A visit with David Yellowhorse Having a hobby of making custom knife handles is a fun way to spend your time, and I'll have something to say about the craft in a future blog, but right now I'de like to tell you about a wonderful gentlemen.His name is David Yellowhorse, and to anybody who has collected knives for awhile, his custom handle work is instantly recognizable. He is a 4th generation Navajo silversmith, and good at what he does, but it is his custom silver and nickel silver inlays in desert ironwood, as part of his custom knife handles, that have made him famous in the world of knife collecting in my opinion.
I had been making all kinds of custom handles for a few years, but never had a clue on how he did those wonderful inlays. In fact I bought one of his knives just to see how he did it, as I've mentioned previously, but even under the Optivsor magnification and then a more powerful jewelers loope, I could find no clue of how he performed his magic. All I knew was that it was called the "channel inlay process". Then something happened that changed all that.

We go to Phoenix on a regular basis to visit our grandchildren, and usually end up on I-40 at least part of the way, which is a stretch from Albuquerque.,New Mexico to Holbrook, Arizona. We are usually traveling at 75mph as we go over the border from Nm to Az, but this time we actually were stopping at some of the indian trading posts. Just as we were cruising over the border into Az., there it was- a big yellow colored sign I hadn't noticed before- "Yellowhorse Trading Post". And under that, a small sign saying "David Yellowhorse knives".. Wow! I yanked the car onto the off ramp and there we were. There were several different trading posts all sharing space underneath a huge monolitic piece of red sandstone, with a huge painted scene on the rock. It was an amazing site, and I knew we had to be on Navajo land, because that would never be allowed otherwise.

I walked into the trading post and couldn't contain myself. I immediately asked if this was where David Yellowhorse worked, and the lady said "yes, would you like me to go get him?" I didn't know what to say for a moment, but recovered and said "sure". A few moments later a man in his late 40s or mid 50s came out from a back door and I knew who it was instantly. I told him I owned one of his knives and made a few myself and then to my utter amazement, in his soft spoken voice, he invited me into his shop. It was surreal for me, but moments later I was in a mobile trailer walking past two indian women working on two grinding/polishing machines that had rubber-like wheels cooled by water. I looked over and saw two trays of identical and spectacular knives, with the middle portions open, and ready to accept the final triangular pieces each of the girls was working on. We both started talking and I showed him a few of my custom knives I had in my pocket and then he asked me if I wanted to see a shipment of completed knives that was ready to go out that day. To see 5 trays of finished custom knifes, each tray different, was an experience I will never forget. I stood staring and then finally came to my senses and told him I would take one of each. He politely told me all his production was spoken for well into the future, that's why there were no knives for sale at the front counter. I laughed and said I had guessed that was the case.

We had been walking past some equipment when I came upon a small work bench which had what I had come to learn about and see---pieces of desert ironwood and pieces of silver and nickel silver. I stopped and finally blurted out, "how do you do this" as I pickd up a finished piiece of inlaid ironwood.. I expected a polite statement about proprietary secrets, but to my utter amazement, he said "Sure, here's what I do." A half hour later I felt like Knig Kong. I could do this! I promised him I would only use his technique for my own use and gifts for my friends, but he really never asked me to make that promise.

I suddenly realized I had taken almost an hour of this busy man's time, so I thanked him profusely and said my goodbyes. Here was a quiet and gentle man who was an expert in his craft, and yet he had taken time to talk to a stranger and provide him with invaluable knowledge, at no charge.

And to top it off, as I was walking out the door he sais. "Come back anytime." That blew me away and I mentally vowed to do something for him for the knidness he had shown me, but that's another story.

Dr. K