Interview: Mike Malosh

Back in 2009 and 2010, KnivesShipFree published a monthly newsletter called From the Edge. One of its recurring features was an interview with a knifemaker or industry executive. We thought you'd be interested in visiting these conversations again, so we're presenting them here on the KnivesShipFree Blog.

This is our interview with Mike Malosh of Chaser Handmade Knives -- enjoy.

Interview: Mike Malosh

Kicking back with the creator of Chaser Handmade Knives

Looking at the hand-forged work of Mike Malosh, it's obvious that he's one talented knifemaker. And while that may be so, it's also true that Mike is just like the rest of us -- a kid with a pocketknife, a son who owes a debt to his father, a father who wants nothing more than to pass his craft to his son.

The tale of Chaser Handmade Knives -- which takes its name from Mike's son, Chase -- is a compelling one, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to spend a few minutes with the man at the center of the story.

KnivesShipFree: In the "About" section of your website, you talk about your influences -- your dad, your childhood and so forth. What are some of the experiences that happened along the way? What moments stand out in your memory?

Mike Malosh: Well, my first knife was a Barlow that my grandpa gave me when I was four years old. I remember that pretty clearly because my mother had a fit, but Grandpa said that every boy needed a knife and I was old enough. I still have it to this day -- it's in rough shape, but I have it.

The second knife I remember vividly was a red-handled Colonial fish knife. My uncle gave it to me on my first trip to Canada when I was eight. I'd forgotten my Barlow at home, and I was the only grandson out of five that didn't have a knife. Later, I'm not sure when, it came up missing. I've been looking for at least eight years for a replacement -- all over the Internet, knife shows, you name it. It's almost the "holy grail" to me now.

My first dive into making knives was when I was 13 or so, one day when my dad was at work. I went into his shop and cut a hatchet head and a machete out of some cold-rolled steel. I managed to hide the evidence from him for all of ten minutes -- when he got home he saw the leftovers, the cutouts on his saw table. He checked my fingers to make sure I hadn't cut or ground them off. Once Dad was satisfied that I was still in one piece, he turned me loose on the unsuspecting woods behind the house.

I remember reading that knives could be made out of files, so I found a few of Dad's files -- ones that were brand-new, still in the box -- and ground a couple. (That didn't go over as well as the cold-rolled machete and hatchet.) The first knives I made from files broke pretty easily, and now I know why.

I owned many factory knives after that. The first year I was married, 1994, I read a story about bird-and-trout knives, and I liked one in particular -- it was made by Bob Dozier and cost a whole $75.00! My new wife saw my excitement and surprised me with it on my birthday. I still use it once or twice every squirrel season, still razor-sharp D2.

I've collected many knives from many makers over the years, but in the last five years I've collected mostly Treeman knives.

KSF: You mention the influence of Behring on the knives you make today -- beyond what's obvious to the eye, what about Behring knives do you draw on? Any other major influences?

MM: Of course, when you look at a Behring knife, the first thing that comes to mind is flow. I work hard to have my knives fit your hand like an old friend's handshake, like his. The subtle colors of the spacers...if you look, you'll notice that there are normally just five colors of spacers but the arrangements you can come up with are endless, making every knife different and unique.

The other influence I've had is Ruana knives. His knives have a little bit of a sweep to the blade but are straighter -- Scagel knives have sweep in them more like a skinner has. I like a straighter blade, so that's how I make my version. I guess it's a mix of both styles.

Recently I've been looking real hard at Don Hanson's and Matt Lamey's work. Those guys make big knives with hamons and that has really caught my interest. So maybe that's next for me, but I'll always make Scagel knives -- they just have a way about them that's hard to ignore.

KSF: What do you expect of a knife? What do you build your knives to be and do?

MM: To cut! Knives are no good if they don't cut and hold an edge. Every single knife I make is tested in three major ways.

All my knives are sent thru leather and rope to make sure they cut. If the knife is a trout-and-bird, it has a finer edge to cut keenly like a scalpel. A hunter has to cut keenly, but edge geometry is also a big consideration for heavier cutting -- breast bones and pelvic bones. A camp knife is tested on both rope and leather, but I also give it the chop test -- I have some elk antlers that I use for that.

