My name is Jeff Hawkins

and I am a 5th generation Texan living in Somerset, Texas. Originally from Dumas, Texas, my dad worked in a refinery and my early exposure to guns and knives was largely due to him, and there. 

Dad liked sharing his hobbies with me, and would bring me along to gun shows because he was a gun and Case knife collector. He'd give me an old knife, or something else and say to me "Here's your trading material". I'd be expected to take whatever I was given and trade up, and leave the show with something greater than I started with. My dad was a big influence on me and in developing my character, and I owe a lot to him in the way I think of and make knives today. I'm always trying to push the envelope of perfection. 

Growing up the way I did, I was always doing stuff with my hands. My dad was an avid woodworker, but I leaned more towards metal. I got into spur making right out of high school in the late 80s early 90s, and had quite a bit of the basic tools that also doubled for knife making. When I'd hit a creative slump in spur making due to not getting the hang of engraving, my dad reminded me of a book he had by Bob Loveless called "How To Make Knives" and after that,I just started to read up anything I could find on knife making. I started making fixed blades, and did pretty well. 

Alongside spur making, and right out of high school, I did training in HVAC, which got me into the environmental industry.  I ended up owning a company doing civil public service. That led me to working in San Antonio as a general contractor and building high schools there for 18 years. 

I guess you could say knives had just followed me along everywhere I went. Back when Johnny Stout and Harvey Dean were still doing annual hammer-ins in south Texas, I met Bill Ruple. I was living in Bulverde, Texas at the time, and Bill was kind enough to invite me to spend a few days in Pleasanton, Texas at his shop. At the end of our time together, he said "Now, go build 50 of em' and come back and see me.", referring to the knife we'd just completed together, and I did, eventually. 

But during that time, life happened, divorce, you know how it goes. I probably didn't touch a tool or make a knife for around 18 months. After the dust settled, I got back to making some, tried to get into the Texas Knifemakers' Guild, and was turned down initially at ICCE because my slipjoints were better than my fixed blades! I tried again and got in after that, but it was a push in the direction of pocket knives I needed to continue to pursue slipjoint making. 

Going back to my roots, at 12 years old, I would shoot trap out in Dumas, and because there were no kids divisions, I got stuck with the 70 year olds. The prize was some Schrade 3 blade stockmans. I’d made a few, and Bubba Crouch told me to meet him at Bill’s house, and after they inspected my work thoroughly, it was the start of me getting invited to be part of the Slipjoint Cartel. A huge honor to me. 

Bill also introduced me to the book Sheffield Exhibition Knives by Bill Adams, which spurred me on to work more in multi-blade slipjoints and horse knives. The exquisite materials and advanced construction of these blades is a challenge to try to recreate, and a lot of fun too! 

Now, I make knives, go to shows like Bladeshow Texas, Bladeshow Atlanta, and Bladeshow West,  hang out when I can with the Slipjoint Cartel fellas and run my laser business Lone Star Laser Manufacturing cutting all sorts of things. I hope you find what you like here, and feel free to contact me if you need anything in knives or laser work!