Cholla Wharncliffe

Tyre, Mike

I have always been a knife nut. The real obsession began after attending the Mesa Knife Collector's show. I met D'Alton Holder who assured me I could make a quality knife. I spent time in his shop learning the basics of knife making. The biggest challenge was learning to grind free hand (bucket full of mistakes to prove it). One day it just worked and I started selling fixed blade knives in 1999. The folder bug bit me and in 2003 I contacted Johnny Stout who allowed me to spend a week working in his shop. He showed me the basics for crafting a high quality liner lock. I also build slip joints in the traditional patterns. I spent time with Bill Ruple learning to do it the right way. I do 60% of my own heat treating.I attended the University of Wisconsin as an art major. I'm a U.S. army veteran of Vietnam. I'm a member of A.B.S., Arizona Knife Collectors, and Southern Cal Blades.My goals are simple - to make a knife to last generations and to have a lot of fun building knives.