Getting In On The Ground Floor

It's a "win-win" for collectors and knife makers!

Apr 02, 2023

Getting in on the ground floor of a new maker’s career …

Steve Callari Custom Knives Paring Knife.

You may know him as Supersteel Steve, the outspoken firebrand of heat treat and Rockwell hardness. But I know Steve Callari as the maker of my favorite kitchen knife, an 8-inch chef’s knife that has such thin geometry, it will cut even when dull.

In speaking with Steve on episode 381, he talked about his perpetual dissatisfaction with the common paring knife, how they come in all shapes and sizes and are mediocre at doing everything except paring, a task for which they are all just plain bad.

I was very excited when my Steve Callari Custom paring knife arrived this weekend.

I ordered it in tan canvas Micarta, with Tiffany liners, but Steve is “extra” with everything he does and he made the broader-than-normal handle with antique honey-colored Micarta, pushing the beauty to a new level.

Like his chef’s knife, the paring blade is full-flat ground, 1/16-inch (!), 8760 high-carbon steel, honed to a razor-sharp edge that slips between the atoms of whatever you are cutting. Unlike the chef’s knife, the paring knife is wieldy enough that my 8-year-old to use to cut cucumbers, the kitchen task she cherishes most because she’s allowed to use a knife.

A great part of all of this is that despite the refinement and utility of SCC knives, Steve is a new maker, and like most new makers, his pricing is commensurate with his experience as a new maker, rather than the quality.

In other words, he could be charging a lot more for these but he knows that being new, he has to build a reputation and that his skills will increase over time, justifying a higher price.

Steve Callari Custom Knives Chef’s knife and paring knife.

All this just to say, giving newer makers a chance and getting in on the ground floor of their careers is one of my favorite ways to buy custom knives because you get to forge a relationship with the maker early on and you can get some screamin’ deals in the meantime.

So next time you’re doom-scrolling knives on Instagram, consider taking a calculated risk on a new maker, more likely than not you will be happy with the knife you get, and have the satisfaction of knowing you helped kickstart a knife maker’s career … and we need more career knife makers.

Now, off to the kitchen to cut some stuff!

Bob

Keanison Knives - The Knife Junkie Podcast (Episode 405)

Bryan Montalvo of Keanison Knives joins me on Episode 405 of The Knife Junkie Podcast that went live today (listen and/or watch below).

Keanison Knives, the brainchild and passion project of Montalvo, makes some of the most sought-after custom folders in the knife world today, offering graceful but aggressive profiles and an exotic palette of materials.

Montalvo’s stringent attention to detail, aesthetics and build paid off at the 2023 Texas Blade show where the latest Keanison model, the "Bluetick," earned the best M.A.C.K. or Machine Assisted Custom Knife.

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