ML Knives Blog

Long Time Coming. Classic blades and Must see Info.

2024-02-04T12:13:00.000-08:00

"It has been years since I have posted on this blog. This is one of the very first blogs I started and still has many valuable posts and info on my work on it. I have decided to start posting again on this blog!

I plan to mostly post from my vast archive of customs and old-school blades I have worked on.

If you have followed my work for years, you might have looked on here and have waited for new posts or just gone back to see some of these pieces. I have a tremendous amount of photos and info on custom knives and pieces I have made.

Originally, back in 2014, I was going to leave this mainly as an archive, but it doesn't hurt to post here as well.

I hope you all enjoy the posts.

So I will start back on here with this piece shown below. I have also attached a video below on this piece I put up on YT.

The piece below was a custom order with a large section of antiqued Crown Elk Antler. The forward haft of the handle was leather hafted with a section of hand-cut leather lace and sealed. The blade on this knife was about 6” long and has a spine 3/16” thick."

Thank you for looking

Matt ML Knives

https://ml-knives.com/

New Website Update and Information

2014-07-20T04:07:00.000-07:00

All new Blog updates will be posted to the new blog http://www.ml-knives.com/blog/
I think this will be better and easier for everyone if the posts are on the website.

I will keep this blog running for an archive so it will be available for anyone to see
and look at any of the information and knives.

Thank you

Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Woods and bush Knife Scandi

2014-07-13T03:47:00.002-07:00

Posted below is a recently completed custom ordered
Woods and bush knife.

This bush knife has a scandi grind with a pattern aged blade and
beautiful hard grained ironwood handle.

The spine on this knife has been hand file worked.

The sheath is one of my hand stitched antiqued belt sheaths.

Thank you

Matt

ML Knives

https://ml-knives.com/

Mini kephart set up for a neck knife carry

2014-07-06T03:54:00.000-07:00

Recently completed custom work is this mini kephart with a
tiger maple handle and brass pins/lanyard.

The spine also has hand file worked thumb stops.

This knife was set up to wear as a neck carry knife with a
custom hand stitched leather neck sheath.

The leather piece for the neck was hand cut and hand oiled, this was
also left untied/knotted to be measured off by the owner.

Thank you for reading.

Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Belt knife with a Vintage age and tooled leather (an early look)

2014-06-29T04:17:00.001-07:00

Below is a custom order knife. I just found photos of this as pics were
taken when snow was still on the ground.

This is one of my vintage aged frontier style belt knives from an
original design

The blade is both pattern and patina aged finish about 5 plus inches long.

The spine has been file worked and the handle is aged black walnut.

All the pins are brass.

The sheath was hand stitched and a custom matching ferro rod was
requested.

A quick look at a close up of some tooled leather that will be available soon.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Fishing with my country bag, carry knife and a stag kephart custom

2014-06-22T04:09:00.001-07:00

I had a chance to get out and do a little fishing recently
and I wanted to show you what I carry most times.

My country bag that has a fishing kit inside, an ultra light
rod a reel and my carry knife.

This carry knife has been with me for awhile and now I am
currently carrying this with a single piece of leather and cord
lock.

I will post more about this in a different blog post as well as
give you more details and info on how you can use this set up.

This sheath set up will be offered on my website as well in the
future.

The kephart below is a custom order with a beautiful stag handle. Sheath has been hand stitched.

Thank you

Matt

ML Knives

http://www.mlknives.com

Hard using bush knife with a straight back spine

2014-06-15T03:19:00.001-07:00

Just completed for a customer is this straight back style knife
with a beefed up 3/16" spine.

This knife was part of a set, larger and smaller knife
but at the time of this post I only have access to the larger
knife pic.

Knife info:

The blade is about 5 inches long with a patina aged finish.
Handle is aged black walnut with brass pins and lanyard hole.

Sheath was hand stitched and antiqued and has a loop for a
ferro rod.

Thank you for reading.

Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Vintage aged bone handled Hunter Knife

2014-06-08T02:54:00.000-07:00

This is a custom order vintage style hunting and skinning knife.

The handle is antiqued bone with five steel pins, both hand hatched
and carved.

The blade is short of 4" and has been patina aged and the clip has
a slight taper.

The sheath has been hand stitched and antiqued an the face has
been free hand tooled and carved with a unique scroll and vine
design.

Also, I am in the process of a website & blog update that has been a long

time coming. This change will be a better, easier way to navigate the website

and have a very clean look to it. When everything is all set a newsletter will be

sent and I will post here.

Thank you.

Matt

ML Knives

http://www.mlknives.com

Straight back Knife with High grain burl handle

2014-06-01T04:14:00.002-07:00

Posting this week is a custom straight back design with a
blade about 5" long both pattern and patina aged.

