Knowledge Graph / Company History & Evolution
From the early models to today
The workshop's lines in order, from the Seasons and the 2010 Nura to the Ursus knives of 2026, with what each changed and where its full story lives.
On this page
The workshop’s lines, in the order they arrived, and what each one brought with it; the people and the years are on The Shirogorov story, and what changed under the lines is on How the designs evolved. Every line has an overview with its variants side by side, and every model, with its factory dates, runs and specifications, is on the model catalog.
The lines at a glance
One row per line the workshop builds under its own name, in the order each arrived. Year is the line’s arrival as its section below dates it; where a line began as a Sprint Run or an announcement, the section gives the sequence. The collaborations are on The collaborations.
| Line | Year | Blade | Lock | What it changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tabargan | 2010 | — | Spring-bar, axis style | The budget knife, and the only serial model on that lock |
| F95 | 2010 | 95 mm | Frame lock | The drop point and the steel lockbar insert the range is built on |
| 110 | 2011 | 110 mm | Frame lock | A large frame lock of the period, revived by the 110 Kickstop in 2020 |
| F3 | 2011 | 95 mm | Liner lock | Scales over full titanium liners, with a backspacer on every model |
| 111 | 2011 | 111 mm | Liner lock | The F3’s construction at the largest size the workshop sells |
| Hati | c. 2012 | 95 mm | Frame lock | The F95 blade on an asymmetric handle, a quarter lighter |
| NeOn | 2014 | 85 mm | Frame lock | The design at compact size, as variants rather than generations |
| Quantum | 2020 | 95 mm | Frame lock | The upswept blade, the suspended backspacer and the hidden clip screw |
| Stellar | 2021 | 90 mm | Liner lock with an apron | The apron, a shield over the gap between liner and scale |
| Astrum | 2024 | 100 mm | Liner lock with an apron | MagnaCut on the workshop’s own models |
| Ursus | 2021 | 95 mm | Frame or liner lock | The working line, in Micarta, G10 or wood, with hex bits on the Q95 and F95 |
The first years, 2010 to 2011
Before the F95 settled into serial production the catalog was a short list of small runs.
- The Seasons, one of the earliest production models: a 100 mm S90V blade, a titanium handle, a frame lock and a ball-bearing pivot, ten pieces, with a related SeasonsV project of three author’s knives and two prototypes.
- The Nura of 12 August 2010, ten pieces, which opened the partnership with Dmitry Sinkevich: a minimalist flipper with an S90V blade on a full flat grind and a pronounced flipper tab.
- The Dark, four days later: an 89 mm liner lock on washers in three steel and scale combinations, 100 pieces plus two prototypes, with a Dark Damascus of 25 beside it.
Both Sinkevich knives are on The Sinkevich projects.
Tabargan, 2010
The Tabargan of 1 November 2010 was the workshop’s budget knife: a drop point with a high flat grind and 3D-machined G10 scales over titanium liners. Its spring-bar, axis-style lock is the only one of its kind on a serial Shirogorov. The 95 mm Jerboa shared the platform, and the line ended around 2013 to 2014.
F95, 2010
The F95 went on sale on 29 September 2010 and is the knife the workshop is built on: a 95 mm drop point on a titanium frame lock, with a steel insert on the frame from January 2011. Most of the workshop’s later lines answer a question the F95 posed first. Seven named variants grew out of it: the T-pattern Turtle, the smooth-scaled Nudist, the Slim, the Zero, the inlaid NL, the R and the Lefty. Its five generations are on How the designs evolved. F95 overview, F95 record.
110, 2011 to 2017
The 110, a frame lock named for its 110 mm blade, was a large knife of its period. Lee Williams’ 110 Kickstop of 2020 brought the platform back, and is on the collaborations page.
F3, 2011
The F3 arrived a year after the F95 as the entry model and the workshop’s liner lock: full titanium liners with a hardened stainless insert under G10, Micarta or carbon fiber scales. The handle is thicker than the F95’s and every model has a backspacer. It carried the Three Bears name from November 2017 in Elmax with Alutex scales, and the F3 NS of February 2020 gave it a wider blade profile drawn from the F7. F3 overview, F3 record.
