Well that was a busy summer !!!
Sarah and I managed to spend some of our holiday up in Scotland with Chris Grant and Kit.
Chris and Kit looked after us at their lovely home near the Cairngorms, way up on the East side.
I managed to spend time with Chris in his busy workshop and
we also made time for lots of sightseeing in his beautiful country.
Chris took me through the complete process of making one of our MaChris knives from start to finish.
Chris and I also had a look at using a couple of new (to us) steels for our Evo project.
We'll shortly be testing Niolox and Nitrobe 77.
Of course we will still use 52100 for our MaChris and MiniMac lines.
Chris showed me how the knife is shaped and prepared for heat treatment.
I found trying to capture the various processes technically difficult as the light in the workshop is minimal. But I hope I have managed to capture the skill and concentration that Chris exhibits when he is hand crafting one of our MaChris knives.
You can see in the picture below a sequence of steps we take when a design moves from a drawing into a prototype.
We will often carve a wooden model to get an initial feel for the proposed knife design.
The photo below shows the model then a blank shaped and ready for heat treat and the finished product.
Chris employs a multi stage heat treatment for the MaChris knives ensuring a totally stable product with the correct crystal structure.
The steels we use are carefully chosen, many steel types have been discarded during our journey toward the professional MaChris knives now available.
Once the blade is shaped, heat treated and cleaned up Chris applies our trademark using an electro etching stencil. It leaves a clear crisp mark.
Some final hand polishing to get the blade looking just so.
The MiniMac blade being worked on below, received a good polish and was handled with some of Chris's ancient bog oak.
It's being put through it's paces by Patrick McGlinchey.
I've heard through the grapevine he's as pleased as punch with it.
Whether it's a MaChris a MiniMac or Evo, all of the knives from Chris Grant's workshop are hand finished, the handle is shaped by eye and touch.
When you buy a MaChris knife you are buying a hand crafted, carefully constructed, professional knife.
The finished MiniMac.
Did I mention that Chris also crafts the leather sheaths ?
The full tang scales are attached using Loveless bolts and two ton epoxy from WorkshopHeaven.
The MiniMac handles are married to the blades using a hot steel technique plus a spot of Two Ton.
You can see the Loveless bolts shining out on this MaCro.
And this SmaChris kitchen/utility knife.
Talking of marrying handles to blades, Sarah and I tied the knot at Totnes during the summer break.
We had a super day and exchanged rings made by Chris during our visit.
Thank you to all who shared our day and a big thank you for all the messages of congratulations we received over social networks
As you may know, Matthew Platt of WorkshopHeaven will be taking on sales and orders for our MaChris knives.
If you wish to place an order, head on over to this page at
And sign up for his news letter.
He should be stocked up for the new year and he'll let you know when the MaChris knives become available.
Thanks once more.
Jon and Sarah Mac.
