Miles of Alaska Custom Knives
I prefer to use good high carbon steel in my blades. This might be harder to take care of but is hard to beat for performance till you get into really spendy exotic steel and Damascus. The carbon steel accepts my acid etching well and is capable of skinning out a moose without resharpening- my standard test. Much of the handle material I find myself- mammoth ivory Dall sheep horn, bone and all sorts of antler. Some of the materials I trade for. I live in the village of Nenana and do much of my work on the homestead- trapline so my work is very 'hand done' with very simple tools. a few power tools -but hand drills, fordom. Designs in the handle are hand drawn hand cut one of a kind made for each knife, and are soldered and pined to the handle material. Guards are soldered to blade as well as pined and are very secure. I spent my life in the wilderness depending on knives so know how a knife should feel and perform. My knives are known for 'feeling good' in the hand and being very useable- even though the fancy metalwork may stop the customer from using this in the field- it is made to be used and can be cleaned and polished after use . I now make my own blades- moslty from tool steel- skill saw blades- cut out with a torch- ground past the heat change- no retempering reqired- by working it slow. Many of the knives shown have sold- making new all the time so this is only an example of my typical (is anything I do typical?) styles. Contact me to inquire what is in stock or have one made.
Skinning knife high carbon steel
about 4 inch blade, handle mammoth ivory spacer Buffalo horn. $250 without sheath
Pocket knife locking blade
stainless steel mammoth ivory handle nickel bolster. $300
Hunting knife 5 inch blade High carbon steel Dall sheep horn handle.
Mammoth ivory cap copper brass inlay. without sheath $250
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Custom Knives hunters pocket skinner Damascus stainless high carbon Materials of bone antler ivory horn inlay silver all by Miles Martin of 'Miles of Alaska' Nenana Alaska also selling custom art and raw materials to other artist.
Everything on this page has to do with Miles Martin custom knives
Miles at Miles of Alaska
box 363
Nenana Alaska
99760
1-907-832-5442 miles@milesofalaska.net
many materials here are suitable for knife handles- if you want a custom knife or want to try making your own
Finished knives scroll the page
Right plain mammoth ivory folder
I
made custom pistol grips as well. Here is a rugar blackhawk 357 with ivory grips
I acid etch the steel - this knife is made from a old crosscut saw blade has fossil bison bone handle with ivory end cap - custom cast guard is an Indian face looking up the blade
Left--this knife has a moose leg bone handle. Wolf teeth marks were left on the bone and the acid etch has a moose and wolf theme - guard is a copper wolf skull end cap is mammoth ivory
I also do rifle inlay work. This is my 22 hornet for small game Contact me for custom inlay
All done by Miles. Knife - hand is natural beach tumbled fossil walrus tusk. Blade is high carbon tool steel cut from an antique crosscut saw. Blade was cut and inlaid with brass hammered in the shape of 2 bears. Guard is custom cast from my design and mold and is a bear cast from Yukon River barge propeller bronze. Sheath is moose leg bone. end cap fossil mammoth ivory I found. Metals are hand cut silver copper and brass , soldered and pinned . One side has eagle the other side has a spruce tree
Right wood handle wolf etch $195
Steel is 1800's cross cut saw, carbon tool steel . One side etched with wolf pup, other side a tall blade of grass. Handle is wood I think King wood with interesting patterns on it. Guard is custom cast fish design of copper and brass.
Left picture of where some of the steel comes from An old 1800's cross cut saw. A series tool steel
Right brass comes from scrap metal I cast myself. Here are some discards from the local barge line, a bearing and propeller
Left,
some of my latest ideas. I am now doing my own tempering and make the edge super hard and the back soft. I have some animal shapes for the steel. Note the whale and the otter. Also trying some 'cut out' ideas - inserting cast brass and copper in the cutout.
Right this knife is Peru blue opal , mammoth tooth with whale guard . I Have been experimenting with stone handles== so far jade tiger eye and opal.
Left a bowie style 8 inch blade. Handle is moose leg bone with wolf chew marks left on it, mammoth ivory end cap copper cast guard.
The above blade was forged from 1`095 high carbon and copper was hammered into the steel along the spline for decoration. The edge was forged for denser crystalline structure. Right is the finished knife with mammoth ivory and cop-per cast guard.
Left and below have begun making my own custom leather sheaths and embossing them with custom designs.
right wolf bone handle copper back steel edge forge experrimenting
Left my blades- knifes are decorative but get tested for function and are made to be used as well as looked at. Here i skin out a bear i shot using one of my new D-2 steel blades. Fossil walrus ivory artifact handle.
Stone handle this is tiger eye - with otter guard cast from barge propeller.
Right 01 steel, local Alaska birch handle
Cut and paste me a picture in an email of what it is you see here that you like and inquire about. I might have that item or something like it. For various reasons not everything you see is for sale. See my ordering page for 'why'
First step is get the steel to a high polish. Step 2 coat steel with this black wax. The acid I use will eat only steel and does not touch the wax. Step 3 a design is scratched through the wax to the steel allowing the acid to reach the steel. One 'secret' is the design needs to be drawn freehand with sure strokes as it is hard to erase mistakes to do it again. Step 4 apply the acid. It is an art to know what strength acid on what kind of steel at what temperature and for how long. It's tricky. Wax is washed off with..... a secret sauce. Oh ya it is a good idea to neutralize the acid too when done(smile)
Examples of some of the above 'pre etch' are shown finished to the right. I also do all my own tempering of steel - usually with a hard edge and sofer back. I prefer high carbon 1095, old crosscut saqws of L6, or more addatives to the carbon in 01, or sometimes D-2 has desired properties , depending on the use the knife will get put to.
