- Joined
- Feb 28, 2002
- Messages
- 13,348
Its not often that I break out of the hunter / fighter / bowie paradigm, but this is one occasion where Im glad I did. The story of this first knife starts on E-Bay where I came across a fairly hazy photograph of a Bradshaw dagger and decided I had to have it. When the knife arrived and the haze lifted it was clear that the white mammoth ivory scales had shrunk quite a bit. Bummer. But these things will happen. I contacted Bailey and discussed the re-handling options and settled on pearl because we felt it suited this type of knife and because it is very stable. Bailey quoted me a very modest price and a surprisingly quick turnaround for the repair and off went the knife to Texas.
When it returned (in the end result, Bailey fixed it faster than the courier could deliver it more on that later) I was in for a pleasant surprise. Not only did Bailey install a beautiful pair of A-grade pearl scales, but he a) refinished the guard to remove a few light scratches that I knew were there but didnt mention; b) hand-rubbed a new fine-grit satin finish onto the blade because he thought it needed it (I hadnt thought so, but I sure noticed that the blade looked a whole lot better than I remembered); c) re-tuned the silver scabbard for a tighter, more secure fit and d) packaged the knife in a padded, zippered case! Going the extra mile doesnt begin to describe what Bailey did for me on this knife.
Now for the knife itself: 6 blade of hand-forged 1084 with fuller, 10 ¼ overall length, 416 stainless steel hilt:
Try as I might I couldnt capture the colour in the pearl. Trust me, its there:
A very elegant and tremendously well-executed overall package, if I do say so myself.
Shortly after sending off the dagger I attended the Arkansas Custom Knife show in Little Rock where I met Bailey and his utterly charming wife Courtenay. There were more than a few knives at their table that I would have loved to have taken home, but this little clip-point boot / utility knife really caught my eye. It sports a 3 ¾ blade of 1084 with a 416 ss guard, ivory scales and comes with a leather sheath:
Bailey puts as nice a finish on a blade as I have seen, and every aspect of this knife is so pristine that its hard to imagine putting it to use, even though the overall design makes for a great fixed-blade every day carry. My good buddy Danbo snapped up the stag version of this knife (hes got a good eye for a great blade and a quick trigger when it comes to nice stag).
I had asked Bailey to hang onto the knife and ship it out with the re-handled dagger when it was completed. I also asked him to send them by a certain courier that wont be seeing any more of my business. I wont bore you with the details of the shipment nightmare that ensued suffice to say that it was a spectacular combination of incompetence and indifference on the part of the courier. I have to say a special thanks to Courtenay who went above and beyond the reasonably expected to try to help sort out a mess that was not of their making. Her efforts were deeply appreciated. Dealing with genuinely good people like te Bradshaws just adds a tremendous dimension to the ownership of a fine blade.
Cheers,
Roger
PS I took the pics and Murray re-sized them and adjusted them as I work through some software problems.
When it returned (in the end result, Bailey fixed it faster than the courier could deliver it more on that later) I was in for a pleasant surprise. Not only did Bailey install a beautiful pair of A-grade pearl scales, but he a) refinished the guard to remove a few light scratches that I knew were there but didnt mention; b) hand-rubbed a new fine-grit satin finish onto the blade because he thought it needed it (I hadnt thought so, but I sure noticed that the blade looked a whole lot better than I remembered); c) re-tuned the silver scabbard for a tighter, more secure fit and d) packaged the knife in a padded, zippered case! Going the extra mile doesnt begin to describe what Bailey did for me on this knife.
Now for the knife itself: 6 blade of hand-forged 1084 with fuller, 10 ¼ overall length, 416 stainless steel hilt:
Try as I might I couldnt capture the colour in the pearl. Trust me, its there:
A very elegant and tremendously well-executed overall package, if I do say so myself.
Shortly after sending off the dagger I attended the Arkansas Custom Knife show in Little Rock where I met Bailey and his utterly charming wife Courtenay. There were more than a few knives at their table that I would have loved to have taken home, but this little clip-point boot / utility knife really caught my eye. It sports a 3 ¾ blade of 1084 with a 416 ss guard, ivory scales and comes with a leather sheath:
Bailey puts as nice a finish on a blade as I have seen, and every aspect of this knife is so pristine that its hard to imagine putting it to use, even though the overall design makes for a great fixed-blade every day carry. My good buddy Danbo snapped up the stag version of this knife (hes got a good eye for a great blade and a quick trigger when it comes to nice stag).
I had asked Bailey to hang onto the knife and ship it out with the re-handled dagger when it was completed. I also asked him to send them by a certain courier that wont be seeing any more of my business. I wont bore you with the details of the shipment nightmare that ensued suffice to say that it was a spectacular combination of incompetence and indifference on the part of the courier. I have to say a special thanks to Courtenay who went above and beyond the reasonably expected to try to help sort out a mess that was not of their making. Her efforts were deeply appreciated. Dealing with genuinely good people like te Bradshaws just adds a tremendous dimension to the ownership of a fine blade.
Cheers,
Roger
PS I took the pics and Murray re-sized them and adjusted them as I work through some software problems.
