Ken Onion

Kenneth L. Onion
Kenneth L. Onion
Born	January 16, 1963 (age 61); Wellington, Ohio, US
Occupation	Knifemaker
Spouse	Noel Onion
Awards	Blade Cutlery Hall of Fame

Ken Onion (born January 16, 1963) is an American custom knifemaker based in Kaneohe, Hawaii, United States 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] ^{[dubious – discuss]} 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]

Onion 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, Emily Ahern, Stephen Lefebvre, Wayne LaPierre, Brett Morss, 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
^ ^a ^b ^c Ayres, James (2003-09-01). "Cutlery Rejects Turned Gold Mines". Vol. 30, no. 9. Blade Magazine. pp. 58–68.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Mr. SpeedSafe Joins the Club". Blade Magazine. 2008-07-22. Archived from the original on 2008-08-13. 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. 37 (5). FW Media Inc.: 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

[1] 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.

[2] Cascio, Pat(2007). 'Kershaw's Latest Tactical Folders', Knives Illustrated, February 2007

[3] Cascio, Pat(2007). "Ken Onion Knives Stolen", Knives Illustrated, February 2007

[4] Gardner, Jim (2004), "Sweet Onions", Guns Magazine

[CR-5] Ayres, James (2003-09-01). "Cutlery Rejects Turned Gold Mines". Vol. 30, no. 9. Blade Magazine. pp. 58–68.

[HOF-6] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Mr. SpeedSafe Joins the Club". Blade Magazine. 2008-07-22. Archived from the original on 2008-08-13. Retrieved 2008-07-24.

[7] 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.

[8] Searson, Mike (2011-04-01). "The Best Knives of G2". Blade. 37 (5). FW Media Inc.: 80–84.

[9] Ewing,Dexter. (2007). "Rock-Star Knifemakers Conclusion", Blade Magazine, February 2007

[10] Cascio,Pat. (2003). "Steven Seagal's Knife", Tactical Knives Magazine, November 2003

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v t e Knives and daggers
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Kitchen and table knives	Boning Boti Bread knife Butcher knife Butter knife Caidao Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Electric knife Fillet knife Grapefruit knife Lame Mezzaluna Parmesan knife Pizza cutter Splayd Steak knife Tomato knife Japanese kitchen knives Deba bōchō Maguro bōchō Nakiri bōchō Santoku Sashimi bōchō Udon kiri Unagisaki hōchō Usuba bōchō Yanagi ba
Other knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boot knife Bowie Cane knife Ceramic knife Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Golok Gravity knife Guna Hacking knife Higonokami Hunting knife Husa knife Ivan's Knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kard Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Marking knife Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pesh-kabz Pirah Pocketknife Phurba Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Resolza Sabatier Sami knife SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Sheath knife Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Verlängerungsmesser Warrior knife Wedung X-Acto Yarara Parachute Knife Yatagan
Daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh nakh Balarao Baselard Bichuwa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dha Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Gunong Hunting dagger Jambiya Jile Kabutowari Kaiken Kalis Katar Khanjali Khanjar Kris Kunai Liaoning dagger Mark I trench knife Microtech Jagdkommando Parrying dagger Poignard Pugio Push dagger Rondel dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Tantō U.S. Marine Raider stiletto V-42 Yoroi-dōshi
Manufacturers	Aitor Knife Company Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Aritsugu Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Chroma Cnife Clauss Cutlery Company Cobray Company Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Dalian Hanwei Metal Dexter-Russell Ek Commando Knife Co. EKA Emerson Knives F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Gerber Legendary Blades Füritechnics Glock Ges.m.b.H. Imperial Schrade Ivan's Ka-Bar Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives Marble Arms Medford Knife and Tool Microtech Knives Morseth Muela Murphy Knives OLFA Ontario Knife Company Opinel Randall Made Knives Ranz Cuchillos Rösle Sabatier Shun Cutlery Slice, Inc. SOG Specialty Knives Spyderco STI Knives Strider Knives Thiers Issard TOPS Knives Tramontina Victorinox W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Carl Walther GmbH Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Wüsthof Yoshida Metal Industry Global Zero Tolerance Knives Zwilling J. A. Henckels
Knifemakers	Rex Applegate James Black Tom Brown Jr. Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Jack W. Crain Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Bill Harsey Jr. Phill Hartsfield Gil Hibben Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Bo Randall Chris Reeve A. G. Russell Jody Samson William Scagel Mike Snody Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler
Associations	American Bladesmith Society Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association Knifemakers' Guild
Category:Knives / Daggers

Designs

Celebrity knives

See also

References

External links