The handle is a one of a kind piece of high grain stabilized
red wood burl and the spine has been hand file worked.

The sheath has been hand stitched, hand tooled and carved
with a one of a kind design.

Thank you,
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Scandi Kephart Knives

2014-05-25T04:07:00.001-07:00

Posted below is a recent set of custom ordered
kephart knives.

Both have scandi grinds with tiger maple handles.

Pattern and patina aged blades.

The hand stitched sheaths are dangler set ups both for the
right and left hand.

The latest Youtube post, a portion of this was used for my Channel Trailer.

Thank you
Matt
ML knives
http://www.mlknives.com

A custom drop point knife with tooled Deer Sheath

2014-05-18T04:04:00.000-07:00

A recent custom knife posted bleow with a
blade a bit over 4 inches long, with both
pattern and patina aged finish.

The spine was hand file worked and the handle
is aged tiger maple.

The leather sheath was antiqued and hand stiched.
All the tooling and carving of the deer scene
was done free hand as well.

The Newest Video.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

A set of custom kephart knives.

2014-05-11T04:10:00.000-07:00

This week I am posting a set of beautiful kepharts knives.

These were made for a custom order and have beautiful
tiger maple handles.

Both sheaths were hand stitched and antiqued.

I am also working on trying to make more videos, some
will be how to videos as the one below, others will
be showing my work.

Currently I am searching around for a new
decent camera as well, something that is rugged and
I can take in outdoor weather without to many concerns
of dropping it or getting caught in pounding rain.

Thank you for everything,
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

A Camp and field knife with a Customized Sheath

2014-05-04T04:42:00.002-07:00

Below is one of my recently completed custom order
camp and field knives.

The handle is tiger maple with brass pins and rear
lanyard hole.

Something that was custom ordered on this knife
was the sheath. This sheath has a custom flap
and snap that goes over the entire handle.

Also just recently posted a new video showing a different style snap
sheath below.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Importance of a Good welted Knife Sheath

2014-04-27T05:02:00.001-07:00

One of the main things when it comes to knife sheaths,
in my mind, is not only making a sheath that looks great
but is also functional. The most important aspect is a full
solid welt.

For all of you that already know what a welt is on a
sheath this may be a little redundant. This is for new
readers, frequent readers of my blog, and visitors to
my website that are looking for information and tips.

A decent knife sheath shouldn't be a single piece
of light weight plastic or leather. Simply folding
over a piece of material, with a few rivets or a
small light weight line of stitching, can be risky.

This will only make the sheath and knife more
dangerous inside the sheath especially if your in
some back country, climbing a tree stand or
any outdoor venture.

A sharp knife blade can easily come through the
side of a sheath that has no welt. A sharp knife can
cut into flesh before you would even know it.

So basically a welt almost acts like a guard for
the blade. The pic below shows the side shot of
one of my hand stitched sheaths with solid
8 to 9 ounce leather. All of my sheaths have a full
welt.

Also posted below is some custom work recently completed.
This is one of my H7 Hand Jigged Hunting Skinner's.
This knife has hand jigged horn with large brass pins.
The sheath is in the process of being worked on.

Thank you very much for everything,
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Frontier Spear Point Knife with a custom Rawhide sheath

2014-04-20T03:46:00.001-07:00

This is a recently completed custom piece.

The knife itself is a classic spear point design with a blade
over 4 inches long both with pattern and patina aged finish.

The spine was hand file worked.

The handle is antiqued elk stag with a tight stitched forward
haft of vintage aged rawhide.

The sheath is one of my custom Frontier rawhide sheaths
with a hard veg tan liner. The rawhide has been antiqued
and cross stitched and laced with vintage aged trade beads,
tin cones and horse hair. The copper piece (dangler)
was also forged and shaped by hand. This sheath can be
worn high and cross drawn.

Thank you
Matt
ML knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Happy Easter.

Custom Vintage Style Carry Knife

2014-04-13T04:55:00.001-07:00

Some recent custom work posted below.

This is a nice sized carry knife with a 2 plus inch pattern
and patina aged blade.

The handle is aged bone with a beautiful color.

The sheath was antiqued and hand stitched with some
custom tooling and carving on the face.

The entire knife has a very nice vintage look.

A New Video has just been uploaded as well. Some rawhide stitching and my

beat up Hands!

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

The Frontier style belt knife and tooled leather

2014-04-06T04:06:00.001-07:00

This knife was a custom order based off of one of the
knives that was listed on Available Knives Gallery 1 of my
website.

