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Announcer [00:00:03]:
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast, your weekly dose of knife news and information about knives and knife collecting. Here's your host, Bob the knife junkie DeMarco.

Bob DeMarco [00:00:16]:
Welcome to the Knife Junkie podcast. I'm Bob DeMarco. On this edition of the show, I'm speaking with custom knifemaker, designer, and machinist Princeton Wong. Prince Customs is a design engineering and fabrication company serving a broad client base that has turned some of its bandwidth to knife making and design. Princeton has won multiple blade show awards in the last few years, including trophies in both the custom and production categories. And his knives range from sleek and stout EDC folders, to complex and labored over art style knives. We'll meet Princeton and find out how his business has evolved to make some of the most celebrated contemporary knives. But first, be sure to like comment, subscribe with the notification bell and download the show to your favorite podcast apps.

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Bob DeMarco [00:01:34]:
Prince, welcome to the show.

Princeton Wong [00:01:36]:
Yeah. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

Bob DeMarco [00:01:38]:
It it's a pleasure. I'm gonna call you Prince, because it's cool. You don't get to call too many people Princeton. And you said I can call you that or Princeton. So Yeah. But it's a real pleasure to meet you. I had a chance to meet you very briefly at the end of Blade Show, this year and got a chance to check out some of the work on the table, including that Ciel we were just talking about. But I wanna I wanna congratulate you on all your, success, recent success.

Princeton Wong [00:02:04]:
So much. Yeah. It's been, pretty surprising, to be honest. Yeah. Just kinda putting myself out there and seeing everyone kinda accepting it. It's been amazing for sure.

Bob DeMarco [00:02:14]:
Well, your first award well, we'll talk about your awards upfront. So your first award was blade show 2021. What was that?

Princeton Wong [00:02:22]:
That one was the most innovative design. So I guess the custom version of the Fion, the the Fion, we changed the name because of some copyright, like, trademark issues. But, yeah. So back in, are we are we talking about Blade Show in Atlanta? Or Yeah. We're talking about I

Bob DeMarco [00:02:46]:
was talking about your very first award. I think it was blade show 2021 in Atlanta.

Princeton Wong [00:02:51]:
Okay. Yeah. So that one was, best new maker at blade show, but also for this knife design. Oh, okay. A much fancier one. Yep. They had, like, zirconium and timascus and all that kinda jazz on it.

Bob DeMarco [00:03:07]:
Oh, okay. Let's talk about this. We were we were talking right before we rolled about this, particular design start started as a custom and turned into, a design with CRKT, the Fial. Tell it tell us all about this knife. This won you first, most innovative, best new knifemaker, and now another award, 3 years later in its Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:03:28]:
For the production version. Yeah. Mhmm. Exactly. So, yeah, I mean, the idea started with a good family friend. He came into the shop one day. He's like, I have this idea I wanna run by you, and he dropped a CRK Sebenza and his wine key. And he asked me, is there any way you can combine these so I can just carry one tool with me? And, you know, I love wine.

Princeton Wong [00:03:54]:
So, yeah, I took on the challenge, and the result was the the Fionn.

Bob DeMarco [00:04:01]:
So what I'm seeing here is a regular modern front flipping knife. I don't care. Yeah. I'm being.

Princeton Wong [00:04:09]:
Yeah. So, yeah, it's that front clipper, as you said. Right? And, but hidden in the bolster, that split is actually like a functional lever as well as the cork screw to so you would flip it over. You know, you have access to get in the cork and then leverage on the actual bottle to pull the cork. But, yeah, that whole idea was to have the side profile of a, you know, an elegant, like, carry knife without, you know, the corkscrew just screaming at you. Because typically, you see knives, they have a big cutout and corkscrews just in on display from the get go. But I wanted to try to avoid that if possible. And, yeah, it was quite a packaging challenge, but it worked out in the end.

Bob DeMarco [00:05:06]:
Well, in doing so, you also made well, you made a a knife that really looks great. Looks like a regular knife until you open it up, but also super functional. I mean, we've all opened bottles of wine on French trains late at night or where wherever, with a with a Swiss army knife, and it's like this, and then boom, and then you elbow your girlfriend, and then you know, we've all done that before.

Princeton Wong [00:05:28]:
Wine everywhere. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:05:29]:
Yeah. But but to have the lever and the wine key, you know, that's that's how, you know, that's how a real aficionado would would might open a bottle, easily. Or or if you're a waiter or anything like that bartender, that'd be a super flex to pull that knife out. So what were some of the engineering challenges of making that design?

Princeton Wong [00:05:51]:
So mainly the packaging of it, like getting it all the fit into a relatively slim profile while still, like, maintaining a decent, like, blade to handle ratio And people not realizing there's, like, decent sized corkscrew, like, filling up, like, a good portion of that area here. So aside from that, I had to work out the geometry quite a bit to get the lever to function well enough with the the length of the screw. So you don't actually need a secondary step, which a lot of people are looking for when they see this knife. But it pulls the fork out there.

Bob DeMarco [00:06:35]:
You talk about the hinge on the on the lever?

Princeton Wong [00:06:37]:
Yeah. Some of them have a hinge, or some of them will have, like, another step so that you, like, start it, and then you change over to the second step to pull it the rest of the way out. But that would have ruined the aesthetic of it being a normal knife. You would see another step. I wanted to keep it so that it just looked like a both a bolster detail, like, in the front. And, yeah, there's some other funny things like this little thumb stud so you can access the screw. And if you notice here, there's actually a cutout in the liner.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:13]:
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I can

Princeton Wong [00:07:14]:
see. That's actually a spring for the screw, so it's not just flopping around, like, while it's in your pocket and rattling. But it also kinda holds it up in that position when you're, you know, getting screw into the cork.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:31]:
So do you still make this as a custom or the what's, the custom name? Fion?

Princeton Wong [00:07:36]:
Yeah. The Fion. Yep. I still do. Yep.

Bob DeMarco [00:07:40]:
So, is the corkscrew a real pain in the butt to make? I mean, to me, like, I look I see the whole thing, and it all looks like, you know, more complicated or complex than your usual folder, but all kinda within, like, engineering that most knife makers are probably familiar with. But that damn corkscrew, what about that?

