Ken Onion

Kenneth L. Onion

Born	(1963-01-16) January 16, 1963 Wellington, Ohio, US
Occupation	Knifemaker
Spouse(s)	Noel Onion
Awards	Blade Cutlery Hall of Fame

Ken Onion (born January 16, 1963) is an American award-winning custom knifemaker based in Kaneohe, Hawaii, USA who invented the "SpeedSafe" assisted opening mechanism for Kershaw Knives.^[1] Ken Onion was the Premier Knife Designer for Kershaw Knives.^[2]^[3]^[4]

Designs

As a US Marine, Onion devised a helicopter mechanism that was adopted for use by the military.^[5] In 1989, Ken’s wife, Noel, made arrangements through a friend for Onion to meet custom knife maker, Stanley Fujisaka.^[5]^[6] The two became friends and Onion learned his basic knifemaking skills from Stanley, building his first knife in 1991.^[6] Five years later, in 1996, Doug Flagg, then with Kershaw Knives met Onion while calling on an account for Kershaw and the two discussed an arrangement for the assisted-opening mechanism, which led to a contract.^[5]^[6] This contract led to Kershaw expanding its factory and number of employees to accommodate the demand for these knives.^[6]

Ken has since moved on to design knives for Columbia River Knife and Tool, and most recently a knife sharpener with Work Sharp.

Onion holds 36 design patents on different items including locks, mechanisms, and knife designs.^[6]^[7] Most notable of these is the Speed-safe mechanism used by Kershaw Knives. For these many designs and his work throughout the cutlery industry promoting the art of knife making, Onion was inducted into the Blade Magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame at the 2008 Blade Show in Atlanta, Georgia as the 45th and youngest living member.^[6]

In 2005, Onion collaborated with Spyderco on the Spyker knife design. In 2010 Onion parted ways with Kershaw Knives to start his own production company and to collaborate with Columbia River Knife and Tool on several designs.^[8]

Celebrity knives

An article in Blade Magazine asserts that celebrities, such as Steven Seagal, Steven Tyler, Nicolas Cage, Kid Rock, Pamela Anderson, Wayne Newton, Stephen Lefebvre, Wayne LaPierre and Ziggy Marley collect custom knives made by Onion.^[9]^[10]

References

↑ Onion, Kenneth L (2000-11-14). "Opening and closing assisting mechanism for folding knife". US Patent and Trade Office. google patents. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
↑ Cascio, Pat(2007). 'Kershaw's Latest Tactical Folders', Knives Illustrated, February 2007
↑ Cascio, Pat(2007). "Ken Onion Knives Stolen", Knives Illustrated, February 2007
↑ Gardner, Jim (2004), "Sweet Onions", Guns Magazine
1 2 3 Ayres, James (2003-09-01). "Cutlery Rejects Turned Gold Mines". 30 (9). Blade Magazine. pp. 58–68. |access-date= requires |url= (help)
1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mr. SpeedSafe Joins the Club". Blade Magazine. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
↑ Onion, Kenneth L (2002-01-15). "Locking knife blade with moving locking mechanism on blade". US Patent and Trade Office. google patents. Retrieved 2007-01-18.
↑ Searson, Mike (2011-04-01). "The Best Knives of G2". Blade. FW Media Inc. 37 (5): 80–84.
↑ Ewing,Dexter. (2007). "Rock-Star Knifemakers Conclusion", Blade Magazine, February 2007
↑ Cascio,Pat. (2003). "Steven Seagal's Knife", Tactical Knives Magazine, November 2003

External links

Knives and daggers

List of daggers List of blade materials

Types of knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boning Boot knife Bowie Bread knife Cane knife Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Electric knife Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Grapefruit knife Gravity knife Gunong Hunting knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kīla Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Mezzaluna Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Nakiri bōchō Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pocket knife Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Resolza Sabatier Sami knife Santoku SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Tomato knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Warrior knife X-Acto Yanagi ba Yatagan

Types of daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh naka Baselard Bichuwa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Hachiwara Hunting dagger Janbiya Kaiken Kalis Kard Katar Khanjali Khanjar Kris Mark I trench knife Ocean Edge Knife Parrying dagger Poignard Push dagger Rondel dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Tantō Marine Raider stiletto V-42 stiletto Yarará Parachute Knife Yoroidōshi

Knife manufacturers	Aitor Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Bear MCG Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Caber Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Cutlery DOVO Solingen Dexter-Russell Dirte Knives Eikhorn Ek Commando Knife Co. Emerson Knives Erizo F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Füritechnics Gerber Legendary Blades Global Golok Hanwei Imperial Schrade J. A. Henckels Ka-Bar Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives MercWorx Microtech Knives Morseth Murphy Knives Ontario Knife Company Opinel Pro-Tech Knives Randall Made Knives Ranz Rigid Knives Rösle SOG Specialty Knives Sabatier Aîné & Perrier Spyderco Strider Knives Survival Aids TEKNA Thiers Issard Tramontina Victorinox Vox Knives W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Walther arms Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Windlass Steelcrafts Wüsthof Yarara Ltd

Knifemakers	A.G. Russell American Bladesmith Society Rex Applegate James Black Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Phill Hartsfield Bill Harsey Jr. Gil Hibben Knifemakers' Guild Zanjan Knifemakers Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless Bob Lum William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Bo Randall Chris Reeve Jody Samson William Scagel Mike Snody Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler

Book:Knives and daggers Category:Knives / Daggers

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