About Dave Ellis

Bladesmith from 1988 to retirement. ABS Mastersmith. Now a dealer, collector and storyteller of the custom knife world.

The maker years

After much experimentation and research, in 1988 Dave decided that forging was the preferred method of producing quality blades — and for the decades that followed, he forged, ground, heat-treated and finished every knife personally. No helpers in the shop, no outside heat-treating. His steels of choice: high-carbon 5160, 1095, 1060, O-1 and 52100, along with his own pattern-welded Damascus and cable Damascus. Carbon steel blades were double or triple hardened and tempered four times for toughness.

He specialized in fighters and bowie knives, most of them truly one of a kind — no set patterns. Many blades were hand-finished to 400 grit, some showing one, two or three distinct temper lines: hard edge, soft spine, the signature of a properly forged blade.

The Mastersmith rating

Dave tested for the American Bladesmith Society's Mastersmith rating in the Oregon shop of Mastersmith Wayne Goddard — a 300-layer pattern-welded Damascus test blade through the rope cut, the two-by-four chop, and the 90-degree bend, with no cracking at the edge. Read what the test involves or see the magazine coverage.

Now

Dave has retired from the forge and no longer takes commissions. He remains at the center of the custom knife world as the dealer behind Exquisite Knives — rare and investment-grade pieces by the great makers — and shares that world on YouTube (@exquisiteknivesofficial).