Construction started in May of 2016 & completed by the end of November. This custom built 1,100 sf. facility is complete with all of the comforts of home, minus a bathroom. Built on my private residence located in rural Loomis, California. Loomis resides in the foothills of the Sierras.
Welcome to the beautiful Loomis Basin, one of the best places to live and visit in the State of California! Nestled in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, Loomis, Penryn, and Newcastle offer a lifestyle reminiscent of a friendly, old-fashioned community.
While South Placer County is one of the fastest growing areas in the state, Loomis and the surrounding area has been able to maintain its rural atmosphere and keep growth to a minimum
All Glory to the LORD my God, The Holy ONE of Israel through Jesus Christ of Nazareth who has taught me and continues to teach me how to work with these hands to do Good things that bring him glory in some way. I praise his holy name for the love he has shown me by coming down out of Heaven to endure the painful evils of this fallen world. He endured not only the painful death of the cross, but he also endured the shameful acts men committed not only towards him but towards others that he loves.
John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Thank you for your interest in our work. Grace and Peace to you from God our Father & the Lord Jesus Christ. [Philippians 1:2]
As an effort to be transparent in both my work ethics and personality, I have decided to display my work practices and work history log.
The main purpose of doing this is to both give credit to anyone whom I have taken or borrowed from in the industry and to show my personal discoveries in a historical manner. Taken is using things without asking and borrowing is using after asking and receiving permission. Some of the things I have done in the past were taken but now I would certainly always ask first unless I error.
The custom made material entries are not all ordered by sequential number but they are all ordered by year. My work progression explanation is ordered from the beginning.
This is the second knife ever done by Garett Finney. The first one as I remember was a similar clean design with a matching color combination.
The first knife ever crafted by Garett was done with the help and guidance of David Kopec. who did most of the work on it. I pretty much just listened and watched.
On this knife I chose a simple design with a bright semi matching color combination. I chose 2 materials that matched and one that did not. The orange has nothing to do with the purples, blues, and greens, The black or darker tones are however found in all of the materials used so they are tied together.
I was taught to fit pieces, cut, sand, polish, and glue without the use of any power machinery minus the mini bandsaw and belt sander which I only used on 36 grit to hog down the pieces. I removed the scratches completely by hand with sandpaper on my first 25-45 knives as I recall.
I came across Michael Prater's work, at which time I realized that I needed more tools to make new markings on my knives. I used his tooling examples to craft my own unique markings, designs and patterns.
I noticed that one day, he also used my examples to also apply to his work. We all share ideas. Just make sure your work does not too closely mimick anyone elses, unless they don't mind. Ideas are one thing, copies are another.
This idea of engraving or stippling as some call it on a knife is no new concept but the patterns made by a certain tool with certain attachments are, or at least were new at some point in time. Prater may have discovered making patterns on knives with the Dremel tool and attachments.
Another small brass Lockback folder I did near the beginning of my career.
This time I added file worked spacers that surrounded the diamond Abalone centerpiece.
At this point, I am not sure if I had ever seen a David Yellowhorse knife with his Lacy Spacers in them. This file work has a similar effect. I now use the Lacy Spacer that was pioneered by David Yellowhorse. He made a great discovery for knife spacers. He gave me his blessing to use them in my art.
This knife was a third attempt at creating a new design and improving my bolster work or engraving on the sides and back of the knife. This knife is a nice progression and further step into learning a more complex set of inlay patterns and techniques.
I did have a hand full of these cheap but decent Winchester folders to work on. I continued to test new colors and inlay designs that were new to me along with new bolster patterns.
This time I added my very first file work which is very unimpressive and a humble start. It makes me cringe when I see it now but I had to learn.
I also used many composite materials that I do not use anymore. Specifically Colored plastics. As I progressed I decided that only the finest materials would do. I now mix colored plastics with natural materials to create a new material.
A knife long Gone, you can see the file work progression on the very next knife. The idea was to keep adding until a complete look is achieved.
I was liking the tooling marks this bit was making on the knives so I stuck to it for awhile.
I gave this knife to a friend Dr. K.
A knife or 2 later, I started trying to match the bolsters to the handle material. The results speak for themselves. I still use this concept today. I did not see this concept anywhere else at work in the knife industry. Some then started doing it after I did. I always kept an eye out. I would search the internet to make sure my ideas were mine first.
I made my first material in 2013 and it was real sharks teeth cast in blue. No one else was casting anything but pine cones, acorn caps, and sweet gum pods at this time. I checked and only the pen guys were casting stuff. I sold this knife for $150 on eBay at the time.
Again in 2013, looking for new ideas for my knives without any other outside influence. I found out that I could put certain fossils into my knives. The first one was a fossil fish. Shortly after the fossil fish followed: Fossil Trilobites, Fossil leaves, fossil ferns, and other fossils.
This knife went to blade show with someone and was purchased by a Buck Knives employee. After that, "110Dave" Purchased one.
Again in 2013, in another attempt to try something new. I tried to add color to the bolsters by mixing dye with CA glue. For some reason, it worked only once. After that, it set off to quick. I couldn't mix it.
I searched for other ways to add color and without any results, I gave up for a while. Later on, I found another way to do it.
in 2013 I had enough scraps to cast a mix of different gemstone composites into 1 single material. I mixed it with black on the first try.
Any knifemaker/customizer who creates his own materials will make this one.
in 2014 I was still on the search for new materials to cast. I wanted to come up with my own ideas and materials for knives. Sea Urchin Spines are pretty cool looking in knives!
