About
Hello, I am Laurence "Larry" Lehman and I make sporting knives. I am 67 years old and I work out of my shop at my home in Bakersfield, California. I use only the best stainless steel that I can buy such as 154 cm, Hitachi ATS-34, CPM154 cm, and 440C. Even the 440C I use comes from knife steel suppliers and is high carbon and high chromium alloy of the finest quality and most of my personal knives are made from it. I like to use thick steel of about 3/16ths of an inch to begin with that I can grind deep hollows which look so good when finished., I like to file work the knives with a nice pattern that sets them apart from factory production knives. Smaller knives are made from 5/32 steel and I have even ground 1/8 steel where low weight is important. Some knives have liners and spacers as well as lanyard holes when I think they enhance the looks of the blade. I can taper the tang for balance and dovetail bolsters for looks if desired. I can pin the handles with mosaic or Corby bolts, Loveless bolts, or acorn bolts for strength. I use G-flex industrial marine epoxy and pins to hold my knives together strongly and permanently.
Many of my knives are made from hand forged Damascus steel blanks and some finished blades. All of my knives are sent to Idaho for professional heat treatment and temper and are hardened to a Rockwell hardness score of 59 or 60. The hardness scores on the Damascus blades I use will vary with some of them so hard that they cannot be drilled with tungsten carbide drills or filed without the use of diamond files.
I make only "one of a kind" knives now and each knife is unique. I use similar blade profiles but always change the knives in some way so that the buyer will have a special knife that is unique and truly custom. I make many knives from sketches or I draw and I use the sketches to cut out a pattern to make the exact knife that is desired. . No manufacturer will ever be able to duplicate the quality and beauty of a hand made custom knife and if they could none of us could afford it. I like knives and intend to make excellent knives for as long as I can. Thank you for looking at my website. Larry Lehman February 2018
Many of my knives are made from hand forged Damascus steel blanks and some finished blades. All of my knives are sent to Idaho for professional heat treatment and temper and are hardened to a Rockwell hardness score of 59 or 60. The hardness scores on the Damascus blades I use will vary with some of them so hard that they cannot be drilled with tungsten carbide drills or filed without the use of diamond files.
I make only "one of a kind" knives now and each knife is unique. I use similar blade profiles but always change the knives in some way so that the buyer will have a special knife that is unique and truly custom. I make many knives from sketches or I draw and I use the sketches to cut out a pattern to make the exact knife that is desired. . No manufacturer will ever be able to duplicate the quality and beauty of a hand made custom knife and if they could none of us could afford it. I like knives and intend to make excellent knives for as long as I can. Thank you for looking at my website. Larry Lehman February 2018
440 C stainless steel blade with California Buckeye burl scales and mosaic pins. Sold