Ed Thompson Hand Forged Knives

08/22/2026

Another Cumia EDC knife finished up. I tried something a little different on this one and used rattlesnake skin as an inlay on the sheath.

Unfortunately, after I had it completely finished, I noticed a few of the scales starting to come off. I talked to my leather supplier and they said the skin wasn’t tanned properly. Pretty disappointing after putting about 15 hours of work into it, but I guess that’s the way it goes sometimes.

Since the snakeskin sheath didn’t work out, I ended up making a completely different sheath for the knife, which is the other one pictured here.

What do you think of the rattlesnake skin look. Worth trying again with properly tanned skin?

07/28/2026

I hand-forged this 7½-inch Santoku chef’s knife from a 1” round × 4” long piece of 52100 high-carbon steel, known for its exceptional edge retention and cutting performance.

The blade features a brut de forge finish with an S-grind. The lower ½” is convex, while the center 1½” is hollow. This helps reduce friction and food sticking, making it an excellent knife for smooth, effortless slicing.

06/21/2026

This knife has a new Damascus pattern. I used chainsaw chain combined with 400 layers of straight Damascus. I then layered it with copper sheet with a core steel of 80crv2. Finished with a wood burl handle and UltiClip for front-pocket carry.

Thanks for following along and supporting my work!

04/29/2026

This knife is my version of the knife Tom Beringer had in the movie Last of the Dog Men. It’s a full tang 80crv2 steel blade. File work goes around the entire handle. The handle wood is curly maple that has a special finish applied by the person who the knife was made for. I had the handle shaped and hand sanded to 600 grit. He took it home and spent another ten hours on the handle. It’s the most beautiful finish I’ve ever seen.

03/28/2026

Just finished this Twisted W Damascus for a custom order for a young man in Alaska.

The handle is dyed curly maple. It has a 4 1/2” blade with filing detail on decorative spacers.

03/27/2026

EDC Cumia Damascus Knife with 3” Blade and Maple Figured Handle

02/28/2026