About Keith Nix Knives:
North Carolina Knife Maker
Family Business, How We Operate
We Are A Family Business, Doing Business Locally Whenever Possible. We treat people the way we like to be treated, by placing a high value on honesty and integrity in all we do.
Learn About Keith Nix Knives And The Knife Making Shop
"My kitchen knives were so dull they wouldn’t cut anything without effort. Keith sharpened them and they’re better than new. Service was quick, easy and reasonably priced. Easy location in Black Mountain. I highly recommend him!"
-Mary
Custom Knife Maker Keith Nix Knives makes custom chef's knives, cleavers, petite chefs, and hand made hunting/outdoor knives. We have an ever-growing group of hunting and outdoor knives, especially for the camper, hiker, backpacker, hunter, or fisher.
We also offer Professional Knife Sharpening Service, blade and scissors sharpening, and knife edge repair for customers and businesses in and around Black Mountain, Asheville, Weaverville, and Greater Western NC.
Black Mountain News Article on Keith Nix Knives
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This is a Family knife making business with outside support. I purchase the steel, design, and make all the custom knives, choose or help you choose the handle material, heat treat, grind, polish, and sharpen your custom knife to exact specifications. Likewise, ALL sharpening jobs are performed by me, and all knife sharpening is finished by hand, at a fixed angle, with a progression of diamond stones.
My son Micah is joining me in the shop 2-3 days a month to assist with building and assembling knives. My daughter Sarah has become my "Marketing and Social Manager," helping with research, developing the newsletter, and posting the great pictures, you see on social media.
My friend Curtis Cooper also assists in the shop, making each custom sheath by hand, fitting every knife perfectly, preparing blades for the heat treat oven, and helping with handle and blade finishing. My friends at Precision Graphics laser etch the logos on knives, embroider caps and apparel, and print T-shirts, forms, receipts, etc. My daughter Sarah Nix has provided some beautiful photos and videos. My friend Ortencia "Tez" Garcia has helped with web design and, hopefully, some future photography. Cooper Metts and The Carolina Photo Journalism Workshop spent most of a week with me making a very professional short video; view it HERE!
Can you see where this is going? I get to make knives and play "Knife Making Business." And I get to hang out and do a little business with people I ENJOY being around! Great job, right?
Knife Sharpening In Black Mountain
Why A Keith Nix Knives Custom Knife?
I take great pains in getting the edge geometry right on your knife, whatever it will be used for.
To me, the edge geometry of your new knife is the most critical part of knife making. Camp knives require more robust blades and edges than chef's knives or veggie choppers like a nakiri. Kitchen knives should be thin, in my opinion. Mass producers make knives way thicker and heavier than they need to be to make them "feel" like they're high quality and as a safeguard against warranty claims. I wonder why we associate weight with quality.
I get the heat treat right on your knife.
This is also a critical part of custom knife making. My ovens are digitally controlled, and my heat treatment protocols are proven, tested, retested, and repeatable. Many "knife makers" don't even own a hardness tester and can only guess what they're selling you.
I don't mind adding extra steps to the heat treatment protocol for a steel if I know it will benefit the end product for the long term.
Learn the basics of Heat Treating HERE, and why I use Liquid Nitrogen HERE!
A lengthy description makes it sound like sorcery, but it boils down to a couple of simple rules:
1) Make the knife hard enough to do the job through hundreds of uses. For me, that is almost always more complicated than 60HRc
2) Make the knife ductile enough to survive the job through hundreds of uses. This requires tempering at least twice
for the right time, at the right temperature.
3) Use heat treat protocols that ensure the finest grain size and carbides for the steel being used
4) Grind the bevels and sharpen the blade appropriately for its intended purpose! I have equipment, jigs, and fixtures to set bevel angles at precise, fixed angles. Keith Nix Knives have no faceting, no "wandering" of the bevel angle, and every knife has a hand-finished, diamond-honed, leather-stropped edge.
I have many unique, beautiful, exotic, locally salvaged, and responsibly sourced wood blocks!
When people look at your knife, most will see the handle first. It may be all they look at. Check out some of the handle materials I offer HERE!
The Keith Nix Knives Handle design fits your hand.
Our beautiful ergonomic handles are designed by and unique to Keith Nix Knives. I chose this handle design that nestles into your hand, has a palm swell for grip and offers ZERO square corners or edges to create "hot spots" in your hand with prolonged use. It isn't the easiest to produce, but it's comfortable and attractive!
I hand sharpen an extremely keen edge on your knife.
I've never seen any factory knife with an even, hand-sharpened edge. They're machine ground, usually freehand, and usually very poorly. Whether purchasing a custom knife or using our professional sharpening service, your knife will receive a hand finished, 3000 grit, hair shaving, leather stropped edge. I provide Professional Knife Sharpening for well over 100 knives a month in addition to what we make and sell, and I'm getting good at it! Check this link to learn how I know I offer the best Local Knife Sharpening available.
Knife Sharpening Q&A
We offer three stainless steels (AEB-L, 14C28N, and CPM MagnaCut), three carbon steels (52100, 80CRV2, and 26C3)and three tool steels (A2, D2, and CPM M4) for you to choose from. All the handmade chef's and kitchen knives at Keith Nix Knives are made from AEB-L stainless unless you specifically ask for a different steel. AEB-L has an outstanding balance of properties, extremely fine grain and carbide structure, exceptional toughness, reasonable cost, good stain resistance, and ease of sharpening. To learn more about AEB-L chef's knives, Read THIS Blog Post!
Your NC custom chef's knife will be built from scratch in Black Mountain. We're just minutes from Asheville, Hendersonville, Weaverville, Candler, or Marion. Give me a call or stop by!