Phill Hartsfield (August 16,1931 – May 20, 2010) was a

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

sword and knifemaker based in Garden Grove who is noted for popularizing the chisel ground blade in the western world. Hartsfield's designs have influenced other knifemakers, primarily

Ernest Emerson Ernest R. Emerson (born March 7, 1955) is an American custom Knifemaking, knifemaker, Martial arts, martial artist, and edged-weapons expert. Originally an engineer and machinist in the aerospace industry, Emerson became a knifemaker by produci ...

Early life

Hartsfield joined the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

at 17 and served as a

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

technician. After serving four years, he was discharged and worked as a television repairman. After six months of working for a repairshop, Hartsfield opened his own repairshop at the age of 22 while making knives part-time. In 1977, he closed his TV repair business and became a full-time knifemaker.

Knife making

Hartsfield's blades are

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

-influenced, each one was hand ground from various kinds of

tool steel Tool steel is any of various carbon steels and alloy steels that are particularly well-suited to be made into tools and tooling, including cutting tools, dies, hand tools, knives, and others. Their suitability comes from their distinctive har ...

, including 01 and A2. They are differentially edge hardened to RC 60-61 on the

Rockwell scale The Rockwell scale is a hardness scale based on indentation hardness of a material. The Rockwell test measures the depth of penetration of an indenter under a large load (major load) compared to the penetration made by a preload (minor load). Th ...

with the remainder of the blade hardened to 58-59 on the scale to allow for flex during the cut. This strength protected the life of a Special Forces advisor in El Salvador when a Hartsfield knife stopped a 7.62×51mm NATO rifle bullet fired by a guerrilla.Steele, David E. (1997), "The Hottest Grind of All", ''Blade Magazine'' 24(3): 16-18 Hartsfield's blades were zero-ground, meaning there is no secondary bevel edge on the knife which allows the knife to cut without

parasitic drag Parasitic drag, also known as profile drag, is a type of aerodynamic drag that acts on any object when the object is moving through a fluid. Parasitic drag is a combination of form drag and skin friction drag. It affects all objects regardless of ...

. The majority of Hartsfield's blades are designed as tools with little to no ornamentation. However, Hartsfield makes

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make thes ...

quality pieces, some of which are on display at the Canadian Army Museum at

Halifax Citadel Citadel Hill is a hill that is a National Historic Site in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Four fortifications have been constructed on Citadel Hill since the city was founded by the English in 1749, and were referred to as Fort George—but only ...

as examples of

Samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

swords. Hartsfield built a unique hand-driven grinder, the "Lil Cranky", after his electric grinder had a mishap. While grinding a blade, a piece of metal embedded in the wheel and caused the wheel to explode. After a four-hour surgery and months in recovery, Hartsfield designed his machine and sold them from his shop to other knifemakers. Hartsfield's knives are used by the

US Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main functions are conducting sm ...

and the USMC MARSOC teams.Tieves, Bruce (1998), "Captain Tactical", '' Blade Magazine'' 25(1): 41-44Hartsfield, Phill (1995), "Live Swords", ''International Shinkendo Newsletter'' Volume 1, Issue 3. Hartsfield died on May 20, 2010, at his home in Newport Beach, California, after a lengthy battle with brain cancer.

References

External links

Phill Hartsfield's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hartsfield, Phill Knife makers Artists from California Weapon designers 20th-century American inventors 1932 births 2010 deaths