Princeton Wong [00:08:00]:
Yeah. So I studied corkscrews for quite a bit, you know, trying to get the right you know, the ratio of, like, how many turns for the length. And I was making a a higher end knife, so I didn't wanna just buy a cheap corkscrew and just kinda like well pieces to it to get it to work. So on the custom, this was before I had my my lathe as well. So you can see that, yeah, it's all fully machined, but it is machined on a 3 axis mill. So it's, like, 7 operations to to machine the thing. And, yeah, I just used what I had to make it work.

Bob DeMarco [00:08:42]:
That's that's pretty amazing. Alright. Alright. Alright. Let's let's let we we we dove right into the Fiel. I love that knife. I think it's, you know, won the innovation best, innovative, knife in 20 It

Princeton Wong [00:08:56]:
was most innovative in, Lake, Texas. Before it was ICCE, like, that year that Blade show kinda took it over for the first time. Right.

Bob DeMarco [00:09:05]:
Yep.

Princeton Wong [00:09:06]:
Right. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:09:08]:
But it takes a lot of engineering prowess, a lot of design prowess, and ability with machines to do stuff like this. Sure. You you know how to build things. Where does that come from? You have a company, Prince Customs, and you don't just make knives.

Princeton Wong [00:09:22]:
Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:09:22]:
Tell tell me about your company.

Princeton Wong [00:09:25]:
Yeah. So I started the company with the idea of I I love, like, just building things and learning about fabrication in general. The idea was to offer fabrication services to people that had nowhere else to turn. So if it was, like, some weird project, maybe they would come to my shop and, you know, could get it done. But my background in fabrication really started in the automotive industry. Yeah. So back in the day, I was hanging out at a friend's automotive tuning shop. They're doing, like, turbo civics and NSXs and stuff like that.

Princeton Wong [00:10:04]:
And, yeah, 1 the first car that I built was a twin turbo 911. Oh. And, Nice.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:11]:
But, sorry. I just have to interject.

Princeton Wong [00:10:14]:
Yeah. Sure.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:14]:
My my father had a few 9 elevens when I was a kid, and we always loved them. They're the

Princeton Wong [00:10:19]:
my I think Yeah. They're they're wild cars. Definitely a trip to drive.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:23]:
Yeah. Yeah. So anyway

Princeton Wong [00:10:25]:
Yeah. So that was the first car I decided to tear into. I ripped, like, 4 or £500 out of it and built a whole twin turbo system. Like, it was it was a fun car. I still have it today.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:39]:
Oh, nice.

Princeton Wong [00:10:40]:
Yeah. That's probably not the normal first car to rip up. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:10:45]:
So were you did you grow up, doing mechanical things or working on cars and all that kind of stuff? Or

Princeton Wong [00:10:52]:
Not at all. Yeah. So my dad, he was a research professor, you know, in the sciences. Always like tinkering and building stuff, you know, with my hands, but I didn't really get into the fabrication side until college. I decided I was gonna study mechanical engineering, and, I ran into some friends who were at the shop and got introduced to the automotive tuning fabrication, like welding and, you know, a little bit of machining, but mostly, like hand fabrication with band saws and sanders and things like that. And that kinda just sparked interest, and it just grew from there. Eventually, I ended up graduating with a graphic communication degree, like graphic design. So I did, graphics design in, like, print, web, all sorts of stuff, and then eventually environmental design, which tied in a bit of the fabrication understanding, alongside the design side.

Princeton Wong [00:11:56]:
So

Bob DeMarco [00:11:56]:
What's environmental design?

Princeton Wong [00:11:58]:
Yeah. So the job that I was doing, we would go in and these big companies like, Masco or, Eli Lilly would hire the architecture firm that I was working with, and they would ask us to, like, redesign, I guess, their entryway to kinda tell their story. Or there are some airports that we worked with, and we design all the signage and the, you know, all the structures behind it. So it's a mix of that design background, but, also, we'd be directing like, oh, this is, you know, the structure that we need behind all of this, and this is my how we might fabricate it. So this is a fun mix of the 2, I think.

Bob DeMarco [00:12:44]:
So, eventually, you start your own company, Prince Customs, where you engineer engineer and, design and build and fabricate stuff, for different companies. I saw your client list. It's a pretty pretty seems like a pretty broad base of people that, that you work with.

Princeton Wong [00:13:00]:
All over the place. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:13:01]:
I mean, what, like, what kind of style? Are you making parts for machines and airplanes and that kind of thing? Or because I saw Boeing.

Princeton Wong [00:13:08]:
So Oh, yeah. Boeing. That was, from my design background. Actually, did this really early, like, iPad app where they were trying to promote the capabilities and the, I guess how do you say it? I guess, the adaptability of, like, the f sixteens to try to extend their service life. And, I was behind the design of that application that they presented, you know, to the government and stuff like that. But, on the fabrication side, that was more automotive and, architectural.

Bob DeMarco [00:13:45]:
So Mhmm. Alright. So That's

Princeton Wong [00:13:47]:
where I started.

Bob DeMarco [00:13:48]:
How did it happen? Okay. You you have all of these machines. I mean, I was looking at your, your website. You laser engrave, you CNC, you do CADCAM Yep. All sorts of and and even other, some more more traditional modes of fabrication. Mhmm. So how did you get into actually making knives? I mean, are you have you always been a knife lover, a a carrier?

Princeton Wong [00:14:12]:
Yeah. So, yeah, I grew up taking martial arts my entire life. I've always been exposed to, like, swords and, you know, bladed weapons. So I've always loved that kind of stuff. And what kid doesn't love, like, ninjas and, you know, Japanese forging as they grow?

Bob DeMarco [00:14:28]:
Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:14:28]:
So, I mean, that's always been a passion. And when I started my own shop, I kinda had the choice. Do I just buy equipment that would, you know, get me by in the architectural field, or do I buy stuff that I could do, like, machining of metals with so that I could eventually, like, make knives and things like that. So when I started it with the idea that I would eventually, like, get into my own passions as well.

Bob DeMarco [00:14:55]:
So knives were always your passion. You knew you're gonna head there, but you had practical experience fabricating stuff for other industries.

Princeton Wong [00:15:03]:
Yeah. Completely different industries. But yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:15:07]:
Okay. So what was the first knife you made? Folder or

Princeton Wong [00:15:12]:
There's a folder. Yep. So that was in

Bob DeMarco [00:15:15]:
Just straight

Princeton Wong [00:15:15]:
to folder. Straight to folder.

