Knifemaker Pat Crawford - A Profile

By  Matt Cook

James Patrick ("Pat") Crawford is one of our most prolific and versatile knifemakers.  In three decades behind the grinder, he has created literally hundreds of enduring designs in almost every style of edged instrument imaginable, from traditional hunters and skinners to fantasy folders and everything in between.

A Certified Public Accountant by profession, he always enjoyed knives, but it was an article in a gun magazine about the scarcity of custom knifemakers that made him determined to give knifemaking a try.  "I found a grinding head," he says, "and then got a hold of an old washing machine motor and tried to put the grinding head and motor together to make a bench grinder."  The contraption did not work as hoped, and he soon bought a belt sander.  He put it in a storage shed behind his house and now he had a “shop," albeit one that leaked in the rain and had no heat.  The shop has expanded and improved since that time with multiple equipment acquisitions, but he still works in the same location in West Memphis, Arkansas where he started in 1972.

The following year, Crawford visited the annual Knifemaker’s Guild Show.  He determined to apply for acceptance into the Guild and in 1975, he not only gained membership, but won the Guild’s coveted D.E. Henry award for a Bowie-type knife by a new maker.  By this time he was spending more time on his knives than he was in his full-time job as an accountant, and he made the decision to follow his passion for knives. He quit his job and became a full-time knifemaker. 

As his popularity grew, more and more of his customers were interested in "tactical" or fighting styles, and many law enforcement officers were buying his knives for backup.  His standard catalog began to include a variety of these knives, ranging from hideaway push daggers with sub-3" blades to full-blown sub-hilt fighters with blades in the 8-inch-plus range.  In addition to being practical, these were also works of art, made with a list of materials that reads like a knife-supply catalog: giraffe bone, walrus ivory, mastodon ivory, stag, oosic, cocobola, rosewood, maple, and synthetic materials like micarta.  By the 1980’s, his catalog included over 100 different models.

One of these models incorporated an innovation he termed the "frame lock."  This Crawford creation uses a lock on the back of the knife frame that engages a notch in the blade pivot.  Now called the Crawford Lock, the mechanism is also seen in the A.G. Russell One-Hand Knife.

At first, Pat designed all of his own knives.  Many of these styles have become well-known standards, thanks to having been licensed for production by companies such as Benchmade and Columbia River Knife and Tool.  Production versions of his Leopard, Shark, and Point Guard models have sold in the thousands.  He also collaborates with others in knife design.  One of the best-known examples of this collaboration is when Marine Corps Close-Quarter Combat instructor Bob Kasper turned to Crawford to make a folding version of a fighting knife he had designed. "The final drawing…looked very complex…and needed the expertise of an experienced tactical folder maker.  I contacted Pat Crawford," Kasper said.  This meeting resulted in the Crawford Kasper Fighting Folder, a mainstay of the Crawford catalog that has been produced in multiple sizes and with a number of handle and scale materials, as well as in "art" styles with damascus blades and highly-decorated handles.  Joel Pirela, Allen Elishewitz, and Kelly Worden are among the others whose designs have been brought to reality by Crawford.

Pat is no longer a solitary figure standing at the grinder.  His son, Wes, has helped out in the shop since boyhood, and has taken a more active role over the years, including designing some of the more recent models. His contribution is illustrated by the fact that  references are now made to "Pat and Wes Crawford."  Keeping it all in the family, Wes’ wife Janie has been running the "front" end of the business, answering inquiries and even designing and updating their web site, www.crawfordknives.com, though she has taken a break from her duties since the recent birth their second child.

There is more than just having a web site that shows how Crawford has progressed with the times.  An increasing part of his work incorporates modern materials such as titanium and carbon fiber handles, and newer blade metals such as S30-V.  But one thing has not changed since he started in that leaky shop 30 years ago, and that is Pat Crawford’s commitment to quality and service.  No matter how far along in the process it is, if a knife is "almost" right, he will scrap it and start over.

Hunters, fighters, hideout knives, fantasy knives, working folders, presentation pieces, it is hard to imagine a knife Pat Crawford has not made.  A Crawford Bowie was selected to be part of the American Blade 150th Anniversary collection.  A Crawford folder with mastodon ivory handles and bolsters made from one-ounce silver bars was presented to President Ronald Reagan.  And Pat was one of seven renowned makers chosen to make a unique set of knives out of metal from the World Trade Center towers to commemorate the firefighters who died there on September , 2001.  OSS-style sleeve knives, martial-arts throwing stars, and knives incorporated into walking staffs, Cross pens, and rifle cartridge cases are all part of his repertoire.  He has even made a fantasy glove knife with Freddy Kreuger-like fingers that was banned from the New York Custom Knife Show.

Quality, versatility, and honesty.  These are the qualities that have enabled Pat Crawford to remain one of our premier knifemakers for thirty years