Jim McBeth
There is a Past Master in Boerne, Texas who is a master craftsman. He is probably the only one you will find that designs and creates Masonic knives, knives of many different sizes and styles. His name is Jim McBeth and he is McBeth Knives.
His house is in a sparsely populated area called “The Hill Country” in Texas, an area steeped in American Cowboy, Native American and Mexican heritage. McBeth’s office reflects that heritage with western art and sculpture everywhere. And on the wall is his membership in The Former Texas Ranger Foundation for the support he has given that organization.
Indian Portrait
The Former Texas Ranger Foundation
McBeth Shop
But it’s not the office where knives are made. McBeth has transformed his garage into a large workshop with many heavy pieces of machinery that he uses to craft his knives. It is a labor of love for McBeth. He insists that only the finest, high-grade materials be used for his knives.
He makes his own knife pins making sure that there is a design inside them. He uses pins” with “Mosaic” patterns when possible. The material used for these pins include rods of Brass, Copper, Stainless Steel and Aluminum. McBeth often arranges the various sizes of these rods in patterns to create a ‘mosaic’ for each particular knife.
McBeth Shop
McBeth only works with the highest quality steel knife blanks, ordering only high grade 440c stainless steel “blanks”. Damascus patterns include Ladder, Raindrop, Twist, Herringbone just to name a few. The “blanks” that he uses are made from multiple bars of 1095 Carbon steel and multiple bars of high Nickel 15N20 steel creating between 175 and 250 layers in whatever pattern the “maker” decided.
The handles are crafted from various types of exotic woods. Some of these “Exotics” include Cocobolo
Scottish Rite Knife
Rosewood, Zebrawood, Canarywood, Red Heart, Bocote, Leopardwood, Amboyna, Rosewood Burl, just to name a few. You can have a Masonic Emblem embedded in the Handle.
McBeth takes scrupulous steps, as you can see in the video, in the sanding and buffing process. Each knife must meet his high standard of appearance, quality, and use.
And let’s not forget about the sheath. A High-quality leather sheath, hand-crafted and hand-tooled by
Damascus Steel Masonic Knives
professional leather workers here in the U.S., comes with each knife and a Concho of your choice, Masonic or otherwise, is added if you wish.
A McBeth knife is one of a kind. You won’t find anything like it in stores or flea markets. It makes a wonderful display item as well as a working tool. Many McBeth knives are purchased for gifts and if you need a further custom touch to a gift, McBeth will take that additional step needed to see that your gift is extra special. In a request for a gift for Past Grand Master Jerry Martin of the Grand Lodge of Texas, he made a special carrying case which uniquely displayed the gifted knife and sheath.
Grand Master Gift
To contact McBeth knives and/or place an order you merely need to go to http://www.mcbethknives.com/
Original article: McBeth Masonic Knives.
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