Bob DeMarco [00:15:18]:
Okay.

Princeton Wong [00:15:18]:
Yeah. I obviously, you can tell I'm, like, really big into mechanisms and the mechanics and stuff. So, yeah, I had to go straight to folder. I've been kinda dreaming it up. My wife and I lived in Japan for 2 years, and I've been, you know, sketching stuff, thinking about it. And not long after we moved back, I had signed up for a blade show in 2018. And, yeah. So the the first night I brought to blade show in 2018, I I realized 2 months ahead of blade show that I only had sketches.

Princeton Wong [00:15:55]:
And, yeah, I I needed to order a kiln and, you know, actually start making stuff. But, yeah. So that first knife was the Daruma.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:06]:
Oh, okay. Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:16:09]:
So, obviously, it's the, like, Japanese inspiration, the Daruma character himself is used for setting goals. So you would, like, color in one eye when you set your goal, and then when you achieve it, you color in the other one.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:25]:
Is that, like, a thing for kids in Japan, or is that, more of

Princeton Wong [00:16:28]:
a, like, universal Oh, all sorts. Yep. Mhmm. You would take it to, like, the temple or shrine, you know, when you reach the goal and, like, I think toss it into, like, a fire or something like that. But yeah. So the goal was to get into making knives, and, that's why I named it that. But yeah. So it was this knife.

Bob DeMarco [00:16:51]:
That is okay. That is beautiful.

Princeton Wong [00:16:54]:
So it's kind of on the more wild side for, you know, a first attempt at some

Bob DeMarco [00:17:01]:
Yeah. I'd say. Well, it's got a very, unusual it's got a very unusual design, and I'm not even talking about the, the flourishes, which we'll get to in a second. But the overall well, you said you were into martial arts, and and, so, you know, that that downward angled blade It

Princeton Wong [00:17:19]:
kinda has, like, the Persian type you know, the blade is curved down, so it's always kind of presented.

Bob DeMarco [00:17:25]:
Yes.

Princeton Wong [00:17:26]:
You know, it's accessible. It has the, like, the a full guard. A lot of people were saying, oh, it's so curved. Like, is that gonna be comfortable until they picked it up and like, wow. It really fits in your hand. And it was a bit extended and, like, reinforced in the back there, you know, as a blunt weapon. But Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:17:51]:
So Yeah. Hold that up a little bit closer to the camera. Let's look at that pivot area. There's a lot of engraving or, milling and engraving on this. Right?

Princeton Wong [00:18:01]:
Yeah. So just going with the the Japanese, inspirations, if I can get this focus correct. There we go.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:10]:
Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:18:11]:
Yeah. So if you're into, you know, Japanese swords, the katanas, like the tsuba area, some of them have, like, a pure tsuba. So I was kinda trying to mimic that look on the bolster, and a lot of these shapes are based on, like, wing geometries. So I used a a crane, like a Japanese crane motif.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:34]:
And then as you go as you go back, there's some sculpted wood. Is that wood?

Princeton Wong [00:18:40]:
No. So this is, it's a skeletonized backspacer.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:44]:
I'm sorry. I'm talking about the the brown part of the handle. Is that

Princeton Wong [00:18:47]:
Oh, this right here? Yeah. That's actually a DLC coated titanium.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:54]:
Oh my god. That's awesome.

Princeton Wong [00:18:55]:
Yeah. The color's a bit off. Yep.

Bob DeMarco [00:18:57]:
No. I I think it's just, more, like, more luxe than I even knew. It it's really beautiful. This thing is really soft. So do you make multiples of these, or have you made

Princeton Wong [00:19:10]:
a I made about 50 of them

Bob DeMarco [00:19:13]:
Okay.

Princeton Wong [00:19:14]:
I guess. Yep. A little bit over 50. This was before I really knew or I wouldn't say I really know what I'm doing now. I would like knife fixture wise machining. But, this was, like, my first attempt at, like, fixturing these types of parts, like, really thin metal and and making a knife. So, yeah, I showed up to blade show with 12 of these, which was a little bit nuts considering I'd, like, just started making knives. Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:19:47]:
But it yeah. It worked out. It caught the attention of quite a few people, that following, I guess, winter, it actually appeared in Blade Magazine as, like, you know, the very end, they have cool knives or whatever. Yeah. But yeah. So I was pretty surprised by that.

Bob DeMarco [00:20:05]:
So did you sell all 12 that you went to Blade Show with that year?

Princeton Wong [00:20:09]:
No. I sold a few of them, which I heard is a pretty good thing for the first show that you ever go to.

Bob DeMarco [00:20:16]:
Yeah. Well, especially especially as an unknown quantity. And doing something that is, very particular, you know, it doesn't look like much else.

Princeton Wong [00:20:25]:
You know? Exactly. It's a pretty unique design that that I was just kinda throwing out there. Oh, maybe people like it, maybe they won't, but that's what I like. So yep.

Bob DeMarco [00:20:35]:
So what what went into the design of that? What, actually, more than that, what did you learn? Like, you're holding that knife. That's your first knife

Princeton Wong [00:20:44]:
or Yeah. That that was actually the very first frame I machined.

Bob DeMarco [00:20:48]:
The very first one. So you're holding it in your hand. You've made a lot of knives since. Yeah. What are your impressions of your first knife now?

Princeton Wong [00:20:58]:
So I learned a lot about the, I guess, the opinions of the community, like certain things that they're looking for. I got a lot of feedback there. This specific knife, I made the blade length, like, under 3 inches because I used to live in New York for a while. Mhmm. Didn't wanna, you know, have a knife that was a longer blade, you know, just to be on the safe side. Yeah. But overall, like, people would come and tell me their preferences on, you know, the ratios. Some people didn't like the, the flipper tab being so pronounced.

Princeton Wong [00:21:39]:
Like, where it's placed, like, the geometry could be higher, you get a different feel. And the way the, the pocket clip was made, I was trying something different because the, inlays here are raised. The pocket clip actually doesn't touch the scale. It interferes with your pocket because of the, the raised inlay. So it functions a little bit differently, but still works.

Bob DeMarco [00:22:05]:
So, did you did you find that I mean, kinda stepping into a new world, with a product, that people are very used to in that world assessing. Did you find that people were finicky more than expected or, very particular more than expected?

