M.G. Mühlhäuser & Söhne
Finest Quality Handmade Knives
About Us
M.G. Muhlhauser & Sohne is a small fine knife company specializing in producing a limited number of handmade pieces of functional art.
We make blades that are used by people like us. Folks who understand and appreciate quality. Those who appreciate that something special made by hand. Something that will last a lifetime of use, and then be proudly passed down to the next generation.
So please allow me tell you a little bit about us, where we came from, and a bit about our unique company which makes knives that are cherished by those who own and use them.
My name is Markus Muhlhauser. I love making knives, love to travel, love hunting and I place family before all else. I started out by making knives as a hobby for a number of years. Lots of evenings after work and weekends were spent in my garage grinding away at steel and wood. I kept busy making mistakes, learning and getting better. I truly loved making pieces of art. I have a corporate job, and in the evenings my knife making allowed me to express myself in ways that I could not elsewhere. It was a stress reliever and for a few hours after dinner many nights, I would lose myself in the filing, the fire, the sparks, the grinding, and the steel.
Markus Muhlhauser, Founder of M.G. Muhlhauser & Sohne Knives.
At first, I started where all knife makers should – and that was on the basics of creating a quality knife, perfecting heat treat, and selecting the right components for the intended purpose. I even took some time off to apprentice with a master knife maker. Those first few years were critical as they helped me develop my own unique style and designs. Most of my knives were over-built and meant to be used in the field, primarily for use by hunters for field dressing, skinning…etc.. I realized that I could make a knife that held and edge seemingly forever, but that no one other than a knife maker could sharpen. Oops. So I played with various steels and heat treats, used them in the field and then measured the results. Friends would wonder why on earth I would take perfectly good knife and then put it in a vise, lower a long pipe over the blade and then pull like heck until it broke. You learn a lot about your blades by trying to destroy them! But doing so gave me exceptional confidence in my creations – and showed me just what it took to make my product more durable than the competition – while still being functional and beautiful.
I experimented with lots of handle materials, not to mention pins, bolsters, pommels, and various industrial adhesives. I once left an entire series of knives out in the elements, half buried in the soil for months to see how different materials fared. I also repeatedly slammed finished knives into concrete and just plain old tried trashing them.
Once I knew I could build a fantastically strong, well balanced and functional knife, I started dedicating more and more of my time to the finer details such as artistic file work, and unique handle materials such as mammoth tooth, fossil coral, and stabilized giraffe bone. Mammoth tooth and giraffe bone are the two materials I use most these days. Mammoth tooth is seriously beautiful and each creation is very unique. Stabilized giraffe shin bone is not only very beautiful, but also the most durable natural material I have used. I also really enjoyed my journey in file work which continues to this day. These are the decorative patterns you see adorning the tops of many of my knives. This is done completely by hand as you can see in our videos. It’s time consuming, but I often lose myself in the process - clearing my mind.
A blast from the past. Back in 2014 this was the entire crew. From L to R back row. Chris (who I still grind with from time to time), Jared, Markus, Hunter and Mike. Max and Teddy the shop dog round out the group.
People started to take notice of my work and I started selling pieces - first to folks who had seen my work, then through word of mouth, and then later through an online shop. I felt a great sense of pride in making the knives that carried my name, and was gratified to see that translated into pride of ownership for my small, select but growing customer list.
Since those early days, the company has been through a number of various phases.
Growth…
Back in 2013, the demand for our knives had grown to the point where we needed to bring in a more folks, more machinery and acquire a larger space. Retailers wanted to sell our knives (we decided against that), we got lots of custom orders, and developed quite a following. So I decided to expand.
We moved everything to a beautiful shop in Ellington, Connecticut, one town over from where I live in Tolland. It was great. Demand kept increasing, and I dedicated myself fulltime to my career as a knife maker. It was fun – and my wife was happy to see the machinery leave our garage!
We had a small airport out back where sky divers came to play. We had wonderful fields next to the shop where deer and turkey would visit. We had customers, knife enthusiasts and apprentices come and hang out with us. We even took the time to make a few videos for you to watch. The Ellington shop was a cool place indeed.
But something wasn’t right….
It became evident that in order for things to make sense financially, we would have to greatly ramp up production, use standardized parts, and employ assembly line techniques in order to be profitable. The problem was that this paradigm simply “wasn’t me” - and it would not produce the kind of unique knives that I wanted to put my name on. Furthermore, I re-entered the corporate world (my “real job”) and my time dedicated to making my knives was greatly reduced.
I resisted the assembly line option, which just meant that orders kept stacking up for our knives. By 2016 our waiting list was well over a year. We were up-front about it with our customers and we were still making everything by hand. I appreciated the orders, many of which were spurred on by the fact that I reduced some prices to “assembly line” numbers, but then still produced everything by hand as I had always done. It was a mistake, but I really wanted to make our artwork accessible to more folks. I was losing money with every knife I made. Everyone wanted to know when they would receive their knife or they wanted a one-of-a-kind custom knife that they envisioned and asked me to have it come to life. That is awesome, however, I realized that while I loved making knives, it was now becoming a stress-inducer and not a stress reliever.
So… what to do?
That was the real question. I appreciated our customers but I couldn’t take time away from my paying job and I honestly started getting seriously stressed by having to drive 20 minutes after dinner to go grind at the shop and then come home around midnight.
So in late 2016 I made the commitment to turn my focus purely back on the artistry and joy of making knives, rather than running a knife company. I started by not taking any more orders. Hard-working folks had paid us deposits and I filled all the past orders first. In 2017, I decided to move the equipment back to my house in Tolland. (My wonderful wife never complained about the equipment returning- I think she was just happy to see me again).
