Lomachenkov Nikolai
Nikolai Lomachenkov
“I'm a technician through and through. A mechanic, not an artist.”
Nikolai Lomachenkov is something of an enigma in the world of custom knife making. With every new blade he releases, interest in his work continues to grow. Yet Nikolai keeps a low profile, so finding anything beyond the basics about him is almost impossible. Today, Maria Stalina and Nikolai Lomachenkov are actively collaborating, and before long, knife enthusiasts will have the chance to discover new creations born from this partnership.
“What drives me to create a new knife? The fact that it doesn't exist yet.”
In his interview with Maria Stalina, Nikolai explained that he begins designing a knife mechanism by studying the movements of the hand. For him, developing and implementing the opening system is the most exciting — and most important — part of creating each new “toy”. The lock receives particular attention: modelling and refining the details of a new mechanism can take months, while the overall design may appear spontaneously in the maker's mind. Nikolai admits that almost anything from everyday life can influence the final look — a book he has just read, a film he has watched, or even an image glimpsed on a roadside billboard.
“Tolkien is poor and underwhelming.”
Nikolai Lomachenkov developed a passion for science fiction at an early age. He explains his literary preferences simply: ”I'm not particularly interested in reading about things that already exist in the real world. I deal with those every day”. Among his favourite authors, he names such celebrated science-fiction writers as Clifford D. Simak, Robert Sheckley, Isaac Asimov, the Strugatsky brothers and Frank Herbert.
The work of one of the genre's most famous and widely read authors, however, left Nikolai unimpressed. In his view, Tolkien spends too much time describing relatively insignificant details, while giving too little attention to the action itself. It is quite possible that his literary tastes are connected to his own approach to knife making. There is something distinctly fantastical and futuristic about Nikolai's knives. Each new lock he develops is an attempt to push the boundaries of what is already known within his field.
“Red steampunk or dieselpunk is what interests me most right now.”
Nikolai is planning to explore steampunk and dieselpunk-inspired knife designs in the near future. He believes that the largely forgotten imagery of Soviet industrialisation could strike a chord with audiences today, which is where the name for his future concept comes from: “Red Steampunk”.
Despite the growing popularity of this fantasy aesthetic, very few knife makers have explored it in depth. Nikolai believes that bringing these two closely related themes together could inspire a series of genuinely original designs. Steampunk, after all, leaves almost unlimited room for imagination. He already has several knife concepts in development inspired by the visual language of Soviet industrialisation.
“I've already made a knife from two parts. Now I want to make one from a single piece.”
Nikolai Lomachenkov prefers to keep his long-term creative plans to himself. One ambition he is willing to share, however, is to create a folding knife from a single piece of material.
“Unfortunately, we simply don't have the technology or the necessary materials to make the idea practical yet,” the maker explains. “What would be the point of making a knife with virtually no cutting ability that would become completely unusable after a few uses? But if an opportunity to bring such a project to life ever appears, I'll take it on.”
