Meet the Ninja Oyster Shucker

Environmentalist Drew Koslow makes one-of-a-kind masterpieces for shuckers.

rew Koslow knows oysters inside and out. The former head of the South River Federation in Annapolis fi rst got involved restoring an oyster sanctuary on Glebe Bay. Since then, he has become something of an environmental entrepreneur, managing nitrogen reclamation projects on Delmarva farms out of Easton. He has also delved into the craft of creating beautifully fi nished custom oyster knives.

“I’ve been a woodworker for quite a few years,” he told me recently. “When I had my kid (now 10 years old), I didn’t have the time to do big projects. Our local farmer’s market had a knife maker, and I’d spend a lot of time picking his brain. After a while, he said, ‘You should just make a knife.’ ”

With his mentor’s guidance, Koslow eventually became skilled at creating his own knives. Concentrating on oyster shucking knives seemed a natural choice. “I don’t forge my own steel,” he explained. His real artistic contribution is the beautifully fi nished handles with resinimpregnated wood. “A blacksmith in Portland, Oregon, provides the blade blanks for the oyster knives. They come to me as daggers, and I grind the tip into a rounded shape for opening oysters from the hinge. I haven’t found a blank yet for a blade for lipshuckers, even though the more savvy shuckers use that technique.”

Koslow has created upwards of 200 shucking knives, marketed strictly through social media. “I might do a craft show this winter,

Koslow's hand-crafted knives are both beautiful and practical.

but I’m also coaching my son’s hockey team, and that comes fi rst.” The knives cost between $175 and $250, depending upon the type of steel and the type of wood. “Every single piece of wood is unique,” he said, “and if you just happen to make your curves with the grain, you sand it and shade it, but you don’t know how the grain looks until you stain it. Sometimes I do knives on commission. Every one is one-of-akind because every piece of wood is di erent. Given how many knives I’ve made, I’m surprised how excited I get when that fi rst coat of stain reveals the grain.”

Contact Drew Koslow at djkoslow@gmail.com or @DJK_ Knives on Instagram.