Princeton Wong [00:22:25]:
Not necessarily. I mean, it's I never spoken to anyone in the field. So I just came in with an open mind and, you know, I could they were gracious with, like, with their opinions. Nobody was just in my face about stuff. So, I mean, nothing really bad to say if they're just trying to give me constructive feedback. So

Bob DeMarco [00:22:45]:
Right. Right. I guess, okay, I guess I say finicky, and that that sounds negative. I guess, I mean, particular because until you dive into any enthusiast group, you don't know how deep it goes. Oh, yeah. For sure. And it goes deep here. I'm sure in cars, it goes.

Bob DeMarco [00:23:01]:
You know, there's so much more to a car. I'm I'm sure it goes, infinitely deeper. But would you say that a lot of what you're doing now has been informed by by the kind of feedback you've gotten by knife aficionados, etcetera?

Princeton Wong [00:23:16]:
Sure. Yeah. So I do tie in, like, some of the the feedback that I've gotten or the, I guess, their perspectives. I still try to kinda inform my design aesthetic more on, like, oh, do I like this or not? Versus what the the general, like, knife going like, buying public likes. Of course, I mean, being around a lot of knives, like, you get, you know, influences from the community as well. So

Bob DeMarco [00:23:48]:
Yeah. Well, how how do you design? How do you approach design?

Princeton Wong [00:23:54]:
So I'll just pull inspiration from, like, pop culture or nature, things like that. Pretty similarly to a lot of, like, car automotive designers. You know, you look around, you see something beautiful. You wanna pull in some of that aesthetic, and, you just go from there. I'll like the things, like, with the feel, that's a little bit informed by who might be using it and also, you know, just the functionality, like, dictates a bit of the overall form in the end as well.

Bob DeMarco [00:24:31]:
Oh, it's like, sometimes you go into a creative endeavor without many preconceived notions. You let the thing talk to you. It turns into something you weren't expecting. Or in other cases like this, you have a problem to solve. How do I make, like, an awesome modern folder but hide a corkscrew for my one old friend? Yeah. Exactly. But, I mean

Princeton Wong [00:24:52]:
But, I mean, one other knife that's like, that speaks to that is the nucleus.

Bob DeMarco [00:24:59]:
Oh, this thing is wild. So this is another, foreign produced CRKT. And by foreign produced, I mean, Italian. Right? They're they're both made

Princeton Wong [00:25:08]:
Yeah. So this would be the Italian one.

Bob DeMarco [00:25:11]:
Okay. Yep. Okay. So, what tell us about this knife.

Princeton Wong [00:25:17]:
So this was the design language here was entirely informed by my love for, the Japanese mecha, like Gundam specifically. So you can see, like

Bob DeMarco [00:25:29]:
Explain that to people.

Princeton Wong [00:25:30]:
Yeah. So as you can see on my shirt, there's, like, a robot here. Mhmm. And, some of them will carry, like, huge weapons, like a big sword on their arm. But a lot of the robots, they have really angular shapes and, yeah, like, the bolster here is kinda designed after the big cauldrons that some of them have. And you'd see cutouts for, like, their engines and all that kind of stuff all over the place. Cool.

Bob DeMarco [00:25:59]:
Are we talking, like, kind of, like, Kaiju kind of things? Like not Kaiju.

Princeton Wong [00:26:04]:
Yeah. I guess the robots that would fight the Kaiju.

Bob DeMarco [00:26:07]:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or or when I was a kid, we had shogun warriors. They were these Japanese toys that were, like, supposed to be giants,

Princeton Wong [00:26:14]:
yeah. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:26:15]:
Yeah. So that's really cool. You can see that in the in the design of of this knife. It's so mechanical.

Princeton Wong [00:26:23]:
So this is one of the the customs that I, like, I used to make. And I made it, small so you could fit in your like, a third pocket. And I wanted this one to be, like, really fidget friendly, so it has the front flipper, the big cutout so you can flick it, and also the flipper in the back.

Bob DeMarco [00:26:45]:
That's awesome. So is this a model that you still make also? I mean so I guess this is confusing to me. When you make a custom knife and then you kind of well, and then you license that design to a CRK, for instance, you're still are you still allowed to produce that knife?

Princeton Wong [00:27:00]:
Sure. Yep. Yeah. You're allowed to produce, like, up to, agreed upon amount Okay.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:06]:
Which,

Princeton Wong [00:27:06]:
I guess most custom makers probably couldn't even eat anyways.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:10]:
I I was gonna say it's probably very realistic if you're hand making them or making them

Princeton Wong [00:27:14]:
Sure. Sure. Yeah. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:17]:
So you also have another knife that, is, the kind of knife that I would EDC for sure, and, I wrote it down here somewhere. But, it's the all titanium front flipper, beautiful kinda clip point.

Princeton Wong [00:27:34]:
The

Bob DeMarco [00:27:35]:
Yes.

Princeton Wong [00:27:35]:
Clip point?

Bob DeMarco [00:27:36]:
Yes. Yep.

Princeton Wong [00:27:38]:
Yeah. So this is something I started making this year. It's called the Perdian.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:43]:
Perdian. That's right.

Princeton Wong [00:27:44]:
Yes. Yeah. This is kind of my test into, like, really using my manufacturing capabilities and offering them as, like, drops, like, every week or 2.

Bob DeMarco [00:27:58]:
Okay. Explain.

Princeton Wong [00:28:01]:
So, yeah, I mean, compared to, like, a Daruma where there's, like, investment cast, bolsters, and, you know, a 1,000,000 parts and stuff like that.

Bob DeMarco [00:28:15]:
Right.

Princeton Wong [00:28:16]:
The was how do I simplify production down to a level that I'm still happy, like, making something, but also leverage, you know, the capabilities of my machine shop to, to produce them in a larger quantity and also for a more accessible price point. So that that was the, the child of that that mindset is this knife.

