Box Elder Burl Hunter

Lee, Randy

Randy’s fascination with knives began as a young man when he made his first knife in a high school “metals” class. He collected them for years and eventually began making his own to get a better edge-holding skinner for hunting. Randy read books and visited local makers to learn the craft. In 1979, he decided to invest in shop equipment so that he could properly master his knife making skills. In a few years, he was making and selling knives to local hunters, while continually developing his style and craftsmanship. He attended his first knife show in 1986 and has been participating in about six shows each year since then. As an avid hunter, Randy knows how a good hunting knife should perform. He loves to “field-test” his designs and feels that a quality knife should not only look great, but perform well as a tool. He offers a wide variety of knife styles; from utility hunters and fighters to collector pieces such as daggers and bowies. Although the actual work of grinding and buffing knives is very tedious, he always finds it rewarding to see the final finished product. Randy particularly enjoys meeting people who find knives as interesting and exciting as he does. Randy’s wife, Sonja Lee, is one of the premier sheath makers in the business. Using exotic hides, or leather and various forms of tooling, she has mastered the craft of sheath making. Sonja creates the custom sheaths which are provided for each of Randy Lee’s knives and she is now making custom sheaths for many other knife makers and collectors.