2009 Forum Knife - getting started on ideas.

Kim,

Did you pick up that knife from Ken Coats. I was so tempted by that I could not stand it. Just too close to Christmas for me to give in. On the other hand maybe I should have. :D.

Another thing to consider is that we have some guys around the world that have gotten in on this in the past, so it is always best if we keep size in mind. I know some of our brothers in the UK might want to carry them and they have a size limitation, if I am not mistaken.
 
Wow! Went back to the last page and looked at the jigged micarta. That's a very nice alternative!
 
Bastid said:
Another thing to consider is that we have some guys around the world that have gotten in on this in the past, so it is always best if we keep size in mind. I know some of our brothers in the UK might want to carry them and they have a size limitation, if I am not mistaken.
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Well, Kumbaya be damned, Gus....sometimes those who DON'T have less restrictive laws such as ours in the US might just have to admire it at home, rather than carry......I find this an absolutely ridiculous and artificial restriction....and reject it outright.....if it is too big to carry.....don't carry it.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Bastid said:
Some great ideas and we always seem to have a little fun coming up with our choice.

Let's keep em coming and then we can start a decision thread in a week or two once the discussion here starts fading.
We can just run a list of 2 or 3 of the most popular suggestions and go from there.

Ya know, none of our knives so far came in bone or micarta, maybe it is time.

Ken, Heartfelt thanks for offering to help us out. It is very much appreciated and depending on the decision of the group, I may come a knockin. ;)

That jigged micarta swayback looks fantastic.

I am in for whatever we decide. A barlow or jack would also be a cool knife. Your dogleg pattern is one of my favorites from this year of knives I have seen.
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Did you say a 3 1/2" dog leg jack in jigged micarta with D2? ;)
 
I'll humbly add my idea, similar to cnas122:

single blade: wharncliff jigged micarta swayback, like Ken's.

multi-blade:wharncliff whittler, split back, jigged micarta scales; pen & clip secondaries.

thx - cpr
 
Bastid said:
Kim,

Did you pick up that knife from Ken Coats. I was so tempted by that I could not stand it. Just too close to Christmas for me to give in. On the other hand maybe I should have. :D.

Another thing to consider is that we have some guys around the world that have gotten in on this in the past, so it is always best if we keep size in mind. I know some of our brothers in the UK might want to carry them and they have a size limitation, if I am not mistaken.
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I wish I had the money! Its currently my favorite showing from Ken :D
 
Guys,

Keep in mind this will not be "my" decision. It will be a group decision as in the past.
All I want to do in this thread is put ideas on the table and see what is the most popular.
I am not about to step in and override the consensus. (Just not my style at all). ;).
 
waynorth said:
If we could do a simple sawcut bone barlow, with a signature "BF" in the bolster, two full sized blades like an old IXL, say a clip and a spear, we'd have a heck of a knife.

:()
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That idea sounds great to me. I liked the idea of jigged micarta or bone, but the sawcut bone has a nice traditional sound to it. For steel I'd like to see a stainless. ATS-34 would be great and D2 would also be good.

It might be worth checking with Queen, as they have already made a similar knife in the Colonel Coon line. That one is 3 3/8" closed with a blade length on both blades of 2 11/16". If we could get them to use a different steel and handles with BF in the bolster it would still be affordable for most folks.

 
That Col. Coon has the right proportions popedandy! It looks like they've done it without making it too thick, and we all know how well thinner blades cut. Evidence your favorite SAK!! Does anyone have more pics of that knife??
If there are existing dies at Queen, the price should be reasonable!! And a deep-signature bolster would be the icing on the cake!! A class act!!
 
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I was to late for the '08 knife but I am definitely in for the 2009 model.
I am happy with any pattern that is decided upon
Personally I would prefer a stainless or D2 blade as it is more rust resistant than 1095 or other carbon steel. I find that if I don't wipe my 1095 GEC's down every night surface rust builds up quick.......