Bob DeMarco [00:28:48]:
Move that, if you will, flip it around so we could see the show side and hold it closer, to the to the camera. Something I noticed is that well, this is beautiful. I mean, so this is a great blend of really, like, cool and unique design that's incredibly useful and not weird, but also has a uniqueness to it because I know that you do all sorts of different treatments of the surface. You have that sort of flexibility if you're doing drops and and doing however many knives

Princeton Wong [00:29:20]:
that it's Exactly. Sorted. And this this specific knife was it has a big flat section, like, on the scale aside from, like, the contouring, like, on the top and the bottom so that I can, like, create different machine textures or designs to differentiate models or, you know, the drops. And also, this handle design was also made so that I can actually put different blade styles into it. So I have, like, the wharncliffe drawn and a tanto, and it all fits into this particular handle shape while maintaining, like, the same, like, length ratios and stuff like that.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:01]:
It looks like a really comfortable handle, and and, it's also nice looking. But what that's a great idea. You know? Not only from a maker's point of view and a business point of view of having something constant like the handle and the pop out blades for it. But, also, if if it's the kind of knife that, myself as a collector just loves, I'm gonna want as much variation as possible. Not only

Princeton Wong [00:30:27]:
Yeah. Exactly.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:27]:
Getting the different runs with the different,

Princeton Wong [00:30:31]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:31]:
Patterns, but a different blade every time. I mean, how cool is that?

Princeton Wong [00:30:36]:
Yeah. So one of the fun things I did, just not this one, this one has, like, a sunburst kinda milling on it. But recently, I went to the Maker Syndicate, which was in Indianapolis. And being a racing fan, I had to do a pattern that's, like, inspired by, you know, the Indy 500. So I had this pattern that had a bunch of NACA ducts in it.

Bob DeMarco [00:30:58]:
What are NACA ducts?

Princeton Wong [00:31:00]:
So they're these, they're kinda like triangular shaped ducts that optimize airflow into, like, a small opening.

Bob DeMarco [00:31:09]:
Oh, oh, oh, okay.

Princeton Wong [00:31:10]:
Yeah. So you'll see them on, like, a Nissan GTR. I guess, most famously, a Ferrari F40 has,

Bob DeMarco [00:31:15]:
like, giant

Princeton Wong [00:31:16]:
NACA ducts on it. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:31:17]:
Right. Right. Or the the old Lamborghini Oh, Lamborghini con gosh.

Princeton Wong [00:31:20]:
Yeah. Yeah. I love that.

Bob DeMarco [00:31:23]:
Yeah. So it starts out small and widens out, and it just forces there. Yep. Mhmm. So, how often how often do you, make drops of the Protean? How how does how does

Princeton Wong [00:31:34]:
I've been trying to do every week if possible. I just start I started making them in, like, March, April ish. So I've been ramping up into, you know, producing them more regularly. But

Bob DeMarco [00:31:50]:
How many knives are usually in a drop? Is this something that people have a realistic chance of getting if they just keep their eye on your Instagram or

Princeton Wong [00:31:58]:
Yeah. So I mean, I've sold a good amount of them so far. I've been doing, like, anywhere between 8 to 12 is the goal. Yeah. Most recently, I've been doing 8, like, every week is what the goal is. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:32:14]:
And and so do you have a, like, a dedicated following at this point? Do you have people who, are always kinda kinda coming after your work? Do you have collections?

Princeton Wong [00:32:26]:
Yeah. So there's always people reaching out to me and especially with the Proteon and the drops, like, it plays into that drop culture, and people are looking for these. Yeah. So yeah. But people still ask me about my other knives, like, the Daruma, which is kinda retired now, or, I don't know if you've seen this. Oh. This one?

Bob DeMarco [00:32:50]:
No. I'll no. I love it already, though. I love that blade. My gosh. That's gorgeous. Is that an automatic?

Princeton Wong [00:32:59]:
It's auto. Yep. So this is my first foray into automatics. It's in collaboration with Latama Cutlery. Do you know them, like Walt Latama? I I I or Adrian? Sorry.

Bob DeMarco [00:33:13]:
I I feel like I followed I I feel like I recognize the name.

Princeton Wong [00:33:16]:
Yeah. He's been importing Italian stilettos and automatics for a super long time, and he used to have, like, a newsletter that talks specifically about automatics. Yeah. But, yeah, he had this mechanism that he was developing. And if you follow the words, I think you would have seen the very first one that was done by Rhys Whelan.

Bob DeMarco [00:33:39]:
Oh, okay.

Princeton Wong [00:33:40]:
One of the most innovative. It was a, like, a giant version. It's much larger. But, yeah, Walt had come to me, and he was asking me, hey. Can you do something with this, like, special mechanism that we have the IP for and make it a carriable size, add a pocket clip, and stuff like that and produce some for us? So this was the result of that collaboration with Latam McCollery. And, yeah, it's it's a different mechanism. As you can see, the whole clip side actually slides downwards.

Bob DeMarco [00:34:16]:
So it's like a scale release, but not the kind we're used to.

Princeton Wong [00:34:19]:
Yeah. It's not the traditional where you, like, push it side to side, like, on the bolster or at the bottom. Yeah. The whole clip side slides down, so you can keep your whole grip on it. And, yeah, it's cool.

Bob DeMarco [00:34:33]:
That is cool. And that blade is just awesome. And so is this something that people can get? Or is this, was this a kind of limited, production sort of?

Princeton Wong [00:34:44]:
Yeah. So I'm still allowed to make, 24 a year as customs. And I think while it's probably sold out of the ones that I produce for them, like, like production or mid tech, whatever you wanna call it. But, yeah, they're still available to this. Yep.

Bob DeMarco [00:35:04]:
Well, maybe you can make, for the Protean, you can make a wharncliffe that looks like that one because that, man, that blade, you nailed it with that blade. I I wanna go back to something you were mentioning. You mentioned the drop culture, and I've never heard that term, but, yeah, that works perfectly. And I'm I'm I am not that guy. I, Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:35:24]:
I mean, it's it's something that I'm still trying to understand and study as well. So

Bob DeMarco [00:35:28]:
I'm almost the guy who's like, oh, I missed out on it. What? What? Like, you know, because I I'm not there at the time or whatever. I'm just not paying that much attention. So do you think that, doing drops, like, it it seems like a great way to keep people interested and and to and to make it like a a a real coveted kind of item. And at the same time, maybe you're keeping yourself out of, that sort of, corner people paint themselves into with books, you know what I mean, when they're first getting started?

Princeton Wong [00:36:04]:
Yeah. So it definitely allows you the freedom of not being tied to the light lengthening interactions where you're, like, trying to spec out a custom. You do a drop of a specific type, and that's just how it comes. You know? So aside from out bringing up, you know, time in that way, it also kinda gamifies the the acquisition of, like, said product. Yeah. It creates excitement around the brand and stuff like that, which you can see in, you know, just street wear and all that kind of stuff. It's done all over the place.

