Monday, May 13, 2019

Wood Knives


My father used to carve wooden knives, mostly daggers.  He’d start with a square rod of scrap pine and carve a handle with grooves, holes, partial spheres and a V-shaped edge he called a blade.  It was just a way for him and me to whittle away an hour.  I’m sure I was better at making shavings than anything resembling a knife. 

But I never forgot carved wooden knives.

At the Lehigh Valley Knife Show I ran into Dean the owner of “The Last Table”  who is making wooden knives.  Specifically folding lock back knives.

Wooden lock back knife  The  Last Table
Here's the details, you just need to add skill and years of practice.

Following his retirement three years ago, Dean has been a serious work worker producing furniture you want to own.  He showed me a logo he first carved into a dry bar for a customer and then took it up a notch by flaming it with gunpowder.  Talk about “Edgy”!

Last year Dean gave some thought to wooden knives and started experimenting.  When you open his folders the lock, driven by a wooden spring, clicks into place locking the knife open.  
OH wooden Lock-back knives
Is this cool or not?  It is!!

The spine lock is depressed against the same wood spring to unlock the knife and the blade snaps tightly into the bolsters.  It sounds like a Buck 110 opening and closing.


wood lock back


There is no metal used in the knife, just wood and wooden pins.  I got a really nice one made of burly maple that I think is super.

The selection of interesting woods is amazing The top marble wood is very interesting as is the second osage orange.


We were talking and Dean showed me an experimental wood Ka-Bar style knife he had made.  The handle is composed of two different woods and the blade is stained dark.  Look at the handle butt and you can see the partial tang a classic Ka-Bar has.
One of the few  Ka-Bars that can float in water, but it's too nice to do that.!

Dean’s working on a website, but it’s not quite there.  It will be OH Wooden Lock-back Knives.  The OH stands for Open Heart and not Ohio.  Trust me.  You can see the heart he puts into these knives.  The name works.

I told Dean I thought mixing different woods for blades and bolsters would be attractive.   I can see even different woods stacked to form the bolsters.  Of course, it’s easy for me to make suggestions when I don’t have to execute the design.

I understand a Floridian has made a large purchase and I suspect we’ll see these at the upcoming Blade Show.  I’ll be looking for them.

You can contact Dean at deangiesige@icloud.com if you’re interested in having custom work done.  I recognize quality wood work when I see it.  This is the real thing!

https://www.facebook.com/thelasttable1/who





Wednesday, May 8, 2019

Send in the Clones




Counterfeits, or perhaps the nicer term, “clones” have been a problem for some time.  In 2016, Apple found that 90% of chargers it purchased directly from Amazon, which were using official Apple imagery on the product listings, were fake and even dangerous.

We have often blamed counterfeits on cheap Chinese knockoffs, but even the high quality Chinese knife manufactures are having problems.

WE Knife Co. is moving to stop the sale of clones of their 708 Karambit model.  The two primary offenders were Böker, who sold the knife as the Taifun under their Magnum line, and Adola, a wholesaler located in the Netherlands.

According to WE, both companies get the clone from the same source, a Chinese knock-off company selling the knife as OEM [original equipment manufacturer] product.  Isn’t that ironic!

OEM contracts are nothing new in the manufacturing world.  Thirty years ago both Michelin and Goodyear made Sears tires.  These tires were quality products and made money for all three companies.  Why should the knife industry be any different?  WE itself has fulfilled plenty of OEM contracts and as I understand it, started as an OEM company.

WE’s claim is the model in question copies their original design too closely. “We just do not like other companies cloning our designs and making a profit of it.”  Henk Hakvoort, Marketing VP explains.

Both Böker and Adola are cooperating by removing the offending model from their catalog, but this doesn’t solve the problem.  It seems the Chinese supplier to Böker and Adola purchases these clones from other, presumably, Chinese manufacturers not yet identified.

If you’re an American clone collector, tough luck.  Böker USA does not carry that model here and we have never sold any of them here in the U.S.

Again, clones or counterfeits are a problem in every product line.  Don’t be chump.  If you’re getting a deal that seems too good to be true, it is.  Buying one is admitting you’re all about superficial appearance and not ability and performance.

Wednesday, May 1, 2019

On the Edge


Legal News

The Texas Senate on Monday (April 29) passed Knife Rights’ “Location-Restricted Knife” Reform Bill, SB 2381, by a bipartisan vote of 19-12. The House companion bill, HB 2342, received the unanimous vote of the House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence last week.

restricted carry of large knives in Texas
Big knife, hopeful fewer restriction on carry in Texas

These bills would reduce number of places where Location-Restricted Knives (blades over 5 1/2 inches) are banned.  This includes restaurants and bars, amusement parks and places of religious worship.

