To provide a quality experience for every person that comes in contact with Entrek USA products or people.
The Entrek USA line of high quality knives consists of 23 different models ranging from the Lynx at an overall length of under 61/2" to the Ranger at 14 1/2". Hunting, utility, tactical we make knives to fit many uses with more in design and prototype phases.
We at Entrek USA realize and believe that almost any steel with enough carbon in it to harden properly will make a good knife. We also realize one steel cannot be all things to all people. And with 30 years experience we just aren't that impressed with the glamor steels out there. Therefore we chose an old standby that has proven itself for many years, 440C stainless. With 95 to 105 points of carbon it will get about as hard as you could want it and with 17% chromium the edge holding and corrosion resistance are nicely enhanced.
Heat treating of the steel is the most important step in the making of an Entrek USA knife. We have our heat treating done at Blanchard Metals Processing in Salt Lake City, Utah where the ground blanks are heated in a vacuum furnace then air quenched, tempered, subzero stabalized and redrawn to 57-58 RC which gives the best all round performance.
At EntrekUSA we combine the latest technologies such as lazer blanking and some old but reliable methods like drill fixtures, add decades of experience (this is especially nice when grinding blades) to make the highest quality hand made production knives. Every step is important and recieves the time needed to do it right. Every knife goes through many steps in production such as blanking, surface grinding to flat and parallel, marking the blade for grinding, freehand rough grind (40 grit) freehand finish grind (220 grit), drill handle for guards, handle screws and thong holes. Tapping screw holes. Heat treat, assembly of handle components, hand shaping the handle, sand blast for a nonreflective finish marking and sharpening. We use the best materials available to us and we have a reason for using what we do. For instance we use only black canvas micarta from one company. This is so we will have a consistant color for our knives. We could get it cheaper but it would not meet our standards. All work except the lazer blanking and heat treat are done in house by Ray and Joshua Ennis.
There are lots of good knives on the market, but there are fewer and fewer top quality knives that are made in the USA. Entrek USA is made in USA. We buy our materials from US companies and we are not going to move our production out of the USA just so we can put more money in our pockets. We believe that we can take care of our own and still produce best quality products at a competitive price. If you are looking for value compare Entrek USA to any other knife on the market, We think you will go with Entrek USA.
Ray Ennis made his first knives by cold forging and filing barn spikes into knives when he was a teen. He made and sold his first custom knife in early 1973. It was made from a car spring and was still curved, the selling price was $10.00. He bought his first O-1 tool steel shortly after, learned to heat treat grind and polish. Much of the learning process was helped by attending the Colorado School of Trades, a gunsmithing school where he learned machining and and better polishing techniques. He has been a machinist, tool and die maker (which really helps with sheath forming), gunsmith and many other things that have helped to make him a better knife maker. Most of all however is the fact that he loves his craft. Even though he makes production knives he still considers it an art form and always will.