Holt Bladeworks

Creating knives out of Robins, Iowa, Holt Bladeworks is a small family operated business that has not been around for all that long. In fact, the Holt Specter is the first folding knife sold to the public in mass by this knife company as of early 2017. Back around 2008 Joe Holt started putting serious effort into making fixed blades. Prior to that point, Joe was more of a hobbyist making the occasional fixed blade here and there.

However, like most great makers, a prior trade/skill-set fundamentally underpinned his ability to entertain the idea of producing quality knives. Joe’s background is in drafting, mechanical/software engineering. His partner Angey is also an engineer. They are currently both engineers for an avionics company.

The apparent attention to detail and desire to build classic style pocket knives is evident. The Holt Bladeworks website stresses a focus on minimizing the time between orders and expected delivery of those orders. With delivery estimates between 8-12 weeks, based on material availability, Holt Bladeworks is indeed living up to the promise they claim on their website. Such a fast build-time for custom knives is extremely uncommon. The use and command of modern equipment such as the Tormach PCNC1100, and several self-built grinders (made when Joe was still focused on fixed blades) all plays into the precision and speed of his work.