Good news for anyone in or traveling in Texas with a knife in their pocket.  I would have never thought that Texas would have legal restrictions over knife length.  I means it's Texas, for God's sake!

Böker News

Frelon
Durand prefers a unmarked, simple blade, hence no opening stud or nail nick.


Böker has new releases from three of their designers. Serge Panchenko, Raphaël Durand, and Kansei Matsuno who are back with more for the Solingen, Germany manufacturer.


Serge Panchenko has opened his own production label, Serge Knife Co., and collaborated with Böker before on the popular Lancer model.  His new knife for Böker is the Gust with a 2.8-inch D2 blade, a stainless steel frame lock, with an anodized front scale embellished with a seashell-groove machining pattern.

Raphaël Durand’s new models are the Frelon and Boxer.  Both require two hands to open as neither features a nail nick.  However, both the Frelon and Boxer are locking knives, equipped with the tried and true back lock, 3 inch blades and new steels: the Frelon comes with VG-10, while the Boxer is sporting N690.

Kansei Matsuno brings a liner lock to the LRF design, but maintains the same elegant lines that defined his first release with Böker.  His penchant for twists on opening mechanisms is displayed here. Matsuno has incorporated a symmetrical ‘horned’ front flipper, with small tabs protruding from either side of the pivot. The near-3-inch blade is made from VG-10.

They all sound sweet!

On the down side:  Böker has announced that “On 1 May 2019 our grinding machines will be shut down and delivery times may be extended accordingly. Our sales department will not be available either.” 

While this may just mean a temporary pause, to upgrade, fix, repair or move we hope it’s just a very brief interval. I own several Bökers and they are an underappreciated knife and reasonable in price.

Sunday, April 28, 2019

Drahth Knives


Recently I came upon knives from Drahth Knives Company.  I was impressed with both the beauty of the knives and their motto: “Life is too short to carry an ugly knife.”

mini-bowie, Damascus steel
Mini-Bowie in  Damascus

I contacted Andy the owner and asked a few questions about his knives and his company.  It’s always interesting to me to find out how small businesses get started.  I’ve already stated my belief that small businesses are the spark plug of the American economy.  Its true Ford and ATT contribute more in total dollars, but they all started with a dream to create prosperity for a small group and their families.
Sheath knives,
All of the sheaths have the same attention to detail

Andy started grinding knives for himself at a machine shop owned by his father and grandfather when he was eleven.  Of course, those were for himself and a few friends.  But other interest took Andy out of the shop and until recently in different directions.

In 2014, chance gave Andy the option to start making knives again.  Combining his and his friends experiences about blade shapes and handle lengths, Andy started making knives.  He’s partial to blades with longer handles which make for a much more controllable knife.

Basic utility knife
The long handle gives you plenty of grip and control over the blade

The blades are typically 1095 steel shaped by stock removal.  This steel has a lot to recommend it even in view of today’s world of super steels.  The 1095 blades can be hardened to Rockwell c values of 55 to 60 and still have some of the inherently flexibility an outdoor knife needs.  As noted knifemaker Ernie Emerson said of another steel, “A bent blade is still a knife, a broken blade is junk!”

1095 steel can be resharpened with ordinary stones available in just about any hardware, big box or sportsmen store.  It throws great sparks with a Ferro rod for fire making.  All the steel needs is a little coating of oil coating to prevent rust.  Use a food safe oil just to be sure.

Elliptical blade, Canadian Belt knife
The elliptical blade reminds me of the classic Canadian Belt knife, but this sports a thumb rest for more control.

A variety of wood handles are available ranging from walnut to exotic wenge.  Wenge is a legume tree from the Congo and Cameroon.  (Legume wood means the tree has seed pod.  Who would have guessed it?)

Are they perfect?  Why would they be?  I’m far from perfect myself, but they are pretty damn nice.  The leather sheaths are well sewn and fit the knife well.  I like how the knife sits deep the sheath where it will stay secure from grasping vegetation as you move through the fields and forests.  The logos stamped into the leather are sharp and well-defined.  The knives are easy to grasp and have an instinctual feel to them.  The full tang construction is slightly raised of the wood grips.  You can barely feel a slightly raised edge of the steel over the wood.

We’ll just have to wait to see the evolution of his knives.

Where can you get these for yourself?  I’d go to his website; https://drahthknives.com/ or contact him at knifeknapper66@yahoo.com