Buster Warenski (June 5, 1942 – July 31, 2005) was an American custom knifemaker from

Kimberly, Nevada Kimberly is a ghost town in the state of Nevada. A mining town situated west of Riepetown and east of the former town of Veteran, Kimberly once boasted over 500 inhabitants. While copper was found in the mountaines near Kimberly in 1877, the tow ...

who made "Art Knives" utilizing gold and other precious metals. Warenski is best known for making a reproduction of

King Tut Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...

's dagger with a forged gold blade; over 32 ounces of gold were used in the construction of the dagger, making it one of the most valuable knives made in recent years.

Knifemaking career

Warenski began making knives as a hobby in 1966 after seeing a picture of a knife made by

Gil Hibben Gil Hibben (born September 4, 1935) is an American custom knifemaker from Wyoming who is based in La Grange, Kentucky. Hibben designed the first line of Browning hunting knives in 1968, the American Kenpo Knife for Ed Parker, and the Rambo K ...

. Warenski made his first knife from a file and took it to show Hibben; after seeing Hibben's finished knives, he toured Hibben's shop and learned some basic techniques from him. In June 1972 he was hired by

Harvey Draper Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Harvey (play), ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most imp ...

to grind blades and assist him at Draper Knives, but the operation went bankrupt by December of the same year. Warenski became a full-time knifemaker in 1975. He was a president of the

Knifemakers' Guild The Knifemakers' Guild is an American organization, based in Richfield, Utah, made up of knifemakers to promote custom knives, encourage ethical business practices, assist with technical aspects of knife making, and to sponsor knife shows. The Guild ...

for 2 terms and a ''

Blade A blade is the portion of a tool, weapon, or machine with an edge that is designed to puncture, chop, slice or scrape surfaces or materials. Blades are typically made from materials that are harder than those they are to be used on. Historic ...

'' Magazine member of the Cutlery Hall of Fame. Prior to 1975, Warenski made practical knives of all types, particularly hunting knives and skinners, but rose to fame for his "Legacy Knives" series of artistic pieces which he made exclusively from 1975 onwards. Warenski built a recreation of the

gold dagger The Gold Dagger is an award given annually by the Crime Writers' Association of the United Kingdom since 1960 for the best crime novel of the year. From 1955 to 1959, the organization named their top honor as the Crossed Red Herring Award. From ...

found in King Tut's tomb. It took five years for him to complete, and it contained 32 ounces of gold including a blade cast from gold and specially heat treated. This knife began as stand-alone project, but was later considered the first of his "Legacy Knives". It was once valued at $1 million (USD). He followed this recreation with a knife he called "The Gem of the Orient", which incorporated 153 emeralds totaling 10 karats and 9 diamonds with a total weight of 5 karats. These gems were set to accent the gold

filigree Filigree (also less commonly spelled ''filagree'', and formerly written ''filigrann'' or ''filigrene'') is a form of intricate metalwork used in jewellery and other small forms of metalwork. In jewellery, it is usually of gold and silver, ma ...

which overlaid the jade handle. It took Warenski ten years to complete this knife and it was sold for $2.1 million (US). The third knife in this series was named "Fire and Ice"; this knife contained 28 ounces of 18K gold, 22 rubies totaling 4.25 karats and 75 diamonds totaling 7 karats. The handle for this knife was constructed of quartz, accented with red enamel. A fourth knife was planned, but not finished. With the exception of any

damascus steel Damascus steel was the forged steel of the blades of swords smithed in the Near East from ingots of Wootz steel either imported from Southern India or made in production centres in Sri Lanka, or Khorasan, Iran. These swords are characterize ...

used in the knives, which Warenski ordered as a blank from an ABS Mastersmith and ground himself, all of his knives were sole-authorship, meaning he made and finished every part of the knife including making sheaths and engraving. After 1986, his wife,

Julie Warenski Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

, aided him with the engraving and gold embellishments. Warenski died in 2005.

References

External links

Buster Warenski (1942-2005)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warenski, Buster Knife makers People from White Pine County, Nevada People from Richfield, Utah 1942 births 2005 deaths