Welcome to Mark of the Maker!

Welcome to Mark of the Maker podcast!  Our show is a panel discussion with renowned custom knife makers Tom Krein, Sean Kendrick, Michael Burch and hosted by Mark Stheiner.  The format is much like a group of friends, sitting down in The Pit at Blade Show, talking about life, knives and knifemaking.

We have lots of things planned for the show and hope you are looking forward to it as much as we are.  There will be topical discussions, conversations, and interviews with knifemakers, collectors and notable personalities in and around the custom knife world.

If you’d like to engage with the crew via social media, please feel free to join us on Facebook or Instagram!
Facebook Page: LINK
Facebook Discussion Group: LINK
Instagram Feed: @markofthemaker

The podcast is free and should be accessible from any device with internet access.  Easiest way for many is to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, but we are also available on Google Play Music, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, TuneIn, YouTube, or you can listen directly, right here at the website.  Just scroll down for the episodes themselves. Thanks for listening!

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Episode 146: Season 9 Kickoff

It’s the start of Season 9 for Mark of the Maker so we look back a bit at 2025, talk about some challenges we all faced and then look forward to 2026 and our goals for the new year. 2025 was kind of a rollercoaster! We dig into shows, touch on trends, and chat about plans for where we all plan to be this year.

In addition to the great support from our friends on Patreon, many thanks to our sponsors that helped make this episode possible:
Giant Mouse Knives
Arizona Custom Knives

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us via Patreon! For more discussion and insight on our show topics, follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook.

Episode 145: 2025 Holiday Picks

We wind out the last of Season 8 with a Holiday Picks episode, as we often do. Four categories, three picks each, and lots of laughs as well as some amazing knives to check out. Some are stinkers, some are gems but all will likely make you say “oh yeahhhh” or “oh no…” Hope you have as much fun listening to this one as we did recording it. Thanks for riding with us for another season, stay tuned for more in Season 9!

In addition to the great support from our friends on Patreon, many thanks to our sponsors that helped make this episode possible:
Giant Mouse Knives
Arizona Custom Knives

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us via Patreon! For more discussion and insight on our show topics, follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook.

Episode 144: What are you listening to?

If there’s one thing that knifemakers consume faster than candy or gas station burritos, it’s audio content. Many like music, others prefer to fill their earholes with audiobooks or podcasts. This time we nerd out over audiobook selections as well as a few podcasts to the guys are enjoying and use as a tool to help stay focused on their work in the shop.

In addition to the great support from our friends on Patreon, many thanks to our sponsors that helped make this episode possible:
Giant Mouse Knives
Arizona Custom Knives

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us via Patreon! For more discussion and insight on our show topics, follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook.

Episode 143: Rob Baptie

Our buddy “Farmer” Rob Baptie of The HateDust Project found a few minutes to sit with us and chat about his knife collecting journey, the origins of the project and its evolution. Rob and his wife Andrea have generated over $2.5 million in charitable funding for a huge array of causes over the last 10+ years. If there’s one thing we’re even bigger fans of than knives, it’s people being good to other people, so it was high time for Rob to join us and reminisce for a minute.

In addition to the great support from our friends on Patreon, many thanks to our sponsors that helped make this episode possible:
Giant Mouse Knives
Arizona Custom Knives

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us via Patreon! For more discussion and insight on our show topics, follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook.

Episode 142: Blade West 2025 Recap

Mark and Sean sit with Tom to hear about his experience at Blade Show West 2025.  Pretty eventful weekend for Tom, winning Best MAC Knife and some cool stuff that he brought home with him. Join us to hear more about the show and whether you may want to add it to your schedule next year.

In addition to the great support from our friends on Patreon, many thanks to our sponsors that helped make this episode possible:
Giant Mouse Knives
Arizona Custom Knives

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting us via Patreon! For more discussion and insight on our show topics, follow us on Instagram @markofthemaker or join our discussion group on Facebook.