At this time knife guys still weren't making anything in the way of materials. They were buying what was available which was almost nothing still.
At this time my file work was getting better but still very unrefined.
2014 was a big year in my progress/ product development with real scorpions inlaid into this knife. I thought putting bugs into knives would be a cool factor.
Also, this knife was the first knife where I thought about adding black to my bolsters to make them pop and define certain areas. No one else in our industry put black in the bolsters unless it was scrollwork.
Around the same time, I decided to chop some lab opals and cast them in a matrix. You couldn't find anything like this and even now in 2019, I don't think it's available anywhere. These things smell ridiculously chemically stinky, If I can even say that.
I also decided to install mosaic pins in the bolsters. I did not see anyone doing it but I'm sure they have because mosaic pins have been around for a very long time.
in 2014, I started using geometric patterns and other patterns filled in with black in the bolsters on my buck 110 knives. I figured that no one else would ever do this because it was something that was very specialized and personal but I was wrong. years later others started to do this very thing.
in 2014, The worlds first watch parts resin cast knife was made. The idea came from what had already been accomplished for pens. I saw these watch parts pens and ported it over to knives.
I searched high and low on the internet using all of the keywords on google that I could find, and no one had ever done this on a knife.
In 2014, I was doing geometric patterns for a while before I added black to them as seen on this Buck 110 with Cholla cactus.
The pen guys were using this and Banksia pods in their pens so I brought them over to the knife world
In 2014, I found out that casting things in clear and using them as inlay or centerpieces surrounded by other stones was a good thing. I still use this concept.
In 2014, I was looking for anything that I could put into a colored mix. I searched outside and places like eBay for Ideas. I had a feeling these teeth would look nice in a knife.
In 2014, I found meteorites on eBay. These things look really good in knives and are another Finney Knives original discovery.
2014 was a big year where I was heavily searching for new things to put into my knives. I discovered that shells were a good thing to put into a knife. People still weren't making many materials at this point.
2014, I saw the pen guys putting exotic bird feathers into pens so I put them into knives
2014, I saw some of this antique barbed wire from a generation past. Turns out I could fit it into a knife after flattening it a bit. This wire was recovered from a country property.
The end of 2014, I discovered fan coral which is kind of soft and bendy. A really nice addition to any collection. I don't think anyone has replicated this discovery so far as of the end of 2019. I really enjoy the natural beauty of this material and I look forward to doing more knives with this material using different inlay and design techniques.
Again at the end of 2014, I thought that Dice would be classy enough to do, even though they are a total novelty item.
2014, One of my discoveries and personal favorites with a southwest flavor are the Anasazi Pueblo Indian Pottery Shards. These things are interesting having been done so long ago, as part of an ancestral passage or cultural duty to paint bowls, water jugs, and other daily use items.
2014, Another Finney Knives original discovery was to add WW2 artifacts to knives and other war artifacts. The theme on this one stands strong
2014, A customer had a friend who was into fly fishing and needed a unique gift. I came up with this knife. Abalone just goes with fishing incase you did not know.
2014, I was on a quest to find biblical artifacts that I could put into knives. The widow's mite is the most important biblical coin as it signified that someone put all they had to give in to the offering. Even though the offering was considered nothing by the Pharisees who were trying to make the loudest noises with their coins, to God this woman gave the most.
2014, Absolutely a new thing. I used my own shells from a 9mm That I popped off in my own back yard. I just call the cops and tell them I'm shooting out back so they don't bother to come. I also live in California. Sounds nearly impossible right?
2015, Another original discovery. Found the wasp nest outside. Gave it a white background to make it pop.
2015, A super cool discovery. I was excited about this one. Found some really old keys for this knife. Certainly has a wow factor to it.
2015, Another Finney Knives original. I found these odd-looking things on eBay and wondered what they looked like inside. Well, they look like a Japanese handle wrapped sword if you ask me.
I did a few pens in this material and then the pen guys saw it and started doing it.
2015, I discovered this cool green moss in Oregon. I think it looks great in knives and some other guys started doing it later who also think it looks good in knives.
2015, Michael Prater did this before anyone else and he called it chipped pearl. I call it pearl matrix. We do it a bit different I'm sure. Gotta use those leftover materials to make something nicer.
2015, I wasn't the first to discover or use this but I saw it somewhere and decided to make some. It was a commercial gig somewhere.
2015, Curtis Seabeck of turntex.com Discovered this material and he has been very protective over his discovery for a long time and with good reason. This material was and is a hit mostly in the pen world although it has been done for knives.
2016, Another original Finney Knives discovery, this time in Palm Desert. A Texas Ebony Tree has these cool pods that are like wood.. They are really nice in a knife.
2016, I had a nice lunch with my family and then my daughters and I crushed up the oysters and I mixed the shell with malachite.
2016, I put these Brass circles in black. What a slick look. I can do these in any color.
2014, One of my favorite Finney Knives original discoveries. The dead blooms from a crape myrtle tree. Like the impression of a flower.
2017, These things were everywhere on the ground and were small enough to create some figure and a nice effect. Probably been done before. It's 2017 and people are starting to figure out how to make their own materials.
2017, Another Finney Knives Original. In a search for all-natural and exotic materials, I found someone selling a hand full of these.
2018, By now lots of knife guys and pen guys are into making their own materials. I never searched this one out before doing it. This was a prototype made in 2018 for the Buck Knives 2019 catalog.
