PURPOSE-FIRST DESIGN
This philosophy drives every knife we design, starting with a very well-considered statement of the intended purpose of the knife. All functional design elements then must serve this purpose. No functional elements are modified to make them “look cool.”
RIGHT/WRONG vs PREFERENCES
There is rarely one right knife design/material. What’s right for one person and their task isn’t right for another person. So it helps if you understand your task and your own preferences. Then find the knife that matches those preferences.
____________________________________________________________________________MATERIALS
Steel
We use a variety of steels for our knives:
AEB-L: A Swedish stainless steel (originally designed for razor blades) known for its fine grain structure and toughness relative to its edge-holding ability. It's easy to sharpen, takes a very keen edge, and is forgiving to heat treat
Magnacut: A modern "supersteel" designed by Larrin Thomas specifically to optimize the balance between corrosion resistance, edge retention, and toughness — historically a tough trio to have all at once. It uses a lower carbide volume with chromium and vanadium carbides for good wear resistance without sacrificing toughness, and it's highly stain-resistant. Often considered one of the best all-around performance steels available today.
Nitro-V: A stainless steel that's essentially a nitrogen-enhanced cousin of AEB-L, developed for improved corrosion resistance (useful for kitchen or outdoor/wet-environment knives) while retaining good toughness and sharpenability. It sits in a similar performance category to AEB-L but with a corrosion-resistance edge, at some tradeoff in outright wear resistance compared to higher-carbide steels.
CruWear: A tool steel (semi-stainless, not fully rustproof) that offers a strong balance of wear resistance, edge retention, and toughness, sitting between traditional tool steels like D2 and higher-alloy powder steels. It has decent — though not exceptional — corrosion resistance and is prized for holding a durable working edge in hard-use folding and fixed-blade knives.
Beginning with McNasty GL Batch 001 (August 2026), we etch the steel type onto our blades:
AEBL = AEB-L
MCUT = Magnacut
NTRV = Nitro-V
CRWR = CruWear
____________________________________________________________________________BLADE AND EDGE GRINDS
A “blade grind” is the primary cross-sectional shape of a blade. There are many different historically used blade grinds, and each offers its own advantages/disadvantages for a given use of a blade.
An “edge grind” or “edge bevel” is the shape that forms what makes a blade sharp. We use v-edge, convex and chisel edges.
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Explanation and Philosophy of knife grinds:
Although there are somewhat standard terms describing the various grinds, we have found some regional and generational differences that can become confusing. The following information is to make clear what Fisher Blades means when using certain words in the description of the knives. We will concentrate on BLADE GRIND and EDGE GRIND.
The blade grind usually refers to the primary cross-sectional shape of a blade created by grinding the raw blade and is in many (but not all) cases, separate from the edge grind, which is the shape applied to the very edge of a blade.
Convex Grind: This can be a low, mid, high, or full height convex grind. What characterizes a convex grind is a continuous curve from the top of the grind to the edge. Many makers’ convex grind is actually a mildly convex grind face with a convex edge. This is a small detail but we feel it’s important to distinguish because the true convex grind is much harder to accomplish.
Convex Edge: Whereas a convex grind is one continuous curve throughout the grind a convex edge can be substituted for a V-grind.
Flat Grind: Flat grind is a full height single bevel grind face with an edge, either V-grind or Convex edge.
Saber Grind: Grind with three facets, the flat of the blade, the grind either flat or convex, and the edge grind, either V or convex.
Scandi: A true Scandi is simply a V-grind brought up to about 1/4 to 1/3 of blade height. Most Scandis today include a convex “micro bevel” which is just a slight convex on the tip of the edge rather than a continuous strain line from the top of the grind to the edge.
Scandi-vex: This is a Scandi grind that is a continuous curve to the edge instead of a flat facet to the edge.
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Additional Grind Notes from Maker John Fisher: My favorite grind is a true convex. This is the oldest grind and even the best hand sharpener will slightly convex their edge as it is impossible to hold a knife at a perfect angle. Though this is on a micro level it does become slightly convex. Machine sharpening can produce true flat facets and true V-grinds. There is much debate about the pros and cons of convex and even a valid question regarding whether a convex edge is stronger than a V-Edge. I believe it IS stronger but the real advantage to me comes from the ease in sharpening and maintaining a wickedly sharp edge. I’m a big stropper. With Convex grind or edge and stropping after each use I have found I can keep my knives sharper for much longer than V-grinds and stropping.
I’m no snob though, I understand that some are pretty much married to a V-edge and that is cool with me. Use what you know and works for you. I’ll be making all the above grinds but my personal knives are all convex.
I didn’t go over the hollow grind as I am unconvinced that its advantages outweigh its disadvantages and until convinced otherwise I will not be making any hollow grind knives.
/JF