Tom Mayo

More about John Barker

Before becoming a knife maker, John Barker had established his profession as an Optometrist. Today he practices both, optometry and knife making.

John Barker fell in love with knives ever since his father’s knife collection. As a young boy, John always carried a knife. In 2006, he was invited to his friend’s house to break in a new grinder and try to build a knife. Eventually, John ended up building 3 fixed blades, after which he decided to invest in his own machinery to make knives.

“My friend Will Dutton taught me how to build my first fixed blade. From then on, I have been pretty much self-taught. I learned to build folders from reading a lot of information ranging from hundreds of forum posts to Bob Terzuola’s book on building tactical folders. There have been many knifemakers who have answered a lot of questions I had including Les George, Tom Mayo, Mick Strider, and Lee Williams and too many others to list.”

John Barker hasn’t stopped building knives since 2006, and doesn’t see himself giving up any time soon. You probably know him for his Tanto grind. His main specialty is making tactical folders.

“My favorite knives to build are collaborations with other makers because it forces me to do or try something I might not normally do. In the end that helps me to be a better Knifemaker.”