Right now I have no particular design I repeat to offer anyone. Each is hand drawn hand cut one of a kind. cut and paste me a picture and tell me which one you like and I can show you what I have in stock maybe. I will try to have time to post batches of my latest blades and maybe offer them but I'm pretty busy. Nor do I really want to do custom work. I'm just too used to doing it my way. What I make sells so I have no reason to
I've always used knives carried knives and depended on knives since I was a child. But especially when I moved to the Alaska wilderness and lived as a mountain man. In the beginning I could not afford a good knife so began making them myself about 1975. Since then I have made hundreds, if not a thousand or two. Mostly functional but the money is in the artistic side. I try to combine both- creating a good working knife that looks nice and different. Many knife makers I sell raw material to seem to be more engineers then artists. Meaning they work with numbers - straight lines and not work 'freehand' a lot and can not draw. One aspect that sets my knives as �different� is maybe because I am more of an artist. Also �different� is I do so many aspects of the knife myself. I cut the steel, make the blade, etch the blade, harden the blade. I design, cast, use my own guards from local metals. I find, cut, use my own materials in the handles. I make my own sheaths and tool them. The finished product is a total reflection of �me� and my style. I am known for the acid etching in the blade. I also forget the steel a little and hammer copper or brass into the steel in a Moke sort of technique. All my blades get put to the test. I hunt moose bear and spend time in the Alaska wild depending on a good blade.
Fossil walrus ivory handle acid etched D-2 steel $425
A small hunter skinner blade 3.5 inch blade 7 ounces in weight. . Beautiful blue colors in the fossil walrus ivory is very rare. Lacewood from Australia has snakewood like patterns. Custom cast raven guard from barge propeller that went up and down the Yukon River for 50 years. Bird etched theme on both sides of the D-2 steel.
Hunting - untility knife 01 steel $450
5 inch 01 steel blade weighs 8.7 ounces. Unique in a lot of ways. The forged steel has been laminated with copper and bronze. The handle is cast metal flowers backed on wood and riveted. Custom cast raven guard of two metals- copper and bronze- in a process no one else does. Turquoise inlay between raven and flowers. No other knife even close to being like this. A one time never to be done again made without a pattern .
Some people arrive at my web site and understand it immediately, it all makes sense. Others are confused , - cant figure it out. Here's the quick and dirty version of what's going on (long version = my books). Normal, civilized, and ordinary, I consider insults. I spent 25 years of my life as a savage, alone in the Alaska wilds. I learned how to do things my way. I live in another world. If you like my art- appreciate my raw materials 'different and unique' are a direct result of how I view the world. To do business with me we need to define things the same way. I provide links to explain how I define for sale, special order, raw, soon, business, that might help us sing from the same sheet of music. I've gone through a great effort to avoid misunderstandings.
Cut and paste me a picture in an email of what it is you see here that you like and inquire about. I might have that item or something like it. For various reasons not everything you see is for sale. See my ordering page for 'why'
click here to go to my site directory with links to all my pages. Art - raw materials for sale- book- advice- tips-ordering- info- home page etc
Alaska birch wood handle, custom cast 2 mewtals copper and bronze whale guard. Forged 01 steel with bronze forged into the steele. Acid etched flower blade pattern. Hand made and tooled sheath
Forged 01 steel with cast bronze handle. Casting is an Indian face with bear face intertwined in hair on one side and eagle head on the other side. Blade 3.5 inches long.Blade as acid etch unicorn on each side. Knife weighs 6.3 ounces. Comes with custom sheath shown with flying goose
Blade of bronze off a barge propeller that spent 75 years going up and down the Yukon River. Acid etched tundra flower. Handle is 40,000 year old cave bear (Short Faced Bear) also from the Yukon River. Guard is from a piece of mammoth tooth found near the cave bear. Possibly the bear killed the mammoth and died himself of the wounds. Thus all these materials in the knife belong together and tell a story.
01 forged steel in the shape of a whale, acid etched whale mouth handle is body of whale with tail Custom cast raven guard of local bronze. 3.5 inch blade. Knife weighs 4.7 ounces. Handle is exotic hardwood (forget what kind). Turquoise inlay between raven and wood. A quality knife that can be used at a good price. I might have a sheath that fits custom made -$25 more inquire if a sheath is wanted.
How I got started what kind of steel how done etc. link-
Both have local Alaska wood handles and acid etched designs in steel. They are L6 steel , a high carbon simple structure used in knives for 100 years. Very practical functional made to be used. $150 each inqujire if interested. Do not have the half hour right now to set up the pay pal cart for these items
Left fossil walrus ivory handle charlite stone cap D2 steel fossil bosin bone stand
above labarodorite stone hanlde. Whale shapped blade 01 steel
Above- fossil walrus ivory pistol grips for rugar black hawk
Two chef knives with acid etched scenes and Alaska exotic wood handles Such knives about $350
If you see something you like, cut and paste me the picture so I know what you are looking at. Instructions how to cut paste on advice page
Contact me! cut paste picture!
Skinning a bear with one of my custom knives
I have been forging my own custom blades. Some have copper and brass layered in as I hammer along the spline for decoration
Knife above. Forged high carbon steel Fossil walrus ivory handles. Custom cast bear guard. Acid etching in steel. Fossil walrus jaw bone stand. $450
Stellar Sea Cow bone handle forged blade in shape of a whale
