Hello, my name is Jeff and my fascination with blades began at a young age. My grandfather gave me my first Barlow 2-blade pocket knife when I was 8 years old. Since that day, I have never been without a blade on my person (except where prohibited of course!). From then on I collected knives.
I made my first “knife-shaped-object” at the age of 10. It was made from a shovel and cotton rope wrapped handle. It went on many ‘adventures’ with me in the woods and creek behind my house.
As a teen, I developed a love of camping, hiking and being outdoors (as well as many other interests, being ADHD). From then on I always kept a backpack ready for a weekend adventure in my cars, and I camped or hiked every chance I got.
I graduated high school, met a girl, got married, had kids, and got mired in my career. The only camping trips I went on were with the scouts (I had 2 girls, so I became a troupe leader).
I made my first ‘REAL’ knife when I was 14 in shop class. After that, I wouldn’t make another knife until 2003. In 2003, many things changed for me. I got divorced, lost my jobs, and moved into a shabby apartment. I needed to get away and get back to the woods! I had most of my old stuff, but I needed a knife. In the garage of the apartment there was an old rusty mill saw blade and a hunk of walnut table top.
This became my new knife. It wasn’t great, but it was sturdy, and held an edge fairly well. While camping a man saw my knife, saw how well it worked and asked if I could make him one. I took his number. A few weeks later I had made another, much better than my own, and he showed up to get it. I asked only $50 for that knife, he was ecstatic.
A LOT has changed since then, but RoughCut Knives is as a one-person shop driven by a love of knives and other well-made tools. What began as a hands-on hobby grew into a commitment to making knives that are reliable, functional, and built to last.
Every knife is made by hand, one at a time (for customs or small batches for my ‘stock’ designs) with careful attention to design, heat treatment, function, balance, and finish. No two are exactly alike — and that’s the point. They are not stamped out by some machine in China, these are hand made right here in the U.S.A. and though I cannot say 100% American made components, I do try to buy most things from U.S. based companies.