111, 2011
Production of the 111 started on 1 December 2011 and paused six months later for design changes. It is the largest regular folder in the range, built for the American market. It uses the F3’s liner-and-insert construction, the inset lock. The Elements editions of 2024 and 2025 ran on it, and its five generations are on How the designs evolved. 111 overview, 111 record.
Hati, circa 2012
The Hati took the F95’s blade and frame lock and put them on a handle with a titanium lock side and a carbon fiber or G10 show side, cutting roughly a quarter of the weight; the name is read as half titanium. The HatiOn carried the same one-scale idea onto the NeOn platform. The three Hati generations are on How the designs evolved. Hati overview, Hati record.
NeOn, 2014
Announced at the fall 2014 Arsenal show and in serial production from 2015, the NeOn is the 85 mm compact, organized as variants rather than generations.
- Original, the first version
- Lite, milled inside for weight
- Ultra Lite, skeletonized and discontinued
- Zero, with the pivot moved forward to fit a longer blade in the same handle
- NL, the inlaid configuration of 2020
- Lefty of February 2021, the factory’s first left-handed model
Custom Division, 2014, and the F7
The Custom Division opened in April 2014 as a tier rather than a line: serial designs rebuilt with more finishing time on single-row roller bearings, in numbered runs. The F7 of 2016 sits outside the Division: a Sergey Shirogorov design made only as full customs, whose wider blade profile fed the F3 NS and, in 2024, the Division’s CDX tenth-anniversary model. The F5 and the MidiQ are later Custom Division lines, on the F95 and Quantum platforms. F7 overview, the tier ladder, the Custom Division FAQ.
Quantum, 2020
The Quantum began as a Sergey Shirogorov custom and took Best Tactical Knife at Blade Show Atlanta in 2019. It went through the Custom Division that fall and reached serial production on 21 March 2020 as the Quantum 3M. It brought the upswept, Persian-style blade, a slimmer handle with milling patterns designed for it, a suspended backspacer and a clip on a hidden screw. The Quantum Ursus NL of December 2021 opened the Ursus working line, and the Mini Quantum and MidiQ scaled the profile down for the Custom Division. Quantum overview, Quantum record.
Stellar, 2021
The Stellar was the first release the workshop called a Sprint Run, in 2021, then a First Production on 30 May 2023 and a serial model on 14 October 2023, first sold at ORELEXPO. It is a 90 mm flipper between the NeOn and the 95 mm knives, on a liner lock with an apron: the shield over the gap between liner and scale that the Astrum inherited. The Stellaris and Stellar-B are its Custom Division sub-lines. Stellar overview, Stellar record.
Astrum, 2024
The Astrum ran the same path: a Sprint Run stamped 2023, a First Production on 27 July 2024 in a run of 100, and the serial model on 30 November 2024. It is a 100 mm liner lock with an apron, and the first of the workshop’s own models in MagnaCut, on the First Production and Custom Division runs, after the 2023 Molten Overkill collaboration. The serial knife is M390. Astrum overview, Astrum record.
The Ursus line, 2021 to 2026
The Ursus line is the workshop’s working knife, on the serial tier, in Elmax or Cromax PM on MRBS or SRBS, and the Q95 Ursus and F95 Ursus take hex bits in their screws. Four builds carry it:
- titanium frame locks with G10 or wood inlays, on the Quantum platform
- all titanium with no inlays, on the Q95 Ursus Ti
- Micarta over titanium liners, on the liner-lock Q95 Ursus and F95 Ursus
- a G10 handle, on the Quantium Ursus
It started with the Quantum Ursus NL of December 2021, added the Quantium Ursus in 2023, the Q95 Ursus in June 2025 and the F95 Ursus of May 2026, the first F95 on a liner lock. Q95 record, F95 record.
Reading the whole range
Two tracks run alongside the lines. The collaborations, from the Nura of 2010 to the Pike of 2026, each brought a construction the workshop had not used before, and are on How the collaborations work. The special editions, anniversaries and full customs sit above and beside the serial knives, on Anniversary editions, Sergey Shirogorov’s full customs and Sprint Runs. How the generations, locks and steels changed across all of it is on How the designs evolved, and every model is on the catalog.