Legacy KNIFEMAKERS

Custom knifemaking is sometimes a legacy pursuit. Children grow up with their parent working in the shop, and/or travel to shows and grow up around the hustle and bustle of knife events. Sooner or later they try making knives themselves with a patient teacher ready to assist.

“All of our children grew up surrounded by everything involving the craft, the shop time, other makers and shows,” explained Wolfgang Loerchner, whose daughter Elizabeth has become a world-class custom knifemaker in her own right.

“Elizabeth is very artistic, so given her childhood she naturally drifted towards knifemaking as a full-time job,” Wolfgang noted. “I offered some encouragement but also cautioned about some negative aspects of the craft. Since teaching her would require a large amount of my time, I asked her to make sure she was fully invested. She then moved back into our home, where we spent working together seven days a week for a full year.”

For Elizabeth, the path toward a knifemaking career wasn’t