Heat-treat and edge geometry go hand-in-hand -- that's my biggest concern. No blade of mine gets a guard or a handle put on until it's tested for its intended purpose.

Just last year I had a knife returned from a bear hunter. He called and said that the edge near the tip on his trout-and-bird was chipped. I was baffled -- I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. I wanted it back, of course, to see what the story was. The owner sent it back with pictures and then he called me, laughing about how he uses it to pry-out bears' teeth for our DNR officials. Once I realized what he was doing I reground the knife to still cut keenly, but I changed the tip geometry so he could pry with it. It now works perfectly, I'm told.

KSF: In a world of exotic steels and "tacticool" knives, why O-1? Why forging?

MM: I made my first 20 knives by stock removal out of O-1 because that's the steel Behring used. Now a Scagel knife is forged, and Jim forged, so I decided that I was going to forge. The funny thing is that the actual forging process that everybody is so fascinated with is the quickest process of knifemaking.

Back to the steel -- O-1 is, in my eyes, just super-good steel. It's expensive, but the benefits from this steel are simply awesome. It holds an edge forever and is easy to put the edge back on when it gets dull.

I've been purchasing some W2 and 1095 to learn some new steels and see how they stack up. The new steels are good and they'll hold an edge real well, but when time comes to sharpen them, they're so hard that they don't sharpen easily with a stone -- I'm a first-hand witness to it. I think that's why Lansky now supplies diamond attachments with its kits. Regular stones just don't touch the new stainless steels.

KSF: Related to the last question, why do you choose the handle materials and designs that you do? Is it simple nostalgia, tradition, function or something else?

MM: Nostalgia, tradition, function -- I'd say for all those reasons, plus they seem organic. Stag and leather with a touch of brass, copper, aluminum, red and black vulcanized fiber...man, it just flows together like it grew that way.

KSF: You're a machinist by trade. When you get off work at Brown Machine and go into your knifemaking shop, does your "day job" influence your knifemaking? Also, has your experience as a knifemaker shaped your work as a machinist?

MM: Yes, both -- and sometimes horribly. I think most machinist-knifemakers would agree that your eye gets used to seeing 0.0015" difference and it drives you batty when you see a slight bow in a blade or a tiny gap in a handle. Even though I've been off the floor for about four years, I still have that eye.

As for my knifemaking influencing my work, when I actually make chips these days, sadly the machines I work on now are CNC. These machines are amazing, but they have no soul like a nice old Bridgeport mill or Monarch lathe.

KSF: Getting back to your influences, it sounds like you're standing between two generations -- holding a craft that was passed to you, waiting for the day that you can return the favor. Is that how you see yourself? How important it is that your kind of knifemaking be kept alive?

MM: It's very important to me. Sadly, I see the world going to more "throw-away things" all the time.

I do hope my son, Chase, decides that he'd like to make knives. He's showing more interest all the time, but I don't push him. I have a nephew, Jacob, that came out to the shop a few weeks back and he forged a knife with me. He's a good boy, and I could see a little bit of a spark when he was hammering, so hopefully I can pass something down to my son and my nephew.

There are a lot of makers in this world, but also a lot of makers leaving the craft. If I can pass something down to another generation, hopefully they'll do the same and there will be Scagel-style knives for generations to come.

KSF: One more question -- why in the world would anyone be a Detroit Tigers fan?

MM: My grandpa -- the one who gave me the Barlow -- was a rabid Tigers fan first and a baseball fan second. He was one of those guys who could remember stats from all over baseball from years past. I can't do that, but I've always followed my Tigers.

I remember going through the Atlanta airport in 2006, wearing my Tigers hat, and a Braves fan told me that it took a lot of courage for me to wear my hat there. I told him no, it took a whole lot more courage to wear a Tigers hat in 2002 and 2003 when they lost 100-plus games.

Tigers baseball is and always will be a big part of my life.