Jay Fisher - World Class Knifemaker

Introduction: Welcome to 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, making templates, and fine tuning to get the profiles right (Learn more about designing knives and the costs involved here). The profile on paper 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 you may see new patterns or pictures nearly every visit.

What you'll see here now

• 409 patterns on this page
• 78 groups of patterns
• 692 links color keyed in BLUE: to completed, annotated photos of knives
• 373 links color keyed in GREEN: to featured individual knife pages
• 2 links color keyed in RED: to current knives available for sale

How to use this page

 There are no distinctions between types of knives in the pattern group, such as utility, tactical, combat, or hunting, but if you're on this page you probably already know the different types. The scale in each pattern group 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 (a hybrid design). The knife patterns have grind lines and bolster outlines drawn on; these are just rough estimates of what the knife can resemble.

• Knife names: listed to the right of the pattern group picture
• Links to pictures of completed knives are in underlined blue text.
• Individual Featured Knife Pages are linked in underlined green text
• Knives for sale are linked in underlined red text.
• Additional pictures are linked by the "&" character after the name.
• You may see some duplicates of links if the knife is a hybrid in both the blade and handle patterns
• Some of the hybrid knife names vary from the original pattern name from which they originated
• Rare or old knife pictures on my site 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" at the handle. Handles are independently shaped with a guard and threaded pommel. Use your imagination, and look at the linked pictures. Check out the knife anatomy page for more information on hidden tang knife handles.
• Folding Knives: have a 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.

Copyrights

These patterns, knives, and every image and word on this web site is protected with a registered copyright through the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. More details on this page.

Thanks for respecting copyright laws!

New Prototype Examples

Here are a few examples of patterns with completed knives. Please click on the thumbnail knife photos for enlargements.

Why do the best knives have names?

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 cloned numbered pieces after that number. Your 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 and carried it in a couple combat tours in Iraq.  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. How fitting for this specialized CQB knife made for protection and defense.

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 Sanchez, 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.

Other related pages on this site:

Here are some other important and related links that you may find useful.

Note: some of the photographs that are linked at the knife pattern names are old, photos that were taken many years ago, with chemical photo processing, back in my early knife making days. Some of them were scanned from lower quality prints, or directly from old negatives. Please forgive the quality of the older photos at the hyperlinks.

I've included some photos of recent knives for your interest. Thanks for being here!