Out of Visalia, California, Ray Laconico is a knife maker and designer with a background in fine art. Ever since watching the Rambo movies as a child, Ray has had a fascination with knives. He started collecting fixed blade and pocket knives since the early 1990s. Then as a hobby he got into making knives in the early 2000s and sold his first knife around 2005. By the summer of 2006 Ray decided to pursue knifemaking as a full time occupation.
For the first 4 years as a full time knifemaker Ray only made fixed blade knives. Most of his fixed blades were designed for the outdoors like bushcraft and camping. Occasionally Ray would also make Bowie knives which were his favorite style. In 2010 Ray learned to make folding knives and since then he has been designing and building everyday carry pocket knives out of his shop and selling them to collectors all over the world. Ray's designs are known to be simple yet functional and elegant.