Notice to other knifemakers and researchers: Please respect the copyright posted on every page of this site. These patterns are legally protected, to honor those who worked to perfect them. Email Jay Fisher here for specific requests. Need more information? Please explore the topics on "The Business of Knife Making" page.

Thank you.

Welcome!

Have fun cruising through the BEST custom knife patterns page on the internet!

This is one of the most popular pages on my site. Why? Who else can offer you so many custom knife patterns? I work with clients on their own ideas, and many of these patterns are the results of that collaboration, some of the best custom handmade knives in the world. Some of the patterns have been gifted from the families of deceased knifemakers. These are patterns for real knives that are in the hands of military, working users, and collectors.

I work with pad and pencil, rule, and curves, using email, fax machine, regular mail, and lots of drawings, scanning, hand-fitting, and tuning to get the profiles right (Learn more about designing knives and the costs involved here). But a profile is just a beginning, it takes much more work to complete the knife. That's why the links to completed photos are included. I constantly update this page and this whole site, and you'll see new patterns and pictures nearly every visit.

362 Patterns So Far, on 69 Pages!

RED►

What do people want? Collectors want something different, not the same old four-inch drop point with a stag handle. They see the same heat-colored damascus folders with mastodon ivory handle scales. Yeah, I can make those, but why make everything everybody else does?

How to use this page:

Click on the thumbnail pattern photos below to get a closer look at my knife patterns. There are no separations between types of knives, such as utility, tactical, or hunting, but if you're on this page you probably already know the different types. The scale in each pattern photo has been included for reference, but I can resize any knife to your wishes. You can also choose a handle from one knife and blade from another for a custom design. The knife patterns have grind lines and bolster outlines drawn on, and these are just rough estimates of what the knife can resemble.

• Listed to the right of the pattern picture are the knife names

• Fixed blade and folding knife names are in blue text. Links to pictures of the knives are in underlined blue text.

• Individual Featured Knife pages of that style are linked in underlined green text

• These knives for sale! A link to the knife available for immediate sale and delivery is in red underlined text. Click on them to learn more about the knife and see huge pictures, prices, sizes, and other information.

• Additional pictures are linked by the "&" sign, after the name in underlined blue text.

• Some knife pictures can ONLY be linked to and seen through this page!

• Full Tangs: Patterns show profile of handle, blade and tang steel is one solid piece of steel from tip to tip.

• Hidden Tangs: Patterns show a "stick" or are "cut off" at the handle, this is where the threaded rods are attached. Handles are independently shaped "doughnuts" stacked on the handle with a guard and threaded pommel retainer (for a fuller, rounder handle). Use your imagination, and look at the linked pictures. Check out the knife anatomy page for more information.

• Folding Knives: You can tell which knives are folding by looking for the pivot dot in the center of the front bolster. Folding knives also have an (F) after the name.

• Have the name of the pattern but don't know where to locate it on the patterns page? Look it up in the Alphabetic Pattern List here.

Prototypes, new models! Click on thumbnails.

Prototypes, new models coming soon! Click on thumbnails.

Why do the best knives have names? (from the embellishment page here)

It's true, the best knives have names, not model numbers. A model number is just a number. It's a cold, impersonal registration of one of a long line of repetitive patterns, suggesting a factory has produced all the numbers leading up to the model, and will crank out a never ending list of faceless numbered pieces after that number. Your model numbered knife is somewhere in the monotonous string of digits.

A name personalizes the custom handmade knife. It adds to the knife's flavor, animation, and style. It defines the knife by purpose or intent. While I try to stay away from knife names like Slasher, or Stabber, there is some mystique in a name like Bulldog or Ladron. Incidentally, the name Bulldog comes from the Bastogne Bulldogs of the 101st Airborne, the Battalion of my son, and their mascot. He designed this fine knife for combat use.  Ladron is named for a mysterious singular mountain in south central New Mexico, and it is the Spanish word for thief. It was a favorite area to hike when I lived nearby, and I would have loved to carry "Ladron" the knife there.

Many of my knives have southwest and specifically New Mexico place names. The Land of Enchantment has a flavor that suits artistic creation, and the place names seem appropriate. I've lived here nearly all my life, and I try to honor those many memories with a fitting name to a matching style of knife.

You've probably noticed that many of my knife names originate in the stars, that is, they are names of stars in the cosmos. Many of these patterns are Gerry Hurst's, left to us when he died. He didn't have names or numbers for them, so in order to catalog them, my wife and I reached for names he probably would have liked, names of the heavens. Then, I carried on the tradition in new designs and even name some for features and areas on planets and moons in our own solar system. Somehow, cruising through the names, one will stand out as fitting and complimentary for a pattern. Take the name Horrocks. It's a crater system on the moon. The name sounds like a powerful warrior, so how could it be more fitting for a large, heavy, curved combat knife? A pattern designed for a Personal Security Detail in Iraq is named Macha (Maax-ah), named for a Celtic Goddess, a protectress in war as in peace, a goddess of war and death. She has cunning, sheer physical force, and dominance over men.

Some of the names on my patterns are the names of our grandchildren. I'll bet you can't tell which ones. Hint: no, it's not Draco!

Some names describe the blade shape itself, like Sheepsfoot, or Reverse Paring, or Half Moon Skinner. Other names describe the use of the knife like Game Set: Caping, or Carving. Other names bear the names of the designer who worked with me on the design of the knife, like Wardlow Bowie, Berger, or Gibson Trailhead. You'll also see the designation Magnum on a few of the blades. These are larger evolutions of an original design, for example the Nihal Magnum is a larger combat version of the Nihal. Other knives are hybrids, combinations of the blade of one knife and the handle of another. Their names are hyphenated, like Cygnus-Horrocks.

The neat thing to know is that a name gives a custom handmade knife personality. We are creatures of words, and words mean things. Our language is more than just a way to share and express, it is a way to characterize, personalize, and animate those objects we use, cherish, and ultimately leave behind.

If you really want to get some in-depth information on knife designs, patents, copyrights, and other knife business related points: please look at my "Business of Knife Making" page here.

Handles, Bolsters Guards

Gemstone Knife Handles

Page 1

Page2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9

Page 10

Page 11

Page 12

Page 13

Page 14

Page 15

Page 16

Page 17

Page 18

Page 19

Page 20

Page 21

Page 22

Page 23

Page 24

Page 25

Page 26

Page 27

Page 28

Page 29

Page 30

Page 31

Page32

Page 33

Page 34

Page 35

Page 36

Page 37

Page 38

Page 39

Page 40

Page 41

Page 42

Page 43

Page 44

Page 45

Page 46

Page 47

Page 48

Page 49

Page 50

Page 51

Page 52

Page 53

Page 54

Chef's Knives

Page 55

Page 56

Page 57