Knifemaker Monolith Knives and White Stone Oyster Company story

Knifemaker Monolith Knives and White Stone Oyster Company story

On 11 December, 2017 By Dan Drumheller

Today I’m going to share a fun story of something that happened last week when my family and I were vacationing near the Chesapeake Bay.    My wife and I rented a cabin on the bay, and when I investigated on Google Earth, I noticed that there was an oyster farm off shore, near the cabin.   I thought at some point we would walk down the beach to see the farm.

On our second morning, a fellow named Jay, knocked on our door.  He was an Environmental Engineer with the state, and he wanted to go see the oyster farm from the beach behind our cabin.   He pointed down the beach to the farm, and you could see the farm from our porch.  Neat!   I asked Jay where we could buy some of those oysters, and he gave me an address for White Stone Oyster Company in White Stone VA.

We gathered up the kids and went to see the marina at White Stone Oyster Company.   When we got there, we met Richard Burlingame, and he was very friendly and welcoming.  He showed us his operation and how oysters were sorted.

I noticed that he had a “oyster shucker knife” on his bench, and I remarked “Hey, that’s an oyster shucker, and my company Valley Precision does a little bit of cutting for a company that makes very nice oyster shucker knives”.   Out of the blue, Richard said “Monolith Knives?”  I said YES!   He said “I just signed up to sell their wonderful high-end oyster shucking knives on the White Stone Oyster Company website!  Wow, what a coincidence, that I was standing there talking to a guy who was buying and selling knives that Valley Precision had a tiny part in making!

Valley Precision does about 5 minutes’ worth of cutting on stainless steel that is provided by Monolith Knives, who is very picky with their steels. Their stainless steels are beautiful high-quality Damasteel, pattern welded steel.  They’re beautiful.  Then, we send their parts back to Monolith and Zack Worrell and his crew do the hours and hours of grinding and polishing.  Then, they do handle woodwork that turns a little blank part of cut steel into a masterpiece of craftsmanship.

Well, we had a great time talking to Richard, and he sold us come fresh-caught oysters, and we took them home along with with two T-shirts from White Stone Oyster Company. I also had a wonderful story to tell.  We ate raw oysters that evening and the next day.  My wife and I agree that they are the best oysters we’ve ever eaten in our lives. (And we’ve eaten a lot of oysters)

What a fun story to see products that Valley Precision has helped with, being sold at a specialized company that is run by really fantastic folks.

If you like oysters, do yourself a favor and order oysters from White Stone Oyster Company.   If you like amazing oyster shucker knives, order one from them too!  Trust me, the materials are beautiful and you won’t be disappointed.   I ordered 50 oysters for Christmas.

If you like amazing hand-made works of art that are chef’s knives or other beautiful knives, look up Monolith Knives  and spend the money.  They are worth it.  I ordered a shucker knife made from Damascus Steel as a present for my wife.  She’ll love it.  Don’t tell her!