Loveless, R.W. (Bob)
Robert Waldorf Loveless (January 2, 1929 – September 2, 2010), a.k.a. Bob Loveless or RW Loveless, was an American knife maker who designed and popularized the hollowground drop point blade and the use of full tapered tangs and screw-type handle scale fasteners within the art of knifemaking. A hunting knife on the table of nearly any American knifemaker today will show the influence of knifemaker Bob Loveless. In the beginning he turned the knife industry on its ear, and made modern handmade knifemaking possible.
He was at the beginning of everything: The Knifemaker’s Guild, drop point hunters, high quality steels, custom designs, How to Make Knives books, the Japanese Knifemakers Guild, the rise of Japanese cutlery manufacturers, utilizing handmade designs for American manufacturers. You name it and Loveless has had a hand in it. He is cited by other knifemakers and collectors as one of the most innovative custom knife makers in the world. Inducted into the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame in 1985.
