Editing Ernest Emerson (section)

==Early knifemaking==
[[File:The first Balisong knife made by Ernest Emerson.jpg|thumb|alt=A butterfly knife with steel handles and lightening holes.| Emerson's first handmade balisong knife]]

Although Emerson credits his grandfather's gift of a [[Barlow knife]] to him at the age of eight years with starting his interest in knives, it was not until later in life that he turned to making them.<ref name="barlow"/> The summer of 1978 found Emerson in need of a [[balisong knife]] for his study of a [[Filipino martial art]] and, unable to afford one on his salary,<ref name="herndon">{{harvnb|Herndon|2000|pp=133–134}}</ref> Emerson decided he would attempt to make his own instead.<ref name=combs37/> He [[mill (grinding)|milled]] and drilled the handles from [[aluminium|aluminum]] stock; the knife's blade was a simple steel blank that he hand cut with a [[hacksaw]], shaped with [[file (tool)|files]], and heat treated at his dining room table with a [[butane]] torch.<ref name=combs37/>

When he started classes with this "homemade" knife, his instructors and fellow students were impressed with his handiwork and asked him to make knives for them.<ref name="tieves">{{harvnb|Tieves|1998|p=41}}</ref> Emerson did so and sold these early [[butterfly knife|butterfly knives]] for just the cost of materials, but he soon raised the price to $50 each, as demand for his knives increased.<ref name=combs37/> Emerson went on to make fixed-blade knives on a part-time basis, but upon seeing a [[Michael Walker (knifemaker)|Michael Walker]] handmade folding knife at a gun show, he was so impressed by the quality and design that he decided he was going to make folding [[pocket knife|pocketknives]] from that point on.<ref name="herndon"/> Emerson contacted Walker and obtained his permission to use the [[Walker Linerlock]] mechanism on his own knives.<ref name="herndon"/>  According to a 1990 article by Paul Basch, Emerson said of Walker, "Here was a guy who put everything I was looking for into a knife. It was then I decided to start making knives seriously and locking liners in particular".<ref name="basch">{{harvnb|Basch|1990|pp=34–35}}</ref>