About VMax Custom Works

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“Hard work always beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard”—Tim Notke

“Never, ever, be outworked!”—Grand Master Chip Townsend

 I was never very naturally talented. Growing up,  there were always kids who were naturally athletic or never had to study for a test; that was not me.  I had to put in what seemed like ten times the work to br

“Hard work always beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard”—Tim Notke

“Never, ever, be outworked!”—Grand Master Chip Townsend

 I was never very naturally talented. Growing up,  there were always kids who were naturally athletic or never had to study for a test; that was not me.  I had to put in what seemed like ten times the work to break even with them. Over time, I realized that if I put in 11 times the work, I would start to be stronger, faster, and smarter than most of them.

 In the Air Force, I volunteered for everything, worked later, and studied longer. My peers poked fun at me...until I started getting promoted quicker than they were. In the gym, I would workout until I would almost pass out.  

I was in a professional military education class, and we were discussing V-(Speeds) of an aircraft. (V-(speeds) are different critical speeds you need to know so you can fly the aircraft within a safe envelope, prevent the wings from ripping off, or something else that could cause an unplanned abrupt meeting with the ground (ex. Vfe=max flaps extended speed, VS0=aircraft stall speed)). During the discussion, one of my classmates said “Yeah, Vassallo is V-Max, he does everything to the point of ripping his wings off!”. I never really gave a lot of thought to it before...it's just what I did because it worked for me. That was when my Air Force call sign became "VMax".

When I started thinking about a name for my new business, I wanted to come up with something meaningful and personified me. Something that would be indicative of my work ethic and drive to ensure that what I produce is the very best for each of my customers. It had to be VMax.

I have always loved knives. As a kid, I would go to every flea market and buy any cheap knife I could afford. As I got older and my income expanded, I started buying better quality knives that I would use in the outdoors. I acquired a few nicer tactical folders on my deployments. 

At work one day, I was talking to someone in the aircraft s

I have always loved knives. As a kid, I would go to every flea market and buy any cheap knife I could afford. As I got older and my income expanded, I started buying better quality knives that I would use in the outdoors. I acquired a few nicer tactical folders on my deployments. 

At work one day, I was talking to someone in the aircraft structures shop and they said they planned on “making” a knife. I thought this was absurd; only big businesses like Benchmade, Case, and Buck made knives! I couldn’t have been more wrong. I scoured YouTube, and found there were not only makers who posted about the knives they made, but there were quite a few videos of makers teaching the process. One of these YouTube makers was Erick Rivers. He has a channel called “The Rivers Experience” and was making knives with simple and inexpensive Harbor Freight tools. 

After watching,  I was hooked! With a few hundred trips to Harbor Freight, I was ready to make my first knife. I took a screenshot of one of Erick’s knives, got an old farrier’s rasp, and started cutting one out. It actually turned out to look like a knife! I thought it was amazing, and was now on the path to find how much I "didn’t" know. Slowly I started acquiring the tools that would make the task more efficient and precise, and my blades became better.  I think the biggest improvement came after I made some friends that soon became mentors. I started posting on Erick’s FB page and discovered a podcast called the “Knives Templars” lead by Chip Carlisle of Sheg..Skeh..S… (Skjeggmenn Knives). Well, I don’t think I ever learned how to spell it, but you can find him at "Knife-Maker.com". I listened, posted questions, and eventually a spot opened up for another cohost. I immediately replied I would be honored to take the spot! In the beginning, I probably brought up a bunch of “new-guy” questions, but I was hoping it would help out other new knifemakers like myself.  I now call all my fellow cohosts good friends and mentors.

Now that I have been making knives for about 5 years, my quality has vastly improved, and I continue to try and make more complex designs in order to push my skills to the “Max”. I am also a probationary member of The Knifemakers Guild:  I had to pass a quality check on 4 knives that were inspected and critiqued. For full voting membership, I will need to submit 4 more at BladeShow Atlanta in June 2026, showing improvement on any items that were pointed out at the last inspection. 

I can now confidently sell my work, knowing I can give customers a product that meets or exceeds this prestigious organization’s standards. Most days I can’t wait to get out in the shop to start my next blade!

Until recently, I have been putting my maker’s mark on my blades with an electro-chemical etching process. This is how a large majority of knifemakers perform the task. However, with the cost of lasers slowly decreasing, I decided to take the plunge and purchase one (If you are curious, I have a combination 60-watt fiber and 40-watt diode

Until recently, I have been putting my maker’s mark on my blades with an electro-chemical etching process. This is how a large majority of knifemakers perform the task. However, with the cost of lasers slowly decreasing, I decided to take the plunge and purchase one (If you are curious, I have a combination 60-watt fiber and 40-watt diode galvo laser). 

I made this decision for a few reasons. First, it would make the quality of my maker’s mark much cleaner and more professional.  Second, since it is a fast process (once you dial in the settings), I can also put other data on the blades, such as the steel type, heat treat info, and possibly a serial number. If it was just for these tasks alone, it would have been worth the purchase, but lasers can do so much more! I am now expanding VMax Custom Works to include marking customers’ knives AND non-knife products, as well as selling my own products (coasters, tumblers, wood signs, custom brass coins...etc) The more I research, the more I realize the possibilities are mostly limited by time in the day. 

As a business owner, I think this is a perfect fit: supplementing lower cost, unique, personalized items to my higher-end custom knives. Watch for posts and pictures on this site, as well as my social media, of laser-engraved good and services that you may need.