steve hostetler

I caught the knife bug in 2004 when my wife had back surgery and i stayed home to help with her recovery. I discovered knife kits on the internet and ordered a couple. It was all downhill from there. As I honed my knife finishing skills (no pun intended), my desire to make my own blades grew. I also learned the necessary leather working skills to make leather sheaths for the knives. Over the next couple of years I eventually acquired the necessary equipment and skills to perform 100% of the knife making and leather working in my own shop.

In June 2007 I retired from the Los Angeles County Auditor and moved to Parks, Arizona, a small town just outside of Flagstaff. Here I took the plunge and set up my shop in the tall pines and started hand making the entire knife and sheath from scratch. This has provided me an artistic outlet in 2 diverse mediums, steel knives and leather sheaths.

It is very important to me that all work on my knives and sheaths is performed by me in my shop. I do use power tools, but all are operated by hand, no CNC mills or lathes. The only things outsourced are specialty folder parts, screws, Damascus steel, and Mokume Gane. All of my knives are made to be used, not just safe queens. I am continually looking or ways to make a better mousetrap without increasing the cost exorbitantly.

My designs all start on paper before being transferred to the steel. Each blank is unique as I find it impossible to follow my designs without a tweak here and there. I prefer to use ATS-34 stainless steel as it provides a good compromise of quality, cost and performance. I also use O-1, 10xx high carbon steels and various makers’ Damascus on occasion.