Bark River Knives shop visit
Stopped by Bark River Knives for a visit. Mike told me he has 47 employees now. The parking lot was full and the shops were all full of employees. They ship 200 to 300 knives per day. That's
every day.
Here is Mike and Jimmy Stewart..
Leslie Stewart is showing my their "archive" table. A copy of all of their models for reference when they come back to make a new batch. Bark River also makes for several other brands. They recently purchased the Scagel brand and put out Scagel replica's. If you're familiar with Scagel knives, many (most) look a bit rough. He had a period where he put some really nice fit and finish knives but many were pretty tough looking also. The BRK versions all look pretty good.
They have a grinding room with a couple dozen grinders.
This is one of several baskets of blanks and handles waiting to go into the finishing que.
Skittles has been with them for years and is one of the coolest dudes you will meet. He is working on one of the assembly tables.
Here is another assembly table. It's hard to say if the cigarette smoke or grinding dust is thicker.
They make many (most?) leather sheaths in house now. Here the ladies are working on some together.
Here I told them to turn around for a picture, so they all faced the wall.
Racks of knives in various stages of finish are all over.