ART OF KNIFE MAKING

Ted Buchanan sharpensa knife blade at his Prineville shop. He says handmade knives are constructed with a higher quality of steel and stay sharp longer than less expensive factory-made knives. (Wescom News Service photos/ PETE ERICKSON).

Mark Morical

WesCom News Service

PRINEVILLE– As a police officer in Eugene, Thad Buchanan needed something to take his mind off the stress of life as an undercover narcotics officer and SWAT team member.

He found what he was looking for when he made hunting knives. The focus and concentration needed to pursue his hobby took his mind far from his high-pressure day job.

"That's really what drew me to it," says Buchanan. "It became such a distraction from police work. You're so absorbed, you forget about everything else. You have to stay focused (when making knives). It's really easy to make a mistake or hurt yourself with the equipment."

Buchanan retired from the Eugene Police Department in December 2004 and moved to Prineville with his wife, Melissa Pearson Buchanan, in January of this year.

At 50 years old, he now is devoted full time to making custom knives. He does not expect to generate loads of money, but he hopes the hobby will eventually pay for itself.

Buchanan sells his knives — they range from $200 to $500 — at knife shows such as the Blade Show West, held Oct. 1-2 in Portland. There, he received the 2005 Blade Handmade Award for his work, and the award for Best Hunting and Utility Knife — which he also won in 2004 — for his 4-inch semi-skinner.

"It was all really shocking to me," says Buchanan, adding that his wife urged him to compete in 2004. "I didn't expect to do that well."

Buchanan says the judges like his knives because the designs are functional and the execution is straightforward.

They are also versatile in the field. Some of Buchanan's smaller knives can be used to clean trout or birds as well as to skin deer or elk.

Handmade knives are constructed with a higher quality of steel and stay sharp longer than less expensive factory-made knives, according to Buchanan. He says a customer once told him that he used one of Buchanan's knives to completely cape and bone two sheep - and could still shave the hair off his arm with the knife when he was done.

Buchanan began making knives in 1986, after meeting a knife maker in Creswell. Buchanan won Best New Knife Maker at the Oregon Knife Show in 1987, but he never really competed again until 2004. He was always busy with police work.

Buchanan was eventually promoted to captain and was even the interim Eugene Police Chief in 2002 and 2003. But now that he's retired, he is free to spend most of his time making knives and hunting birds. (He recently returned from a weeklong pheasant hunting trip in North Dakota).

The new Central Oregonian spent four months building a workshop behind his Prineville home. Large equipment occupies much of the shop, where Buchanan produces his award-winning knives.

He starts with a bar of steel, on which he places a knife pattern. Buchanan traces the pattern then cuts away the excess steel with a band saw. He profiles the blade on a grinder, then heat-treats it in an oven. The blade is heated at two different temperatures, then cooled down.

After that, Buchanan does a "freeze-treat" on the blade with dry ice. This process hardens the steel of the blade.

A finish grind and a hand-rub with sandpaper removes scratches from the blade. Buchanan then buffs out the blade with a polishing compound.

The knife's handle, which is bolted and glued to the steel, can be made of one of a variety of materials. Buchanan sometimes uses a sturdy material called micarta, but he also has in a drawer in his shop handles made of giraffe bone, wood and sambar stag (antler from deer native to India).

While many knife makers use more exotic materials and sell their knives for $1,000 or more, Buchanan prides himself on crafting relatively affordable knives that have a variety of uses in the field.

"Just about every knife I make is for use in the field," he says. "And they're really pretty versatile. Field knives really can cross over (to all types of hunting and fishing) if they have a blade design that's useful."

Buchanan plans to focus more on making folding knives and pocket field knives. But he still does not expect to get rich from his now full-time hobby.

"It's never really been a money-making operation," Buchanan says. "But maybe I'll make some money now that it's full time. But I never expected to make a lot. It was just something that appealed to me. I like working with my hands."