Portland Knife Maker

[Hog King]

I'd like to let you all know of a great knife maker and a one heck of a good guy over in Portland.

As some of you may recall, our elk camp was torched last year and we lost our entire hunting set up except our rifles & pistols and the clothes on our backs. Among the items lost was a knife, a Western, that I had had since high school back in 1973 or 1974. I looked it up in an old catalog from 1973 and it cost $8.99 at that time. It was pretty much priceless to me.

I found the knife in the debris, totally shot to heck, handle burnt off and just a piece of rusty steel. This really bummed me out because of all the salmon, trout, crappie, catfish, deer, elk and a bear that that knife & I had shared over the years. Dang near cut my finger off with it while cleaning a salmon. Still carry the scar. That sucker sure held an edge! Best knife I ever owned.

I had hoped to pass this knife on to my grandson when he was old enough to appreciate it for what it was. Really bummed me out. Well....for some reason I hung on to it rather than toss it in the scrap heap.

I talked to a local knife maker that was at the gun show at the Expo Center back in March and told him my story. He said to bring it by his shop and he'd take a look at it.

Well he took the knife and retempered it and it looks dang near like new! Just a little pitting from the fire which adds some character. Not only did he bring my knife back to life, he also gave me some iron wood and cocobolo wood for the handle.

This guy was awarded the "New Knife Maker of the Year" award last year at the Eugene show and got 2 more awards this year. I've seen his work & it is fantastic.

His name is Alan Warren.

I'll be thinking of Alan every time I use it.

Alan.........Thanks man.

[HntnFsh]

Thats too cool.Another great memory to add to the list.That knife has gotta have some character to it.