Pedro Villarrubia embellishes fixed blades and folding knives with his sought-after engravings. The artisan says a hand engraved knife brings something unique even to high-end custom blades.
Villarrubia’s engravings have appeared on knives from Michael Zieba, Mick Strider, and many others. His work gets auctioned at exclusive shows like the Tactical Knife Invitational, and through luxury outlets like William Henry. Production knives including Spydercos, Bucks, and Kizers also make appearances on Villarrubia’s workbench.
Tactical skulls, fantasy-style dragons, Japanese woodblock images – Villarrubia does it all. He doesn’t have a particular specialty but does whatever a customer requests. Similar to a tattoo artist, Villarrubia will go back and forth with his clients to collaborate on the final image. “I engrave what my client ask me,” he tells us. “He gives me the idea, and I prepare the image for him.” The Madrid-based engraver does most work with pneumatic hand tools, although he says an old-fashioned manual tool works best for the small details often seen on bolsters, as well as inlays.
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