Bob DeMarco [00:36:44]:
Gamify. I like that. Yeah. Definitely definitely does. Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:36:48]:
Because you you have to be there. You have to be the fastest one, or you have to win the lotto and stuff like that. So Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:36:54]:
And it's also, when when later you're showing off your knife, when you're in the pit or somewhere where people Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:37:01]:
No. I was able to get one. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:37:02]:
No one cared. They're like, oh, check this out. Yeah. It's a Prince Custom. What? No one gets those. The the when you started making knives and and selling them, were you trying to did you have to fish around for a business model, or did this sort of naturally fit into your regular business?

Princeton Wong [00:37:23]:
So I've never been good at writing or following business models. I just kinda jump into what I feel like doing. Uh-huh. And, fortunately, it's kind of worked out for the most part, except for in college, I opened up a bubble tea shop

Bob DeMarco [00:37:40]:
Oh, that's great.

Princeton Wong [00:37:40]:
In another, yeah, in another town with a friend, and that didn't work out for various reasons. But you probably shouldn't open a a shop in a different city while you're studying engineering. So

Bob DeMarco [00:37:52]:
Yeah. Probably. You don't wanna divide your, your energies there. But it sounds like, like you've got the entrepreneurial spirit Sure. Yeah. Which, obviously, is necessary to start a fabrication shop. Definitely necessary, to start a knife business. Like, In starting your knife business in particular, what have you noticed about, about the knife industry, that's different?

Princeton Wong [00:38:20]:
I felt that it was a lot more accepting and supportive overall than, say, automotive where it's really cutthroat. I mean, I had the opportunity to, you know, really get deep into that. But, I mean, I'd seen so many of my friends, like, start their shops and get burnt out because of the way they're treated in that industry or, like, how cutthroat it is with pricing and, you know, in various ways that I kinda went a different direction than just straight automotive. Yeah. I I think the knife industry is a lot more friendly than most, I would say.

Bob DeMarco [00:38:59]:
I'm not surprised to hear you say that because, I mean, I I know it's kind of a cliche at this point, but, oh, the knife industry, it's awesome. But, really, I do hear a lot of stories about how, people share techniques and tricks and of the trade and stuff with with others. How much of this are you doing? So so you are known not known. You're not known. You won for best I saw you were on a podcast, and I I forgive me. I can't remember what it was called. It was a nice podcast, with a very cool logo, and they and they titled your episode so Mac Daddy because you're the

Princeton Wong [00:39:36]:
Yeah. The Good Old Blades podcast by Good

Bob DeMarco [00:39:38]:
Old Blades. Aaron. Machine assisted custom knife. Right, Mac? Yeah. Okay. So this is a relatively new, category.

Princeton Wong [00:39:48]:
Yeah. Pen blade.

Bob DeMarco [00:39:49]:
Yeah. Yeah. In in the past couple years. How much of it is, machine assisted? I mean, I know the parts are cut out that way, but, I mean, where where does the hand work begin?

Princeton Wong [00:40:01]:
So I guess that just depends on who's entering.

Bob DeMarco [00:40:04]:
I mean, for you in your in your knives.

Princeton Wong [00:40:07]:
Yeah. So at my shop, I take stuff from, you know, the raw plate of, steel or titanium, and I do all the water jetting. I have a water jet in house, All the machining, like so I guess you would say that the handwork begins either if somebody specs like a hand ground blade or every knife has hand finishing to one extent or not or the other, some more than others, of course. But, yeah, it it just depends. So in that particular category, I think the only requirement was that part of it is done by machine, but you also have the hand finishing, like, aspect as well.

Bob DeMarco [00:40:54]:
Because I know that, you know, obviously, you know, CAD and and the the design software is it's your bread and butter, as as well as the other stuff. But I I know that you don't just, like, put in these very complex, programs or designs, and then the I know the knife isn't just spat out of the machine. There's a lot of back and forth, right, between milling a piece or making a piece on a CNC machine and then and then prepping it for the next step.

Princeton Wong [00:41:25]:
Yeah. I mean, to make a salable product, there's definitely all the hand finishing that people are expecting. I mean, like you said, the industry might be kind of finicky in what it's looking for. So it's not as bad anymore as maybe, like, a few years ago, but there's more machine finishes that are accepted now than, say, even in 2018 where, like, people may not have been accepting of like a machine bevel or, you know, the the handle having like machine lines on it and stuff like that. So, I mean, I know all the traditional finishing from, you know, the fabrication styles that I delved in before. And, yeah, depending on the knife, it's it's applied on on the knives as well. So I love Oh, yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:42:19]:
This is

Princeton Wong [00:42:19]:
the model that won the matte category. It's called the Orochi. Orochi.

Bob DeMarco [00:42:27]:
This is beautiful. If you if you can't if you're just listening, it's a recurve tanto. I I would say Recurve tanto clip point. I don't know what it is, but

Princeton Wong [00:42:37]:
it's it's another one of my weird creations.

Bob DeMarco [00:42:40]:
It's really beautiful. And with Damascus and, actually, I was gonna bring this up with the, looking at the Damascus, on some of the, Proteans. I saw pictures of it it's got a very, cool juxtaposition, if I can use that word, between the sort of swirly organic patterns on the Damascus with the very, you know, mechanized handle

Princeton Wong [00:43:07]:
Sure.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:08]:
It's just I love the way that looks. And and you were talking about, how it's now way more accept, not even acceptable, but it's, like, desirable to see some of the milling, you know, the steps, on the blades or or on the blade bevels or,

Princeton Wong [00:43:24]:
the handle. I mean, before, you know, people would want, like, a smooth down handle, but now there's this whole thing, like, oh, it's microneeling.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:31]:
Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:43:32]:
It's like a catchphrase now. So it's really like, oh, you didn't do as fine of a machine line. So, you know, the pass the stepovers aren't as fine, so you can actually see more of those steps.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:44]:
So we'll just call it micro mode. Yeah. That Let's talk about this. Can you can you hold that close-up to the, to the camera?

Princeton Wong [00:43:51]:
Yep.

Bob DeMarco [00:43:52]:
Okay. So titanium frame lock holster? Is that what I'm seeing?

Princeton Wong [00:43:57]:
So the, as always, I'm trying to do something different. You can see the bolster actually wraps all the way around the frame. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yep. So it wraps around, and it caps the whole pivot area. So you don't see the pivot screw. And also on the lock side, it kinda hides the mechanics a bit.

