Collecting knives has always been a hobby of mine,
I remember been given my first “Old Timer” knife from my father and being so amazed with it. I would carry it with me everywhere on our farm and would always find a reason to use it! My father also was a knife collector and so was his father so you could say that we have always had this knife blood in our family. ☺
There is something special about owning a well-made knife. The combination of craftsmanship and utility formed into one really appeals to me.
I have a few knives that I would like to share with you. I have many favorites and wont start in any order.
The Yuna Qi 3inch blade:
I have owed this knife for around 5 years now, I thought it time to bring it out of storage and take some photos of it for the Steem community ☺
I was on a waiting list for 8 Months to get this custom made, Yun is knife maker from Thailand and makes all of his knives by hand and hard work. Yun is also a well-trained knife fighter and has been knife fighting since he was 15years old! All his knives are made with function in mind first and you can really tell when you hold one of his knives how well balanced and how it just flows and opens every so fast and smooth.
He puts so much work into making each and every knife that there is now a 26 month wait list to complete a knife ordered today! I have personally been to Yun’s home town and seen his work shop where he runs his business with his wife, He really does use hacksaw blades via hand to cut out shapes of metal to make the knives up. I think he told me once that for each knife blade he has to go through 3-4 tungsten carbide hacksaw blades!!! … every part of the process is really tedious work and he puts so much passion into making each knife
Quote from Yuna knives:
"When I design my custom knives, the function always comes first. The aesthetic consideration and decoration elements normally come by themselves as part of the creative flow!"
My knife blade in particular is made from ZDP-189 metal from japan. It feels as close as I can get to having a samurai sword in my pocket lol. Also there are newer metals out now like M390 this wasn’t available around the time I ordered. However the ZDP blade holds an excellent edge and still cuts with ease. Although I don’t use this as an EDC anymore (every day carry) I just leave it in my collection as the waiting list has increases for his knives & I dare not carry it out of fear I might loose it! But you could say that with most of the knives I have too : P
So much effort is gone into getting the edge with that mirror finish. The sharpness is just out of this world!
The Body of the knife is made out of titanium and has sort of a tiger type print from heating the titanium. The Blade when closed has a lever/nub that can be flicked to snap out really quick when needed.
Yun uses his classic Yin Yang Pivot screw to secure the blade to the frame lock frame. Its worth mentioning that Yun told me once when he is done with making knives he will go and meditate at temple and become a monk. Not sure if he was joking around or serious as he is a fun person to hang out with, He showed me his knife fighting moves once and wow its was scary fast!
If you can stand the waiting list then I highly recommend adding one of Yun’s knives to your collection!
Here is his website … just note that you might not get a reply for a longggggg time until your knife is nearly finished.