The Klotzli made Michael Walker ACC-1. And here is my article one why Michael Walker is the greatest knife maker of all time.

As this is going up on America’s Birthday, I thought the topic would be appropriate.

Executive Order 9586:

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President of the United States and as Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, it is hereby ordered as follows:

There is hereby established a medal to be known as the Medal of Freedom with accompanying ribbons and appurtenances for award to any person, not hereinafter specifically excluded, who, on or after December 7, 1941, has performed a meritorious act or service which has aided the United States in the prosecution of a war against an enemy or enemies and for which an award of another United States medal or decoration is considered inappropriate.
The Medal of Freedom may also be awarded to any person, not hereinafter specifically excluded, who, on or after December 7, 1941, has similarly aided any nation engaged with the United States in the prosecution of a war against a common enemy or enemies.
The Medal of Freedom shall not be awarded to a citizen of the United States for any act or service performed within the continental limits of the United States or to a member of the armed forces of the United States.
The Medal of Freedom and appurtenances thereto shall be of appropriate design, approved by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy, and may be awarded by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, or the Secretary of the Navy, or by such officers as the said Secretaries may respectively designate. Awards shall be made under such regulations as the said Secretaries shall severally prescribe and such regulations shall, insofar as practicable, be of uniform application.
No more than one Medal of Freedom shall be awarded to any one person, but for a subsequent act or service justifying such an award a suitable device may be awarded to be worn with the medal.
The Medal of Freedom may be awarded posthumously.

This EO was signed by Harry S Truman on July 6, 1945.

This EO was amended by John F. Kennedy on February 22, 1963 in Executive Order 11085 as follows:

Section 1. Prior orders.

The numbered sections of Executive Order No. 9586 of July 6, 1945, as amended by Executive Order No. 10336 of April 3, 1952, are hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 1. Medal established.

The Medal of Freedom is hereby reestablished as the Presidential Medal of Freedom, with accompanying ribbons and appurtenances. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, hereinafter referred to as the Medal, shall be in two degrees.

Sec. 2. Award of the Medal.

(a) The Medal may be awarded by the President as provided in this order to any person who has made an especially meritorious contribution to (1), the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

(b) The President may select for award of the Medal any person nominated by the Board referred to in Section 3(a) of this Order, any person otherwise recommended to the President for award of the Medal, or any person selected by the President upon his own initiative.

(c) The principal announcement of awards of the Medal shall normally be made annually, on or about July 4 of each year; but such awards may be made at other times, as the President may deem appropriate.

(d) Subject to the provisions of this Order, the Medal may be awarded posthumously.

Sec. 3. Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board.

(a) The Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board, established by Executive Order No. 10717 of June 27, 1957, hereinafter referred to as the Board, is hereby expanded, for the purpose of carrying out the objectives of this Order, to include five additional members appointed by the President from outside the Executive Branch of the Government. The terms of service of the members of the Board appointed under this paragraph shall be five years, except that the first five members so appointed shall have terms of service expiring on the 31st day of July 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, and 1968, respectively. Any person appointed to fill a vacancy occurring prior to the expiration of the term for which his predecessor was appointed shall serve for the remainder of such term.

(b) A chairman of the Board shall be designated by the President from time to time from among the membership of the Board appointed from the Executive Branch.

(c) For purposes of recommending to the President persons to receive the President's Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service, and to carry out the other purposes of Executive Order No. 10717, only the members of the Board from the Executive Branch will sit. The names of persons so recommended will be submitted to the President without reference to the other members of the Board.

Sec. 4. Functions of the Board.

(a) Any individual or group may make recommendations to the Board with respect to the award of the Medal, and the Board shall consider such recommendations.

(b) With due regard for the provisions of Section 2 of this Order, the Board shall screen such recommendations and, on the basis of such recommendations or upon its own motion, shall from time to time submit to the President nominations of individuals for award of the Medal, in appropriate degrees.

Sec. 5. Expenses.

Necessary administrative expenses of the Board incurred in connection with the recommendation of persons to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, including expenses of travel of members of the Board appointed under Section 3(a) of this Order, during the fiscal year 1963, may be paid from the appropriation provided under the heading ‘Special Projects’ in the Executive Office Appropriation Act, 1963, 76 Stat. 315, and during subsequent fiscal years, to the extent permitted by law, from any corresponding or like appropriation made available for such fiscal years. Such payments shall be without regard to the provisions of section 3681 of the Revised Statutes and section 9 of the Act of March 4, 1909, 35 Stat. 1027 (31 U.S.C. 672 and 673). Members of the Board appointed under Section 3(a) of this Order shall serve without compensation.

Sec. 6. Design of the Medal.

The Army Institute of Heraldry shall prepare for the approval of the President a design of the Medal in each of its degrees.

Sec. 2. Other existing orders.

(a) Section 4 of Executive Order No. 10717, establishing the terms of service of the members of the Distinguished Civilian Service Awards Board, is hereby amended to read “The members of the Board shall serve at the pleasure of the President”, and the other sections of that Order are amended conformably to this Order.

(b) Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Order, existing arrangements for conferring medals and honors shall continue in effect.