Bob DeMarco [00:44:22]:
That's what it is. I was like, yes. Right. I can't see the Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:44:25]:
So it's not really a frame lock. It's not a liner lock. It's Not a a bolster lock or whatever. But yeah. So another one of my kinda crazy different things.

Bob DeMarco [00:44:39]:
So is this a is this a model that you are now making, on a regular basis?

Princeton Wong [00:44:45]:
Yeah. So I've been doing these as customs.

Bob DeMarco [00:44:48]:
Yeah. So you do you work simultaneously on the customs as you do, on the Proteins, which are kinda more your production? Yeah. Okay.

Princeton Wong [00:44:58]:
So the production the Proteins are set up to run overnight and then, like, in the morning, and then that kinda leaves my day for finishing and also to work on, like, custom stuff or architectural products and, you know, automotive stuff.

Bob DeMarco [00:45:17]:
Right. Right. Right. Stuff to put, meat on the table, so to speak. The non knife. So, out there, who do you emulate in or who would you like to emulate in terms of, knife design? And and and also just in terms of company in general? Uh-huh.

Princeton Wong [00:45:37]:
I've always really admired like, Ron best his design aesthetic. The, I guess, the the protein, you can kinda see some design aesthetic, you know, with the, the way the blade is. I'm blanking right now. Let me look it up.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:03]:
That's funny because I was thinking, Richard Rogers a little bit for some reason.

Princeton Wong [00:46:08]:
Not Yeah. A lot a lot of people have said Rogers in yep. Mhmm.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:13]:
Not necessarily in terms yeah. Not not necessarily in terms of, like like, the designs of the knives, but kind of how they, I don't know. I don't know. Something about them.

Princeton Wong [00:46:24]:
I think maybe, like, the functional aesthetic, I guess.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:27]:
Yeah. And you could really

Princeton Wong [00:46:28]:
see it in that hit the way he designs his knives is what I was thinking.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:33]:
Yeah.

Princeton Wong [00:46:33]:
Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:46:34]:
Yeah. You could see it in that automatic. So, I asked you before about design, and, you know, you mentioned coming some of your inspirations, but, I'd also I'm kinda interested in, how you actually do it. Do you sit down with paper, or or are you always at the computer?

Princeton Wong [00:46:53]:
Most of the time, it starts just straight on the computer. I have that graphics background, so I'll start in, like, Adobe Illustrator just because the the flow just works better for me in Illustrator versus, like, a CAD software. But, yeah, after I kinda sketch out stuff in Illustrator, I'll bring it over to a CAD software and make sure everything is lined up and functions correctly. And, yeah, I will flush it out there after doing the 2 d.

Bob DeMarco [00:47:29]:
And, and and are you assimilating now, what you hear from people? I know you said your very first blade show. You were, when you had the Daruma, you were kinda taking in a lot

Princeton Wong [00:47:43]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:47:44]:
Of what people were saying. Now, you know, some years into it, how do you onboard that kind of stuff?

Princeton Wong [00:47:53]:
I'm on I'm still asking people for opinions all the time because, you know, everyone's looking for something different. But, you know, if you hear one thing a ton of times, you start paying attention to it. Like this, specifically, I was doing the lock insert a specific way just because of, what a lot of the community has been giving me feedback on, like, the tent wise. So probably can't see it here, but this insert actually has the, like, the tent ball milled into it, so it's integral to the the steel insert.

Bob DeMarco [00:48:35]:
Okay.

Princeton Wong [00:48:35]:
But that allows me to control, like, the exact height that the the tent ball sits at and also allows, like, it to go over center slightly. Because if you're pressing it in, obviously, it has to hold on to something, and, you know, the width of the ball has to be some just past its center line. But if you're machining it, you can control the height however you want. And that gives this one a really, like, snappy, crispy design.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:03]:
God. It sounds so cool too. I mean It

Princeton Wong [00:49:05]:
has that kinda ting to it that people feel crazy about lately.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:10]:
The only person I've, knifemaker I've ever spoken to, I think, that's done it, like you're describing is, Brian Nadeau.

Princeton Wong [00:49:20]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:21]:
He he mills in sort of a if I remember correctly, it's like kind of a kind of a wedge shape or something.

Princeton Wong [00:49:28]:
Like a oval, like, oval island that sits into, like, quite a big, detent pocket, I guess you would call it. But he also has that he's known for that ramp that's milled into the insert. I think that's what he, like, holds a patent on or something. But, yeah, this one doesn't have the ramp in the insert. I'm purely using the machine detent to control the height. Yeah. In it feel.

Bob DeMarco [00:49:57]:
I was gonna say, I bet it has a real distinct feel because, yeah, that I've only ever held one, custom, Brian Nadeau, and I had the the

Princeton Wong [00:50:07]:
Oh, that's really amazing. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:50:09]:
The release was like,

Princeton Wong [00:50:10]:
wow. That's

Bob DeMarco [00:50:12]:
I've never experienced this before. So I, yeah, I I could see how doing it your way is, you know, just leads to a different feel, and the control from the knifemaker side is pretty unique. I never thought about that. You can't you you have to pound in a detent ball, like, past the

Princeton Wong [00:50:31]:
Like, past the center point. Yeah. Mhmm.

Bob DeMarco [00:50:33]:
Yeah. And so that that means to control the detent, you have to deal more with the tension on the arm than with the height of the the the ball. So

Princeton Wong [00:50:41]:
The ball itself. Yep. Mhmm.

Bob DeMarco [00:50:44]:
So in doing this, in in making knives, have you had a mentor, or have you have you had anyone kind of show you the way at all, or has this been all you you?

Princeton Wong [00:50:55]:
No. This is just me watching, like, YouTube videos and and looking at knives. I've been pretty good at figuring out how things work just by looking at it. I've been lucky in that sense. Like, one of the first projects that I got as, you know, a machine shop, my friends brought in this Bonneville, like, salt flat racers, sequential transmission, his shifter, and they're like, hey. Can you rebuild this for us? I'm like, sure. But, yeah, it's this one off sequential, and, yeah, I was, like, making bushings and stuff for it. But, yeah, I've been pretty fortunate in, you know, getting stuff to work just by looking at it.