Handmade knife file work is a labor of love. I can spend hours doing this and it relaxes me. It is a unique and beautiful element of my custom hunting knives.
And now…
So now I am happily back to where it all started. Making knives at my home shop while relishing the artistry. While I am flattered at all the inquiries I get for custom knives, I no longer take orders. Instead, I just let my artistic visions come to life. Some days I just pick up a piece of steel and start grinding and then later pick out the handle materials. It’s then just up to my personal, creative interpretation - how do the lines flow, what kind of file work might be fun, and how does it feel in the hand? For me, it brings back the pure joy in making knives again.
However, the bad news for our followers is that the supply of knives is greatly reduced. And honestly, our prices have increased. Although if you look at the amount of time that goes into making a knife using our processes and the cost of some of the materials, you can see I am not really making much at all. So, if a knife for sale speaks to you, go ahead and purchase it. If not, that’s okay too! In 2018 and 2019 every knife we had made was pre-sold. However, starting later in 2019 we will be going to a format where we will post any available knives on this website and will send a corresponding notice to anyone on our new Contact List. So if you are interested, please go ahead and put your name on that list. You will get an email when the next one is available. We know you when you receive your knife, it will be worth the wait.
My background outside of knives…
I'm an entrepreneur – one of those guys who likes to start and build businesses and create jobs. For the past 25+ years I have made a living in the world of healthcare financial management and software systems. I sold my company, PhyLogic Healthcare back in 2011 to a large multinational company where I then served as executive there before leaving in 2013. In late 2014 I founded a new company, PractiSource, which has a similar focus as PhyLogic and serves the laboratory, hospital and physician practice markets. It’s actually a lot of fun and we serve clients all over the country from our offices in Connecticut and Massachusetts. While I really enjoy running PractiSource, it can be really stressful at times, and therefore my knife making really lends itself well to reducing that stress.
Before becoming an entrepreneur back in the mid-nineties, I served a little time in the Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Hartford, and then started what I thought would be a career in law enforcement before getting injured and moving on to the world of business.
More important than anything else in my life, I am blessed with a wonderful family. My wife, Ania, is my inspiration for just about everything. She keeps me sane. She's a doc – a clinical psychologist – so that really explains lots of things ;-) . I have three amazing kids. Hunter (go figure on that name!) is my oldest son, followed by Maximus (a knife designer and equestrian extraordinaire) and Isabella (who has me firmly wrapped around her little finger).
Söhne?
So, you may ask, what is this German sounding stuff in the company name, "Sohne"? Well, I am the only one in my family born here in the States, everyone else was born in Germany. I still stay close to my German family, and love hunting all over in Europe every chance I get. I love the European hunting traditions and utter respect for the game animals hunted. "Sohne" means "sons" in German. Like our knives, it is my hope this company gets handed down to the next generation as well.
I am a hardcore hunter. I am crazy about hunting whitetails, turkey and upland game here in the northeast. I am drawn to the west quite frequently where the bugles of bull elk fill the air in the Rockies. I hunt Texas quite often and go on annual quail hunts down in south Georgia. And then there is Africa. Now that is another story. Africa, it seems, has become part of me. It is in my blood and I dream of my next trip to Africa on the plane ride home of the previous trip. In fact, our knives were originally developed for African Professional Hunters. As you can see, don't just make knives for hunters, we are hunters – and use what we make. Our logo is inspired by the horns of a Kudu – my favorite animal in all of Africa.
Teaching others about hunting and conservation is something close to my heart. For the past many years I have been a Chief Instructor for the Connecticut D.E.P., in Wildlife Conservation and Hunter Education. I teach wildlife conservation and bowhunting classes on a regular basis and enjoy seeing the next generation begin their stewardship of our wild resources – and have fun hunting with their families. Hunting has given so much to my family and I, and volunteering as an instructor is small way I try to give a little back.
I also enjoy fishing, especially with my kids down at our place in Florida where my wife likes to escape the cold northeast from time to time. In recent years I have also taken up fly fishing and was amazed to learn that we have some wonderful trout streams right here in Connecticut. That’s become a great hobby that my wife and kids now enjoy as well.
Hunter and Max like being involved in the knives as well and played a crucial role back in the Ellington days. Now they just chill out and enjoy it too. They are the "Sohne" in our company name. Hunter will be finishing college soon down at Temple University with a business degree and will then be joining the corporate world with his new job down in New Jersey. He has been a top competitor in business competitions, played rugby and lacrosse, and drives a pretty hip orange car. He also worked at perhaps the best archery shop in the world, and enjoys teaching archery and bowhunting classes. He also loves it when he takes a bigger buck than his dad with his bow. I am really proud of Hunter and look forward to doing many more knife projects and hunts with him. Oh, and if you like the videos, Hunter was responsible for that during his visits home from college.
Teddy was our beloved golden retriever and shop dog who passed away unexpectedly in 2018. He was there to witness everything and lend support whenever it was needed. We will always miss him. Rest in peace, Teddy.
Max is our resident junior knife maker. This kid dreams of horses and hunting. He loves drawing his own knife designs and has made some pretty cool knives for himself. And he's pretty darn good at it. If you have seen our Snow Leopard design - he created that from scratch back at age 7. Max spends a minimum of 6 days a week pursuing equestrian sports. He is a competitive jumper and we travel all over showing horses throughout the year. Bella, a competitive dancer, loves the horses as well, and so our time together at the barn and on the road at shows has really created an awesome family bond.
Now that you know a bit about us, we'd love to hear a bit about you! I thank you visiting our website and hope you like our creations. We appreciate our customers more than they know. And if you are not yet a customer, we would love to have you as one some day. And if a new blade just isn't in the cards right now, don’t hesitate to just drop us a note.
Thanks so much again and please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or comments.