And while a handful of people do obsess over and collect them, they might not be able to hold a candle to Kumar Muthusamy – a bank director who has turned his knife-making hobby into a lucrative side business.

“Just like how women are passionate about shoes and handbags, men have a thing for knives,” laughed Kumar.

This 45-year-old chap may look like your average family man with a regular nine-to-five job at the bank, but once he’s clocked off, you’ll find him tinkering away with blades and steel in his rather spacious workshop in his Klang home.

Here, he indulges in his not-so-secret passion of turning ordinary steel blades into sleek, sharp knives – complete with his signature ‘brand’, Vicious Tools, carved on them.

Kumar admitted that as a young boy, he was never attracted to the idea of football or any other sports like other kids his age. Instead, he found a passion for knives and started collecting them.

Even after much time had passed, Kumar remained faithful to his hobby and even played with the idea of making his own knives. Ultimately, eight years ago, he dived right into it.

He confessed that the first knife he ever made never got the opportunity to see the light of day, as he had no idea how to heat treat it.

However, the spirited banker didn’t let this minor setback hinder any form of progress. He threw himself into learning how to make knives from scratch by reading books such as ‘50 Dollar Knife Shop’ by Wayne Godard, watching YouTube tutorials and finally, investing in the tools to make the dream come true.

“I’ve probably invested RM300,000 on my workshop and made about 500 knives,” he said, surveying his work space like a proud father.

According to Kumar, the difference between an average knife and a custom-made knife is that the former is usually heat-treated to factory specifications and some processes may be dropped to save cost and speed up the runtime.

Meanwhile, the process of building a custom-made knife is a slow and arduous one, which requires the bladesmith to painstakingly heat-treat it.

All Kumar’s hard work and hours spent on his hobby have paid off though, as he now takes orders from enthusiastic knife makers and collectors in Malaysia, Europe, the US, Australia, New Zealand and even South Africa.

“Most of my customers are chefs because I can achieve high levels of steel hardness, which chefs like, because they don’t have to keep sharpening their knives while they work. In fact, a customised chef knife can go for RM1,000 and above,” explained Kumar.

Kumar also practises the Japanese method of making knives, as many people believe that Japanese knives are the best in the world.

“I use handles which are stabilised – basically Woodbridge impregnated with acrylic solutions, so it’s more solid and impervious to substances such as water and oil.”

“I do make knives through stock removal, where one takes steel bars and removes material until the desired blade profile and knife shape is achieved for chefs.

“But I’ve also gone on to do CNC (computer numerical control) machining for those who prefer smaller knives,” shared Kumar.

Clearly devoted to the subject of all things sharp and shiny, Kumar also taught himself the art of using a CNC machine from scratch.

“I had my knee operated on before, so I had to take six weeks off work. I used this sweet opportunity to order a CNC machine, sit at home with my laptop and notepad, and teach myself how to operate it.”

By the time the CNC machine arrived at the house, Kumar was armed with enough knowledge and even drew out his first CAD (computer-aided design) programme.

Despite being a rather renowned name in the knife-making community, Kumar has no intention of turning his hobby into a full-time gig.

“I enjoy my work as a banker,” he confessed, adding that he prefers to work on knives during weekends, especially since it has now become a second job.

When asked whether his colleagues know of his other occupation, Kumar said that they are often intrigued by his knife-making process and that his boss is extremely supportive of this passion. In fact, he has even purchased some of Kumar’s knives.

It’s not that easy to purchase knives from Vicious Tools, though, as Kumar only takes up to four orders a month. He is also, at the moment, fully booked until the month of June, so those looking to purchase one (or some) should plan ahead. No cutting in line!

Check out Kumar’s masterpieces and survey your options on Vicious Tools’ Instagram page here.