To be blunt, we’re surprised Christopher Harth of NY Cutlery has ten fingers.

Apart from his latest career of handcrafting knives, the Duluth, Minnesota, native has risked digits building log cabins, rock climbing, traveling the U.S. in a conversion van, and working with photographer Ryan McGinley (models bite). 

Harth balances and measures each made-to-order tool to fit its owner. Kitchen varieties (chef, veggie, paring, boning) and sets are easy, but he’s also commissioned more exotic pieces like a sailing knife for a merchant marine and bowie knife for designer Amber Doyle. 

Reclaimed materials (steel from industrial mill saw blades; walnut, maple, and mahogany scraps from a local furniture maker) and common buckthorn (an invasive tree species with iridescent, bicolored grain) that he felled himself, create a powerful, raw product that’s still polished. Excess wood is made into chemical-free, extra-clean charcoal.

Photo: Courtesy of NY Cutlery