Ken Smythe: About Me.

Any object is a weapon if it used aggressively. Be it a hammer, a stick, a stone, a shoe lace, a panty hose. Knives have the unfortunate stigma of being a killing weapon due to their conceal ability, their availability and the lack of licensing. A knife is tool to cut with, to pry, to pare, to prune, to trim, to open, also to fight, defend, hunt and prepare meals.

I make knives for the all the above reasons and because I enjoy using the best steel in the world combined with unique materials in the handles to produce functional beautiful items designed for long service and specific purposes.

My name is Ken Smythe. I live in the Southern Drakensberg in Kwa-Zulu Natal South Africa. I have farmed managed a road transport business, managed a saw mill become a qualified mechanic to put bread and butter on the table. The cream comes with the enjoyment of making beautiful, functional useful knives. I am a member of the South African knife makers guild qualifying in 1986 and to date have been making knives as a hobby. The balance is slowly shifting to full time basis when the bread butter and cream all come from knife making.

I use steels like 12C27, 19C27, Panzer 36 and N690. I also make use of Damascus steel. I design the blades myself and also make knives according to customer’s designs. I make use of any handle material, be it animal product such as horns, bones, mammoth tusk and also use synthetic materials.

I incorporate the stock removal method by hollow grinding, flat grinding and the concave / convex method. I do my own heat treatment according to the steels specification. I make knife and fork cutlery sets, carving sets all of which come in beautiful indigenous wooden boxes. These sets can become family heirlooms by engraving, scrimshawing or etching portrait or names of family members on the blades or handles. The cutlery sets can be of any number from one knife and fork up wards depending on ones requirements. Each item is individually made, there is no production line.

I make hunting knives to my own design with the emphasis firstly on functionality and service and then beauty. Caping, skinning, dressing, fishing, filleting, indeed, for any and every purpose there is knife to do the job.

Another line of knives are folding knives were every part is individually made and has to fit and work with other parts to make a working functionally folder. I make liner locks and lock backs, from gentleman folders to folding hunters and skinners with gut hooks. I use titanium in the liners for strength and weight. These knives are also my own design unless otherwise requested.

To diversify I also make belt buckle knives, handy, as they are serving a function (making sure you are not caught with your pants down) and are available for those small jobs were a knife is needed but is a nuisance in the pocket. The belts are made with genuine cowhide and are stained black or brown.

A gentleman, to complete the picture of casual elegance and nonchalance would be incomplete without a cane into which I fit a sword so he can swagger with confidence down any suspect road. These sword canes are also for the man in the mountains as a hiking stick handy for over grown, bushy hiking trails.

To complete the picture and identify the knife I have logo which consists of my name, a book, a sword and my country. The name and country are self explanatory but the book and the sword need interpretation. The book represents the bible which is God’s word and the sword; we are told is representative of His word which is sharper than any double edged sword dividing soul and sprit joints and marrow.

Superior construction and superior materials equate to a superior product.

A Smythe handmade knife is must in your home, hobby or work, and excellent product with a lifetime guarantee against defective workmanship.

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