The Story Behind Tennessee Knife Company
Hear directly from our founder about the journey, the discovery of historic knife patterns, and the mission to build knives worthy of being carried, used, and passed down for generations.
The Beginning
A grandson’s first knife brought a passion back to life
This story starts like a lot of good stories do — with a child, a memory, and something passed from one generation to the next.
One day, my grandson Brody came to my house full of excitement. He had just been given his first knife. He asked me if I had any knives, so we went upstairs and pulled out an old knife book I had kept for years, along with a few knives I still had tucked away.
Brody began going through that book, page by page, picking out knives that caught his eye. The more he looked, the more excited he became.
Watching the excitement in his eyes brought something back in me that I had not thought much about in years.
I had always liked knives. When I was in the Army from 1986 to 1989, stationed in California, I bought knives from Smoky Mountain Knife Works. They would ship them out to me, and I would sell a few to the guys in my unit. Back then, it was just something I enjoyed. I never imagined that years later, a moment with my grandson would bring that passion back to life.
After seeing Brody’s excitement, I started buying knives for him — and then for myself. Before long, I was hooked again.
I started collecting Case knives, old knives, fixed blades, English knives, German knives, and especially Schatt & Morgan knives. Schatt & Morgan quickly became one of my favorite companies to collect because of the quality, craftsmanship, and history behind their knives.
For the last 30 years, I have been in manufacturing. So as my interest in knives grew, it was only a matter of time before I began thinking, “Why not make them?”
Queen Cutlery and Schatt & Morgan had gone out of business, and I learned that Cooper Gilbert had purchased the equipment, trademarks, and rights connected to Schatt & Morgan and other old brands. Through research, I found out they were trying to make knives again. I was interested in buying the company, so I contacted Gilbert and arranged a visit.
My wife and I drove to see the factory. She stayed in the truck most of the day because she is not quite as interested in knives as I am. I spent the day with Cooper and his team, looking at the equipment, talking knives, and learning what they were trying to rebuild.
In the end, Gilbert decided not to sell. So we drove back home to Tennessee.
By that time, I had bought a lot of knives — probably more than I knew what to do with. I started thinking about selling some on Facebook. Around that same time, I set up a knife room in my shop where I could re-handle old knives using mammoth, bone, horn, and any other handle material I could find.
I really enjoyed taking an old knife that was worn, damaged, or forgotten and bringing it back to life. There was something special about taking a piece of history and making it useful and beautiful again.
During Spirit of Steel knife show at Smoky Mountain , I met two men who would become friends: Brad Vice with Alabama Damascus and Tim Scott with Blue Grass Cutlery. I visited both of their places, and we talked about knives, steel, production, and processes — the kind of conversations I love because they connect directly to my manufacturing background.
American Knife History
Forgotten patterns. New purpose
Then one day, while traveling and searching for knives, I came across a man in his eighties who had some old knife-related items. He did not know exactly what they were or how they had been used. He only knew they had something to do with knife making.
I was able to make a deal for all the knife-related items he had.
The items had come from the old Queen factory, and the man said he had owned them since the early 1970s. While loading everything, I discovered something that stopped me in my tracks — old turn of the century knife patterns from the factory.
At first, I did not have time to go through all the boxes. There were box after box of old patterns. But once I got them home and started sorting through them, I realized what we had found.
There were more than 400 different knife patterns. Many dated back to famous and long-forgotten American knife brands, including Excelsior Knife Co., Northfield, Tidioute, Continental, Hackett Gates, Hartkey, Napanoch, Henry, Sears Union Knife Works, Cattaraugus, Case Brothers, and others.
These were not just old pieces of metal or paper. They were part of American knife-making history.
Standing there, looking at patterns from before the turn of the century, I knew we had found something special. These were the kinds of knives that helped build the American knife industry, and America. They represented craftsmanship, pride, hard work, and a time when a knife was not just a tool — it was something a man carried, used, trusted, and passed down.
That is when the idea became clear.
We would bring these old forgotten patterns back to life.
Tennessee Knife Company was born from that idea: to take the best of America’s knife-making past and build it again with modern manufacturing, American steel, skilled hands, and a story worth carrying forward.
It started with my grandson’s first knife.
It grew from a lifetime of manufacturing, collecting, restoring, and chasing American knife history.
And now, it continues with a mission: to build knives worthy of being carried, used, collected, and passed down for generations.
Tennessee Knife Company — built from history, made in Tennessee, and carried into the future.
First Blade Program
Why We Give a First Blade
The First Blade program came from one simple moment.
It came from the excitement I saw in my grandson Brody’s eyes when he received his first knife.
That moment stayed with me.
There was something honest and powerful about it. It was not just excitement over an object. It was the feeling of being trusted. It was the feeling of being included. It was a young boy realizing that someone believed he was ready to carry something meaningful.
That first knife meant something.
It marked a step forward. It was a symbol of responsibility, tradition, and growing up. It connected him to something older than himself — to fathers, grandfathers, hunters, soldiers, craftsmen, and the American outdoors.
When I saw that excitement, I knew I wanted other young hunters to feel the same thing.
That is where the idea for First Blade came from.
At Tennessee Knife Company, we believe a first harvest deserves to be remembered. For many young hunters, their first deer, first turkey, or first successful hunt is a moment they will never forget. It is more than a hunt. It is a rite of passage.
It is a story that will be told at the dinner table, at deer camp, around the fire, and years later when that young hunter becomes the one teaching the next generation.
We wanted to honor that moment with something real.
So we created a program built around a simple promise:
When we sell a knife, we give a First Blade to a new hunter.
That knife is not just a gift. It is a reminder.
A reminder of their first harvest.
A reminder of who stood beside them.
A reminder that they are now part of a tradition.
A reminder that hunting, stewardship, responsibility, and respect for the outdoors must be passed on.
The First Blade program is our way of sharing the same excitement I saw in Brody.
It is our way of paying it forward.
Every knife we build carries a piece of that mission. Every customer who buys from Tennessee Knife Company helps place a First Blade into the hands of a young hunter who has earned that moment.
That is what makes this company different.
We are not just making knives.
We are helping create memories.
We are helping families celebrate first harvests.
We are helping keep American outdoor tradition alive.
And we are making sure that the next generation has something in their hand that reminds them where they came from, who believed in them, and what they are now trusted to carry forward.
First Blade — given with purpose, carried with pride, and remembered for a lifetime.