J.P. Holmes has been meticulously making knives for over 20 years. He is a custom knifemaker with a solid reputation for superior craftsmanship. He started making the Francine Etchings line of knives in 2001. Francine enjoys working with him because of his level of skill, the subtle beauty of his styling, and his willingness and ablity to give the customer exactly what is desired.

He starts each knife with a BDS (TM) casting of 440c stainless steel. Then he grinds off the casting skin and rough grinds the blade to prepare it for heat treating. After it is hardened in an atmosphere controlled kiln, he draws out the brittleness in an oven. Then it is ready for its final polishing process using progressively finer grits on his sanding wheel.

When it has reached its optimum polish, he sends it to Francine for etching-- with a design, or without-- which brings out the beautiful crystal pattern of the steel. After the knife is etched, it is returned to Holmes where he attaches, shapes, and polishes the handle and ringsets, if any, through a progression of sanding belts. The blade is then scotchbrited, and the knife is finish polished, buffed, and inspected.

The result is a one of a kind tool whose performance is as beautiful as its appearance, a merging of form and function that will perform through a lifetime of use and likely will become a working family heirloom.