2012 HTM Forum Gunhammer: Blade markings -- *INPUT NEEDED*

[neuron]

Thanks to everyone who has voted and commented in the option polls/threads for the 2012 HTM Forum Gunhammer! I'm going to leave the polls open for another couple of days before declaring winners in each of them, so if you haven't yet voted/commented and are interested in this project, please vote ASAP. (Stonewashed is running away with the blade finish poll -- 23 out of 28 votes at the time of this post -- so it's pretty safe to say that'll be the blade finish.)

The last thing we need to decide on is what markings to put on the blade. Since the options for text/logos/whatever that Darrel and co. can laser etch on the blade are pretty much limited only by our desires/imaginations, the best way to do this is probably through discussion in the comments (no poll). If there end up being a handful of options that people coalesce around but no clear winner among them, then maybe we could do a poll to pick a winner from among those options.

There have been a few comments/suggestions about blade markings in the original "Who's interested..." thread, all of which have so far advocated a pretty minimalistic approach: aside from the usual HTM markings (see photo below), the only thing to add would be some indication of the knife's limited edition status ("Ltd. Ed.", numbering ["BFC1, BFC2, etc.", "1 of XX, 2 of XX, etc."], or something else of that sort) and perhaps the blade steel (given the poll results so far, it'll almost certainly be either CTS-XHP or Elmax). Once we get some idea of what text we want on the blade, we'll also need to decide on placement.

I've included the picture below so people can see what the standard blade markings are on the HTM Gunhammer: HTM logo and "Made in USA" on the flats near the handle (next to the blade stop studs on the non-auto version), plus the DDR logo in the middle of the blade. If we want to get rid of some of the standard markings -- or even go with a completely sterile blade -- I'm pretty sure Darrel et al. could accommodate it.

This is the home stretch of the design process, so let's keep that great input coming, guys!

[crimsonfalcon07]

I am happy pretty much regardless, provided it's relatively small and tasteful. My only real idea was to have Darrel's signature, maybe right next to the HTM, or something like that. Or maybe not even have the HTM at all, considering it's a sprint run. Other options I would be cool with would be to include the specs of the blade (blade steel type and a serial number, maybe?)

[Scurvy092]

You need Spark's permission, consent etc etc to use anything related to Blade Forums.

[Scurvy092]

I like the clean look on some of the customs.

I think just Darrel's signature in front of the HTM. 1 or XX, 2 of XX etc where the HTM/made in the USA is. Maybe CTS-XHP in small type at the ricasso.

[neuron]

You need Spark's permission, consent etc etc to use anything related to Blade Forums.

Good point. Guess that's out -- seems like more hassle than it's worth. (I wasn't too keen on having anything related to BladeForums on the knife anyway since it's not really an "official" BladeForums knife.)

I like the clean look on some of the customs.

I think just Darrel's signature in front of the HTM. 1 or XX, 2 of XX etc where the HTM/made in the USA is. Maybe CTS-XHP in small type at the ricasso.

I like this.

[mqqn]

Hi neuron -

I like the signature idea - I like subtle etching or none at all -

best

mqqn

[Scurvy092]

I think I like this the best (my apologies for my lame MSPaint skillz):



And then on the other side where the cts-xhp is, put the 1 of xx

Super clean IMHO

[1SHOT1KILL]

I would like the blade steel and 1/25...2/25...or however many they end up making. I think the DDR and HTM is a bit of an eyesore compared to the writing on my DDR2.

[1SHOT1KILL]

I think I like this the best (my apologies for my lame MSPaint skillz):



And then on the other side where the cts-xhp is, put the 1 of xx

Super clean IMHO

I'm also good with this as well...maybe the DDR on the presentation side of the blade and cts xhp and the serial number on the other side.

[crimsonfalcon07]

That looks good to me too.

[neuron]

I like that clean look and placement of the blade steel/serial number markings.

One note on 'DDR' vs. 'HTM' markings: as far as I know, the only knives to feature the DDR logo by itself (with no accompanying HTM logo -- see the pics of HTM knives in the original post) are Darrel's full customs. So if we want the DDR logo, we'll need the HTM logo as well. (I'm fine with that -- I think the regular placement of the HTM logo in the "corner" of the blade is pretty unobtrusive.)

[Scurvy092]

I like that clean look and placement of the blade steel/serial number markings.

One note on 'DDR' vs. 'HTM' markings: as far as I know, the only knives to feature the DDR logo by itself (with no accompanying HTM logo -- see the pics of HTM knives in the original post) are Darrel's full customs. So if we want the DDR logo, we'll need the HTM logo as well. (I'm fine with that -- I think the regular placement of the HTM logo in the "corner" of the blade is pretty unobtrusive.)

How about DDR and the blade steel on the side just like I posted above, and then on the reverse a small HTM logo in the regular place with the 1 of xx right under. Kind of like the picture you posted originally where instead of made in the USA it would say 'X of XX'

[Scurvy092]

Another terrible MSPaint job but this is my thought for the lock side:

[Scurvy092]

Maybe for symmetry, put the HTM logo where I put the DDR logo (I like that location, unique but not intrusive) and the number where the blade steel is.

Like so:

[1SHOT1KILL]

IMAG0536.jpg

This is, by far, the cleanest application of DDR HTM that I have seen...so stealthy in fact that I played hell trying to capture it. If we're going to do it...I cast my vote for this style and application. (sorry for the crappy shot...I'm a knife knut...not a photographer)

[Scurvy092]

^^^

I like the stealthy-ness of that application.

Maybe once we have a couple of designs we can start a poll.

[harkamus]

IMAG0536.jpg

This is, by far, the cleanest application of DDR HTM that I have seen...so stealthy in fact that I played hell trying to capture it. If we're going to do it...I cast my vote for this style and application. (sorry for the crappy shot...I'm a knife knut...not a photographer)

That's how the older generation HTM Gunhammers were.

[1SHOT1KILL]

That's how the older generation HTM Gunhammers were.

Why was it changed? IMO the new way cheapens the look of the knife...dare I say "ghetto"? I don't mean to insult...but the new way belies the quality of the knife.

[harkamus]

Why was it changed? IMO the new way cheapens the look of the knife...dare I say "ghetto"? I don't mean to insult...but the new way belies the quality of the knife.

Dunno why it was changed, but I can speculate. The old one just seemed like an engraving and not much of a logo. The new HTM is actually a logo.

[neuron]

Why was it changed? IMO the new way cheapens the look of the knife...dare I say "ghetto"? I don't mean to insult...but the new way belies the quality of the knife.

Gotta disagree here -- I think the new way is tastefully done, and like Hark said it actually depicts the logo. Having said that, though, I think the way the logo is done on Darrel's customs offers the best of both worlds: it has the DDR logo in the subtle etching style that was on the old HTM Gunhammers. Maybe we could get the HTM logo etched that way on the forum knife.