What Is A Mid Tech Knife?
Published: 12 years ago
Quote from Ken Onion:
"Mid-Tech is a class of knives I created a few years ago to put a dividing line between custom and production. I wanted to discontinue my Boa knife a few years ago due to bordom but the demand was still so high I didn't dare . So I decided to get the parts cut out for me and I would do the grinding shaping and finnishing myself .Problem was , I didn't want everyone to assume I did all my knives this way. I needed to devise a way to differentiate between my custom and these knives I had subbed out part of .The answer was Mid-Tech, by creating a new category of knives somewhere between custom and production and marketing as such these "Mid-Tech" knives would clearly establish a dividing line between custom and Mid-Tech or less than 100% authorship. Honesty is the key here . Since then there are those that have adopted the term Mid-Tech and defined it differently than I, which I don't agree with. I installed a dividing line between custom and Mid-Tech but failed to mention that if a knife is all subbed out it is still a PRODUCTION KNIFE. There are alot of makers and posers that think that by assembling a knife they farmed out 90%, sharpening it and logoing it it is Mid-Tech . It is not a Mid-Tech it is primarily factory made and therefore is a Production knife. Now I don't know what % authorship a knife needs to have to be called a Mid-Tech, didn't think it necessary but things bieng as they are there are those that will split hairs and do as little as possable by hand and use the term Mid-Tech where the spirit of the term is lost . Again always ask how much was hand made by the guy or gal whose name appears on the knife. Honor and Honesty are key and as much as we don't like to hear it there are some sneaky, treacherous, predators out there who will deliberately mislead in order to turn a quick buck. Most are credible, honest folk just trying to make a living. Don't let the 10% ruin the credibility of the 90%."
"Mid-Tech is a class of knives I created a few years ago to put a dividing line between custom and production. I wanted to discontinue my Boa knife a few years ago due to bordom but the demand was still so high I didn't dare . So I decided to get the parts cut out for me and I would do the grinding shaping and finnishing myself .Problem was , I didn't want everyone to assume I did all my knives this way. I needed to devise a way to differentiate between my custom and these knives I had subbed out part of .The answer was Mid-Tech, by creating a new category of knives somewhere between custom and production and marketing as such these "Mid-Tech" knives would clearly establish a dividing line between custom and Mid-Tech or less than 100% authorship. Honesty is the key here . Since then there are those that have adopted the term Mid-Tech and defined it differently than I, which I don't agree with. I installed a dividing line between custom and Mid-Tech but failed to mention that if a knife is all subbed out it is still a PRODUCTION KNIFE. There are alot of makers and posers that think that by assembling a knife they farmed out 90%, sharpening it and logoing it it is Mid-Tech . It is not a Mid-Tech it is primarily factory made and therefore is a Production knife. Now I don't know what % authorship a knife needs to have to be called a Mid-Tech, didn't think it necessary but things bieng as they are there are those that will split hairs and do as little as possable by hand and use the term Mid-Tech where the spirit of the term is lost . Again always ask how much was hand made by the guy or gal whose name appears on the knife. Honor and Honesty are key and as much as we don't like to hear it there are some sneaky, treacherous, predators out there who will deliberately mislead in order to turn a quick buck. Most are credible, honest folk just trying to make a living. Don't let the 10% ruin the credibility of the 90%."