Thanks Gus for steering the ship on this one:)
 
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With apologies to popedandy for playing with his pic - just saying....
1ykd4h.jpg
 
Thanks popedandy! Berkley, thanks to you too, that is close to what I envisioned.
That would be a very useful knife! Compact and potent!!
Queen makes a nice Barlow. I'd love to see it work!
 
Well, I'm very new to the traditional knife set, although I've had some form of one ever since I can remember. I'm thankful I got in on the '08 (I've been carrying it daily), but really wished I had gotten in on the '07 knife (Wow, that is gorgeous).

Since I'm not totally up with the designs, I will say that the swayback Jack with jigged micarta sounds very nice & I personally love wharncliffes. I like my '08's 1095, but agree that D2 would probably be a better choice, especially if we have to watch what the handle material will be. One doesn't want to totally compromise the knife now (Blade AND handle material).

I like the idea of keeping it in the neighborhood of $100 (Give or take a little each way) & while I'll probably end up getting whatever's decided, I definitely prefer something that's 4" or less closed. That should still still provide for an over 3" blade, right?
 
Friends, here's another consideration: Many seem to yearn for a big one..how about contacting Great Eastern about using their MUSKRAT pattern?

We could have a larger knife,4.25" get one with Wharncliffe and Clip blades, have Micarta scales an exclusive colour perhaps? Or an acrylic? G.E. can supply carbon or stainless for this pattern and the shield could be stamped BF to keep cost down and give it some individuality?

Just an idea anyway (I confess to bias as I don't have a Muskrat Hawbaker:D)
 
augustus88 said:
Stag being ugly isn't the problem for me. The problem is inconsistency from one knife to another. Some of this year's forum knives had beautiful stag. In my case (#33) the stag is the most lackluster I've seen on a knife in this price range. Nothing like I've seen on any other Northwoods knives. Rough Rider and Steel Warrior Stag usually looks nicer than the stag on my forum knife. If it wasn't for lots of burnt in the burnt stag you would guess it was very uneven light tan bone. They also managed to burn(overheat) the tips of two blades when they were grinding the edge on a belt sander, but that's a separate issue.

I think jigged bone would probably offer a higher degree of consistency and quality control in the handle material for all 50+ knives.

My #1 vote goes to a 3 5/8" - 3 3/4" Whanrncliffe Swayback Jack in jigged bone or micarta with 1095 blades.
My #2 vote goes to a Saw Cut Bone Barlow with 1095 blades.

Just for the record, I don't want anyone connecting my lack of enthusiasm for my forum knife with Ed T's effort. ED worked his arse off and did a great job coordinating and distributing the knives.
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Agustus88 brought up an issue that I noticed on my 08 forum knife (#29 of 50), and that being the burnt blade tips. The two smaller blade tips are blackened. Under maginification you can see they are burned. What is the ramification of this? Are they weakened or more brittle blades?

I too am somewhat dissapointed with the knife. The first thing that jumps out is the over grinding on the stag. Followed by the gap between the stag and the bolster on the shield side. The gap is so pronounced that you can actually slide a sheet of copy paper (24lb.) between the stag and bolster.

Also, the nail nick is so small (shallow) on the smaller blades, its almost impossible for me to open the smaller blades.

Any thoughts on the issue?
Jay
 
I would be in for a swayback jack or barlow, but what I would really like is a teardrop jack. Just my $.02
 
Beaver said:
I too am somewhat dissapointed with the knife. The first thing that jumps out is the over grinding on the stag. Followed by the gap between the stag and the bolster on the shield side. The gap is so pronounced that you can actually slide a sheet of copy paper (24lb.) between the stag and bolster.

Also, the nail nick is so small (shallow) on the smaller blades, its almost impossible for me to open the smaller blades.

Any thoughts on the issue?
Jay
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It is definitely not a $100 knife. I appreciate all the hard work Ed did, and this was a great experience throughout the year. The product, however, is a serious disappointment. Nearly any production Case, S&M, Queen, etc with blade engraving done by a third party would have been a better knife at a lower cost.

I'm perplexed that Northwoods took a $5000 order with the chance for some great publicity and rave reviews, and delivered such a lackluster performance.

Oh well... there's always 2009. :)
 
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