There is a master knife maker among us !

[elena86]

Thank you Chad Kelly aka Xplorer for your superb work ! The custom knife you did for me is stunning ! Can't wait to carry and use this beauty in Vanax :)

[Naperville]

Congratulations, all around!

It looks nice. I wish that Spyderco would do a few fixed, full-tang (exposed) knives like that.

What steel is it? Vanax?

[elena86]

Vanax

[Deadboxhero]

Chad Kelly is my favorite maker.

His knives are all painfully handmade but with exotic steels with the top Heat treatment and geometry for the given use.

I love my CK Vanax EDC fixed I got from him.

The best Vanax blade you can buy is from Chad.

That is the best way to experience Vanax

[Xplorer]

Your subject line got me all excited to see who the knife maker was. What a let-down :D :D . lol

I'm really flattered! However, Master Knife Maker is a real thing that I very much aspire to be one day, but I have many more years (possibly decades) of hard work ahead of me before I attain that goal. For now, I prefer the title..semi-professional squirrel chasing a nut.

Thank you very much for the kind words. I'm just really happy to see it arrived all the way over there! I hope you enjoy your new Vanax knife.

Best regards,

Chad

[Deadboxhero]

Treasure that blade. That's one of the best ones he's made.

Absolutely gorgeous and hard to get given the limited nature of high quality handmade work.

Thank you Chad Kelly aka Xplorer for your superb work ! The custom knife you did for me is stunning ! Can't wait to carry and use this beauty in Vanax :)

[Xplorer]

...I love my CK Vanax EDC fixed I got from him...

Thank you Shawn. I'm blushing. Talking and working with an edge guru, sharpening master and talented custom maker like you has raised my game substantially and I look forward to the progress we both make in the future. I know what you're working on right now and I'm like a little kid anxiously waiting to see :D :D .

I'm glad you like that blade but the next one is going to be sooooo much nicer! :D

CK

[bearfacedkiller]

Chad, you have an artistic ability for sure. Keep up the good work!

[Xplorer]

Thank you Darby! I think it comes from eating crayons as a kid..not sure though.

[steelcity16]

Beautiful! I am not a fixed blade guy, but that is one fine blade there. Put me first in line for a Vanax folder!

[David R]

Great looking all the way around. Where do we get in line?

[Xplorer]

Beautiful! I am not a fixed blade guy, but that is one fine blade there. Put me first in line for a Vanax folder!

Thank you! :) I am indeed working on the folder. I have a feeling the price tag on a custom Ti frame Vanax folder would cause most people here to jump right back out of that line and ask when Spyderco is going to offer one instead . That reality is partly why I own so many Spyderco collaboration knives. They're the best value in knives IMO. When Spyderco does a collaboration you get 95% of what you get with the custom knife at about 20% of the price. I'm working each day to develop designs worthy of submitting and hopefully one of these days I'll be lucky enough to work with Spyderco to bring you a production Vanax folder. :) :spyder:

[Bloke]

Beautiful work as always Chad. I saw pictures of a the fillet knife you made for Gringo a while back to ... work of art! :cool:

[Xplorer]

Great looking all the way around. Where do we get in line?

Thank you very much David. Of course I don't want this to turn into any sort of discussion about buying or selling anything. There's no line because I don't take orders for knives. I make them and when I'm happy with them they become available to whomever wants them at that time.

Best regards,
CK

[Xplorer]

Beautiful work as always Chad. I saw pictures of a the fillet knife you made for Gringo a while back to ... work of art! :cool:

Thanks Bloke! :) The wave handle fillet, or the other 2?

[Bloke]

Beautiful work as always Chad. I saw pictures of a the fillet knife you made for Gringo a while back to ... work of art! :cool:

Thanks Bloke! :) The wave handle fillet, or the other 2?

Hey Chad, it was the wave handle fillet. An absolute beauty. :)

[Doeswhateveraspidercan]

Beautiful work and I hope Spyderco lets this thread stand otherwise I would have missed seeing this.I hope Spyderco works with you on a collaboration in the near future.

[ZrowsN1s]

beautiful work

[David R]

Great looking all the way around. Where do we get in line?

Thank you very much David. Of course I don't want this to turn into any sort of discussion about buying or selling anything. There's no line because I don't take orders for knives. I make them and when I'm happy with them they become available to whomever wants them at that time.

Best regards,
CK

Got it. So a daily email asking if you have any is the best approach. Kidding, sort of.

Mentioned this in a different thread (I think), but really appreciate that guys like you, BBB, and Stuart Ackerman are here to help enlighten us. It's awesome. (No offense to any makers I omitted. New here - I'll get the others with time.)

[Xplorer]

... I saw pictures of a the fillet knife you made for Gringo a while back to ... work of art! :cool:

Thanks Bloke! :) The wave handle fillet, or the other 2?

Hey Chad, it was the wave handle fillet. An absolute beauty. :)

Thank you. I'm really glad you liked it. Yah...that one was the most difficult handle I've done. Lance was nice enough to just say "do whatever you want with the handle colors" and I was just ignorant and arrogant enough to think "I can make it look like a wave in the ocean since it's going to Lance" :confused: . Hand rubbing that big blade in CPM20CV was hard enough, but during the making of that handle there was a time when I thought I might be hand filing those wave pieces for the rest of my life. Thankfully it turned out nice and I didn't have to start over. Lance says he likes it and that's all that really matters to me. :)