Early Knifemaking
Reeve began his knife-making career by chance. Before being called up for a 3-month compulsory military service period in 1975 on the Mozambique / South African border, he noted that the standard army kit did not include a good all-purpose knife. As a result, Reeve decided to design and make one.
A subsequent three-month military service period in 1978 was spent on the Angola/ Namibia border. Reeve had previously designed and made for himself a hidden tang knife with a wooden handle, inlaid with silver wire. The climate in Durban where the knife was made is hot and humid, while the Angola/ Namibia area is semi-desert. After a few days in the dry air, the wooden handle had dried and large cracks appeared. This set Reeve thinking about a knife that could be used across all climates without such damage. The idea of an all-steel knife, with both handle and blade made from a single solid bar, started to germinate. Reeve’s resulting one piece knife concept was first produced as a custom knife in 1982. The one piece concept hit production as the 7 inch bladed MK IV, with 40 pieces becoming available for sale early in 1983. Chris stopped tool making and became a full-time knifemaker in January 1984.
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Famous quotes containing the word early:
“In the early forties and fifties almost everybody “had about enough to live on,” and young ladies dressed well on a hundred dollars a year. The daughters of the richest man in Boston were dressed with scrupulous plainness, and the wife and mother owned one brocade, which did service for several years. Display was considered vulgar. Now, alas! only Queen Victoria dares to go shabby.”
—M. E. W. Sherwood (1826–1903)