As a craftsman and engineer, Mike La Franchie possesses an intimate knowledge of the interplay between steel composition, heat treatment, and blade geometry. This expertise allows for the creation of knives that excel in performance and durability. With precise control over the heat treatment process, Mike strikes the perfect balance between hardness and flexibility, yielding blades with exceptional sharpness, remarkable edge retention, and effortless sharpening.
After 20 years engineering, I felt a desire to explore my creative side and pay more attention to form than typically allowed in the engineering workplace. Home is Taranaki New Zealand, yet it was during a period living in Texas that I discovered the craft of knife making. In 2018 I began crafting stainless steel blades with a focus on practical benefits, such as rust resistance. After the first 200 blades, I was eager for new challenges and sought to differentiate my products further, emphasizing their uniqueness. While modern stainless steels can offer excellent hardness, fine grain structure and durability, damascus steel is the medium I choose to work with. I express myself in functional tools made from beautiful san mai and damascus patterns. I combine millennia old concepts with a deep understanding of modern metallurgical science, utilizing the best technology and knowledge available today.
I have a passion for recycling materials that would otherwise be scrapped. Wherever possible I give material a second life. A favorite with many blade users is 52100 bearing steel. It takes longer and ultimately costs more to recycle industrial bearings into cutlery, however the extra work provides value to the environment and each blade has more of a story to tell. Another favorite material is wrought iron, which has not been made for well over 100 years. Each piece of wrought iron is a unique piece of history from an era where steel revolutionized human civilization. Hand made using technology that was superseded in 1855 each piece of wrought iron would tell an interesting story if it could talk. My work is made entirely with my hands, is individually forged, and no two are ever exactly the same. I have no desire to produce production runs, instead each blade is a hand crafted expression of the place and time of its creation. Usage of these materials and techniques creates unique knives with more soul.