If you ever remember flipping through knife catalogs and seeing crazy stuff that made you shake your head for a sec (or secretly fell in love with), this fun picks episode is for you.  We each pick a scenario and the gear to go along with it from the gas station / mall ninja world / "affordable fantasy" world.  Part guilty pleasure, part "WTF is THAT?!" - we had a blast with this episode.  Find us at our Patreon and follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook for more conversation.

Episode 90: Attack of the Mall Ninja

Mark of the Maker is a panel discussion with renowned custom knife makers Tom Krein, Sean Kendrick and Michael Burch, and hosted by Mark Stheiner.  The format is much like a group of friends sitting around in The Pit at Blade Show, talking knives - a look at life from the perspective of the maker as well as the collector.  Covering broader topics such as tactical knife history, trends, industry commentary and influences of social media, as well as conversations with other knifemakers, collectors and notable figures in and around the custom knife world.  Music: “noir guitar” by Stevie’s Amp Shack, from the Free Music Archive, CC BY 4.0

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

Hobbies

Games & Hobbies

Leisure

Dive into a fresh picks episode with us!  For this one, we pull in some unusual or obscure pieces in a few different categories.  Obscure doesn't mean junk, just things we dug up from various dusty corners of the internet and our old knife books.  Find us at our Patreon and follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook for more conversation.

Episode 115: Allure of the Obscure

Tom and Mark chat about Tom's experience at Blade Texas 2024 and how that show went.  All accounts suggest Alicia and team did a great job so we talk details and walk through the awards presented at the show and some of the great makers who submitted pieces for consideration.  Find us at our Patreon and follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook for more conversation.

Episode 114: Blade TX 2024 Wrap-Up

Dr. Larrin Thomas joins us for a well-overdue visit to talk about his book The Story of Knife Steel: Innovators Behind Modern Damascus and Super Steels. It's a fantastic book and one you should add to your collection, with an incredibly deep and well-researched pile of information. Larrin walks us through some great stories about various steels and the people behind them. Find us at our Patreon and follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook for more conversation.

Episode 113: The Story of Knife Steel

We kick off our 7th (!!) season with a look back at shows, trends, and some things we came across that we really enjoyed.  There's also some talk about 2024 and what some of our hopes and aspirations look like for the coming year.  Be sure to share your own goals with us, we'd love to hear them.  Find us at our Patreon and follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook for more conversation.

Episode 112: Season 7 Kickoff

Do you sometimes get cash from folks for the holidays?  We do, so we wrap up Season 6 with a picks episode with some things we might pick if we had some "gift yourself" money to spare.  Four price points and some gear we like.  Find us at our Patreon and follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook for more conversation.

Episode 90: Attack of the Mall Ninja

Download our free app to listen on your phone