Making knives has been a passion of mine since 1978 while in the U.S. Navy my ship was anchored in Yokohama Japan for six months. My off time was spent just walking around taking in the culture when I came upon a shop where a group was folding steel for a samurai sword. Watching the care and skill needed struck a cord in me. My ship the USS Hector was a repair shop and had all the tools and equipment I could ever need, so I started on a journey making knives that have lasted over thirty years. Through trial and error and asking questions of anyone I could I slowly developed my own style. One thing I have noticed is that almost every knife maker shapes their handles the same way. Flat on the sides not much wider than the bolster, flat on the top and bottom with a small radius at the corners. What I just described is a square or rectangle. One problem with this is when you close your hand your grip is closer to round than square. With that in mind, I make my knife handles rounded not flat.
This rounded handle shape fits snugly in your closed fingers much better. This allows more control and comfort. This design also makes the handles bigger which adds to ease of use. Many men love to cook and when they hold one of my knives for the first time you can see in their eyes how good it feels in their hand. Another advantage of the bigger handled is if you or someone you know has trouble gripping things, these knives are much easier and safer to use.
So if you decide to try one of my knives know that I stand behind every piece I make right here in Lahaina Town. I hope you will enjoy using it for many years to come.
Mahalo
John Whittle
As you can see the sides of these knives are rounded.