These two Executive Orders combine to create what we now call the Presidential Medal of Freedom. It started out as a purely military award and has become something entirely different—an award to US civilians that make outstanding contributions to the United States. The award is given for “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.

The history of the award shows how this phrase is interpreted. Roger Staubach, NLF legend, has won the award. Aretha Franklin won the award. Georgia O’Keefe and Andrew Wyeth have won. George Balanchine and Martha Graham have won. A slew of actors and directors, from Charleton Heston to Tom Hanks, have won. Authors like Harper Lee and Elie Wiesel have won. The award has come to celebrate singular achievements in all fields, including the arts.

Alas, not a single craftsperson has one the award. Sam Maloof, who produced his distinctive rocking chair for a number of presidents, is not on the list. He should be, but there is a gulf between “high art” and craftsmanship that is, frankly, a manifestation of taste and snobbery. Maloof has died and while the award can be given after death, I think it would make sense to honor the first person for exhibiting great craftsmanship when they are alive. In my mind no American better exhibits a singular achievement in their craft than Michael Walker. If you look at his work in terms of its artistry, complexity, and uniqueness, he is the foremost knife maker in the world and the US. I have made that argument in the past and I haven’t really heard anyone bother to refute it because, well, he’s Michael freakin’ Walker. Then there is his prolific nature. He is not a guy that did one thing and milked it his entire career. Nor is he an Ivory Tower craftsman that made a handful of pieces for only the most privileged. If you look at his output, it is staggering. He DOES do the blue sky, blank check stuff, of course, but he also does collabs with CRKT and Spyderco. He invented or perfected (the difference doesn’t really matter, but whatever) the cheapest and most often used lock in the world—the liner lock. And finally, there is the plus factor that I think puts him over the top in terms of the Presidential Medal of Freedom—all of his genius has filtered down to the masses via a cheap, safe, and easy to produce lock that makes knives safer for everyone. He didn’t just make museum pieces—he also made knives and locks for everyone from the carpet layer to the roofer to the high end collector. That combination of artistic talent and widespread contribution makes him stand apart from the other artists that have received the medal. Let me lay out the case in a bit more detail.

Solving the Oldest Problem in Cutlery

The Japanese tried by using differential heat treats. The cutlers of the Middle East tried by making steel from wootz that included carbon nanotubes. The West tried by focusing on the chemical make up of steel. They all worked to one degree or another. The problem is simple, the solution vexing. The perfect cutting tool would be hard at the edge to resist wear from cutting different materials, but soft on the spine to prevent the blade from cracking and shattering. These two traits—hard, wear resistant steel and soft, tough steel don’t go together. And there have been various solutions. None are as clever or as beautiful as Walker’s solution. Note here that I am pitting Michael Walker against entire cultures. Its not particularly fair…for them. What Walker did was create what he calls a Zipper blade. It fuses a titanium spine, which soft and impact absorbing to an ultrahard modern steel at the edge. He gets the best of both worlds. Of course he does this by hand-peening the two (or more) materials together in a painstaking process. When I interviewed Walker for the podcast he told me that it took between 2 and 3 months for him to know if the blade was going to fit together. The pins that hold the whole assembly together are tiny—we are talking watch-scale machining. So, its not something that is possible on a production scale, but it is an ingenious solution to an age old problem.

High Art

Darrell Peart is a woodworker that has evolved and extended the Greene and Greene style to something magnificent. Its detailed and glorious. Looking at a finished piece just makes me happy. But, and this is a big deal, Peart’s stuff looks like the Greene and Greene brother’s stuff as well as the stuff from everyone else working in this style. Peart’s pieces are more complex, beautiful, and refined, but the style language is not his. Walker’s stuff is this complex and detailed, but unlike with Peart, EVERYTHING Walker does is unmistakably Walker in style. You won’t mistake his work for anyone elses. And oddly that is true even for some of his very simple early stuff. Its all gloriously Walker.

Prolific Output

Some artists make great stuff, but only in ones and twos. Johannes Vermeer is one of the greatest painters of all time, but he made, MAYBE 36 pieces. Walker makes two or three knives a year and has for the past 20 years. Before that, before the Zipper blade, he was substantially more prolific. There are probably a thousand Walker folders out there. So he is not a great but limited kind of artist. When you factor in his dozens of production collaborations, his work is truly prolific.

Safety for Everyone

We can quibble about whether or not he invented the liner lock, but I think it is beyond dispute that he perfected it. Once his original design was modified and the detent was added, we have everything we need for a modern knife lock. It also laid the foundation for the frame lock. But beyond that, Walker chose not to patent his liner lock design, meaning that this easy-to-make, easy-to-use lock could be integrated in to designs everywhere. And while fashions change in terms of locks on enthusiast grade knives, the liner lock is still a great choice. Furthermore, because of how easy it is to make, the lock can be implemented on even the cheapest knives. Flea market and gas station garbage everywhere is safer because they have liner locks. Walker’s artistic merit is married to this huge innovation that made millions of American safer.

While we, as a community work to repel the FSA and solve social media censorship, let’s see if we can also get decision makers to pay attention—Michael Walker should be the first craftsman in the history of the US to get the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He is the greatest knife maker of all time, he is from the US, and he is still alive, which makes the award all the better when the ceremony means something to those involved.