Bob DeMarco [00:51:38]:
Okay. So that's what you're saying about that transmission. You'd never made one of those before, but you could look at it and

Princeton Wong [00:51:43]:
And, like, remake certain parts of it and, yeah, keep it functional. Yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:51:48]:
So, I mean, where would you be without your past automotive experience in knife making? Would you would you be anywhere? Would you would you say that all of that has led to this in terms of, your abilities?

Princeton Wong [00:52:01]:
Yeah. I guess I may not be in knife making at all without that initial draw on to metal fabrication. So, yeah, I I probably owe a lot of it to that, I would say.

Bob DeMarco [00:52:14]:
I mean, because, from the outside where I'm standing, it's daunting. You know? And you and you went right into making a, a folder, and there are only very few people that I've spoken to who have ever gone straight to folder making.

Princeton Wong [00:52:26]:
And Sure.

Bob DeMarco [00:52:26]:
And and, you know, I I I I just think it's interesting, and it's it is unique, and oftentimes, it comes out of something like your situation where you you have just a lot of, experience in another industry building. So we have a lot of, the people who are in aerospace making knives. You know?

Princeton Wong [00:52:48]:
Oh, yeah. Mhmm. Yep. So, yeah.

Bob DeMarco [00:52:51]:
Pretty pretty cool. So what are the kind of things you wanna tackle as you take on more and more, in terms of knives? Like, that automatic was pretty damn impressive. So

Princeton Wong [00:53:02]:
Yeah. I definitely wanna do more automatics. I'll probably attempt an OTF some point in the near future. Yeah. Different mechanisms, hopefully. And, yeah, I might actually make a fixed blade too.

Bob DeMarco [00:53:22]:
Oh, going in reverse. Yeah. Well, what kind? You were you were mentioning, well, Japanese culture and Japanese pop culture are interesting to you. How how would you see, fixed blade knife coming out from your shop?

Princeton Wong [00:53:37]:
I mean, of course, like, you know, Wakazashi or Gitan would be amazing, but, my first one would probably be like a collaboration with the old SWAT team friend of mine. So a purely functional, like, fixed blade that, his team might have a use for would be the first one, I think.

Bob DeMarco [00:53:58]:
I like that. That his team would have use for it. Only 2 uses that team would have. One is one is busting into a door and the other is something.

Princeton Wong [00:54:06]:
He says they do a bunch of hammering and cutting of, zip ties.

Bob DeMarco [00:54:10]:
Yeah. Yeah. Right. That I because that's that's what you do with a combat knife. That's the funny thing. Open MREs and crates and stuff. Yeah. If if if all if all is going right.

Bob DeMarco [00:54:21]:
Yeah. Well So so, help some of the people out who are watching, who are trying to get into knives or have recently got into, I mean, making knives. Do you have any advice, anything you would tell people, that you've learned that might help them at the onset of such a choice?

Princeton Wong [00:54:42]:
I guess you really have to make sure your heart's into it because, I mean, I was just throwing myself out there and not really expecting much. I just wanted to do it. But I think people can probably sense that there's a passion behind the work more than say, like, oh, some guy that's making a cool design, but if he's not really into it, then, the person sells more than the product, I think in this industry, I would say.

Bob DeMarco [00:55:15]:
So in your experience of actually pressing the flesh and being in a place like Blade Show, as, an a relatively unknown quantity a few years ago and now growing, you know, way more, known. What what what's the what's the recipe for having a successful show?

Princeton Wong [00:55:37]:
I think it's just being engaging as much as possible. I'm not a really outgoing person, in general. I'm pretty introverted. But, you know, looking people in the eye as I pass by, like, greeting them even if they're not coming up to your table, like, it draws people over to look at your product, and you get insights that you probably wouldn't get otherwise. So

Bob DeMarco [00:55:59]:
Well, I think that's, pretty good advice because, I think a lot of people who are in the creative, worlds,

Princeton Wong [00:56:06]:
you

Bob DeMarco [00:56:06]:
know, creative industries or or jobs are, by their nature, more

Princeton Wong [00:56:11]:
A bit too early. Yeah. Mhmm. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. You gotta break that comfort zone a bit.

Bob DeMarco [00:56:17]:
Yeah. You do. And you know what? There there's a it's great on the other side. It's really nice to meet people, especially, you know, when you're at blade show, you're in a 100% friendly environment, because everyone there is interested in knives.

Princeton Wong [00:56:29]:
Yeah. They're all like minded.

Bob DeMarco [00:56:31]:
Yeah. All a bunch of dorks, just like you and me. No. I'm just kidding. I I love it. Alright. Prince, man, it's been a real pleasure meeting you. Thank you for coming on the Knife Junkie podcast.

Princeton Wong [00:56:45]:
No. Yeah. And And great talking.

Bob DeMarco [00:56:47]:
Yeah. About your work. And and I gotta say, I I love it all, but I I am most impressed and excited about the the, the Fial design, whether it's the CRKT or the custom Fionn.

Princeton Wong [00:57:00]:
The Fionn. Yep.

Bob DeMarco [00:57:01]:
The Fionn. Fionn. I think it's beautiful because it's useful and very different, and, it's it also shows your engineering and machining capabilities. So

Princeton Wong [00:57:14]:
Yeah. It's definitely one of my favorites. Yep.

Bob DeMarco [00:57:17]:
Well, thank you very much, Prince. It's been a pleasure.

Princeton Wong [00:57:19]:
Yeah. Take care.

Bob DeMarco [00:57:21]:
Ever strop a knife again even though it gets no real use? Face up to what you are. You're a knife junkie.

Bob DeMarco [00:57:28]:
There he goes, ladies and gentlemen. Princeton Wong of Prince Customs. Do sign up, not sign up, but follow him on Instagram so you can, keep your eyes peeled for the protean drops. The knife is really cool. He he showed 1, with the with the starburst pattern in the titanium, but he's he's made so many different ones. They are beautiful and so cool. And, you know, the the kind of custom knife you wanna have for sure. Alright.

Bob DeMarco [00:57:58]:
That does it for this episode of the Knife Junkie podcast. Be sure to join us on next Sunday for another great conversation about knives with a knife person like you, me, and Prince. And then, of course, join us on Thursday for Thursday night night. For Jim, working his magic behind the switcher, I'm Bob DeMarco saying until next time, don't take dull for an answer.

Announcer [00:58:18]:
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