Robert Waldorf Loveless was born in Warren, Ohio back in 1929. At 14 he altered his birth certificate and joined the Merchant Marine, later serving as an Air Corps control tower operator in Iwo Jima. He witnessed many fight in bars where this gave him an idea, more on that in a moment.
After being discharged he attended Chicago’s Armor Institute of Technology. In 1951, he returned to Ohio and studied literature and sociology at Kent State. In 1953, he returned to the Merchant Marine on a tanker. While in New York City, New York he wanted to make a purchase only to find out there was a nine-month waiting list, so he decided to make his own and as they say the rest is history.
What you may not know about Robert AKA Bob Loveless is that he was an American knife maker. He designed the hollow-ground drop point blade and the first to use the full tapered tangs and screw-type handle scale fasteners within the art of knifemaking. He is cited by other knifemakers and collectors as one of the most innovative custom knife makers in the world. He designed the Gerber Guardian knife. Cold steel makes a reproduction of his “Big Bear Classis” fighting knife. He died in 2010, he was 81.
NW Arkansas, come for a visit, stay for a lifetime
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