards as well
Blank blades
Pommels -guards