Burt Flanagan
Member since 2019
Board of directors 2022-2024
Address:
711 Katy ln
Whitewright TX 75491
Phone: (214) 236-5333
E-Mail: flanaganknives@yahoo.com
Bio
I have been making knives since 2015. Specializing in slipjoint knives.
I am a second generation maker, my father being a maker in the late seventies. He truly wanted to join the guild until someone removed him of all his tools during a move one year. Someone robbed the storage building where they were housed.
My mother passed away in 2014. I am an only child, and about three months after she passed, a crate shows up on my porch. I told the Fedex man there must be a mistake, he confirmed my name and address, and when I opened it, to my shock, it was a 2X72 grinder! I was floored. I called dad and asked what’s up, and he told me my mom loved what I was doing, and he said “it’s time to put on your big boy pants and grind your own blades” it was a portion of her life insurance money. I was speechless.
Afterwards I had went to one of Johnny Stout’s hammer-ins, where I met Bill Ruple for the first time. That meeting would mark a pivotal change course in my knifemaking career.He invited me down to learn slipjoints, and my dad said “I’m going with you”. Ruple still jokes that he likes my dad better than me, but the truth is, he’s like an uncle to me. I call him uncle Woople.
I am one of a select group of guys in the slipjoint cartel, started by Bubba Crouch, and these guys are my friends and cartel brothers.
The Knifemakers’ Guild has been extremely helpful, and the members have really helped me elevate my work. If I could give any maker advice, it would be what Bill Ruple told me: “Strive to make each knife better than your last”. That’s what I still strive to do every day.
I am truly honored to be on the board of directors for The Knifemakers’ Guild for 2022, and promise to honor the traditions of the guild and try my very best to be kind and do everything possible to grow the Guild with new talent, while honoring the makers that made the Guild historical.
I am now, through my knifemaking connections, a full time employee for Paragon Industries, as the knife industry manager. We ship knifemaking ovens worldwide! This exposes me to more makers than I ever dreamed possible as well as industry leaders.
My wife Wendy of 34 years and my grown daughters Tamara and Tiffany are my largest supporters. I love them incredibly.
I look forward to serving the Guild.
