This article is the cover feature of the July 2025 issue of KNIFE magazine. We have brought a portion of it onto the free side of things for your perusal.
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Richardo Velarde Master of Integrals
by Del Corsi
Ricardo Velarde is a master of two distinct and challenging disciplines; knifemaking and falconry. In his world both have become intertwined, resulting in either or both being part of the many relationships he has forged. Many descriptive words come to mind when talking about knives; sleek, razor sharp, majestic, and formidable are just a few; these apply just as well to something as dear to Ricardo’s heart as making knives, the magnificent peregrine falcon! Velarde’s skill and reputation as a world-renowned falconer actually led to developing those knifemaking relationships I mentioned.
In 1978, while attending college in Utah, Ricardo and his friends would often go to a local mall to watch movies. A knife store there had lots of kitchen and factory knives, and in one of the cabinets there was a custom made hunting knife with wooden handles that really caught the student’s attention. Velarde mentioned, “I never bought it, but returned several times to look at it. Then a few years later, I was working in Reno, Nevada on a peregrine falcon breeding project. I went into a store that sold guns and a few knives. They had a piece of steel in one of their cabinets that, once again, caught my attention.” The person working there told him, “This piece of steel is one of those that you can make an incredible custom knife with.”
That’s all it took. He bought the steel, saying, “Many years later I learned it wasn’t anything special, it was 440C. I gave it an edge towards one end to cut small branches for grafting on some of my bonsai trees.” Very humble knifemaking beginnings for this passionate young man, who really had no idea where this path was leading.
A few years later, Ricardo was back in Utah and was now married to his wife Annette. During the summer of 1992, he had decided to check out the local Park City Arts Festival. Velarde was both surprised and excited to meet a custom knifemaker there; “We talked for a while and I told him I was interested in making knives. He suggested I go to Denver and see a real custom knife show,” adding that Denver would have about sixty custom knifemakers in attendance. Right then, plans were made to attend.
Once there, Ricardo said, “I walked about three tables down the first row and approached a nice gentleman named J.P. Moss, a knifemaker from Texas. We talked for some time, and I don’t think I left his table for the rest of the show.” They hit it off and talked about many things including falconry, Velarde had a nice pair of falconry bells he made to show. Moss mentioned that he was teaching one-on-one classes on making folders, and had an opening for the following April. Ricardo immediately took the spot and said that, “A couple of weeks after the show a call came from J.P. Moss, he asked if I would be willing to work for him for three weeks in exchange for him teaching me for one week.” Perhaps it was the quality of those bells that led to this call!
No matter, the need for help in the Moss knife shop was real and immediate, according to Velarde. “J.P. was working on a set of nine knives for Clint Eastwood, and those knives, or one knife, would have a scene in the movie, “Unforgiven.” Those were large bowies with a flat ground blade and, from what I remember, had a hidden tang and stag handles.”
What are the odds? One day you stop by a knife show, then two weeks later you find yourself rubbing shoulders with an iconic knifemaker who is in the middle of producing movie knives for none other than Clint Eastwood. The time with J.P. Moss went well. Ricardo helped out using the bandsaw, shaping blades, and gained a very valuable lesson, “I learned that hammering steel wasn’t for me.” Guess that answers my question on whether Ricardo forges any blades – nope! The whole experience was great though, and the last week with J.P. was spent learning the process of making a knife. They even made a fixed blade hunter and a small folder for Ricardo, both knives featuring maroon and black micarta handles.
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