Fixed Blade with Ivory and Abalone

Watts, Rod

"I made my first knife in 2008 under the direction of my friend and mentor Rusty Preston. We are blessed to have a vacation home across the street from Rusty in Port Isabel, Texas. As most of you know Rusty is a well known slip joint maker and so my early knives were also slip joint folders. In 2009 I started making fixed blades and the majority of my knives since have been fixed blades. The file work I learned to do on the early folders has been very helpful in making the fixed blade knives appealing to collectors and has proven to be a real niche. I have come a long way in a few years with help from guys like Rusty and Steve Johnson. I was very fortunate to spend some time in Steve's shop early 2011, what an amazing opportunity. With the help and knowledge gleaned from these guys I was able to win the best new maker award at the 2011 Blade show in Atlanta with a mammoth tooth fighter. Most of my fixed blades now feature mammoth tooth or fossil coral. I also do a lot of mammoth ivory and stag."