The design was based off of an original vintage belt knife
but this version has a beefed up 3/16" spine.

The handle is tiger maple with brass pins and the blade
is over 5 inches long with a pattern and patina aged finish.

The spine of this knife has also been file worked.

The sheath was hand stitched and antiqued.

If you missed seeing the last new tooled and carved
leather piece I had available I am posting one of the pics below.

I am thinking on making a video to give you all an idea of how
my tooling and leather creating is done.
A design like the one above started with a drawing on
paper.
Available leather Pieces

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Vintage aged Stag Nessmuk with Copper

2014-03-30T04:15:00.000-07:00

This weeks latest addition of custom work is a nessmuk knife.

This nessie has a pattern and patina aged blade at about 4 1/8"
inches long.

The handle is antiqued stag with three vintage copper pins.
The copper pins have been left with hammer (peen) marks
and have a beautiful vintage look and feel.

The sheath was hand stitched and antiqued in a
darker brown.

Also: Some current tooled leather work in case you missed seeing this
on my Available Leather Pieces Page
This was all carved and tooled from one of my original drawings.
A lighter carry wallet for cards and cash.
I update this page all the time so keep checking for more unique
pieces.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

A Custom order Hudson Bay Knife with Tiger Maple

2014-03-23T04:25:00.000-07:00

This week I am posting a custom order Hudson Bay Camp
Knife.

This is one of my Swept blade versions with a pattern
and patina aged finish blade.

The handle is tiger maple with brass pins over brass
washers.

The sheath was hand stitched, antiqued and made to wear
high to cross draw the knife.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Fire set and a Kephart knife

2014-03-16T03:09:00.001-07:00

This week I am posting on of my custom kephart knives
with a tiger male handle. This custom order also
Has a file worked spine and pattern aged blade.
A Custom hand stitched sheath was made for this
kephart as well but didn't make it into this
photo.

Something else I am working on for custom work is this
forged steel, custom antler Ferro rod and tooled sheath.
All of the tooling is from one of my original designs
And was worked by hand.
The back of this sheath has 2 holes for carrying as a neck
set up buck this could also be slipped into a pocket,
pack or bag very easily.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

A Custom stag handled long knife

2014-03-09T04:21:00.002-07:00

This week,s post is a custom frontier style long knife
with a blade that is a bit over 9 inches long. The
blade also has a nice pattern and patina aging.

The knife was handled with beautiful antiqued elk
stag with 3 steel pins.

The sheath was antiqued and hand stitched and
was also set up to wear high on the belt and
cross draw.

The sheath also has free hand tooled and carved

cross hatching.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.knives.com

A straight back custom knife with a vintage style. Tooled leather wallet

2014-03-02T03:12:00.001-08:00

This week I'm posting a custom order Vintage style straight back
knife with a blade that is about 4 1/2" long.

The finish is a pattern and patina aged finish and the spine has
been file worked.

The handle is about equal in length and in antiqued hickory
with brass pins.

The sheath was antiqued and hand stitched.

Below is a detail photo of one of my custom hand tooled and carved wallets.
More details and info can be found on my
Available Leather Pieces Page

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

A neck knife custom with stag and a tooled pocket sheath

2014-02-23T04:09:00.000-08:00

This weeks post I am posting a custom carry knife that was
set up for a neck carry knife but can also be carried
on the belt if wanted.

The blade on this knife is about 2 plus inches and the handle
is stag with brass pins and rear lanyard hole.
The leather through the hole has a handmade stag bead attached.

The tooling on the sheath was all worked by hand as well.

Another tooled piece was hand worked on this square pocket sheath
of a custom tree and mountain scene.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

Customized kephart fisher with 2 Sheaths

2014-02-16T04:22:00.000-08:00

A recent custom order is posted below.

This is one of my kephart fishers with a blade
and handle that were customized to be a bit
smaller than I normally make.

The handle is black walnut with a lanyard
hole.

Two sheaths have been hand stitched.

One is one of my square pocket sheaths
the other is a horizontal, both in an antiqued
dark brown.

Thank you
Matt
ML Knives
http://www.mlknives.com

A custom Nessmuk Knife

2014-02-09T04:29:00.001-08:00

This week I am posting a custom neesmuk knife set
I recently completed.

The knife has a beautiful tiger maple handle with
brass pins and the blade has my pattern and patina
aged finish.

For the set a matching ferro rod was made and the
sheath is a dangler that was hand stitched and
made with a loop to hold the ferro rod.

All of my Sheaths are individually hand cut without a template from veg tan leather.

They are hand stitched and antiqued one at a time.

Thank you

Matt

ML knives

http://www.mlknives.com