2018 BF Traditional Knife

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A 14 would interest me in Sleeveboard configuration certainly and with small bolsters, that way GEC could use an existing pattern but really offer something different with it. Otherwise, I have to be Mr Nyet:D
 
Will Power said:
A 14 would interest me in Sleeveboard configuration certainly and with small bolsters, that way GEC could use an existing pattern but really offer something different with it. Otherwise, I have to be Mr Nyet:D
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Sleeveboard 14 with tip bolsters might look pretty good :)

William Rodgers Large Sleeveboard 1-6.JPG

Not necessarily smooth ivory bone of course ;)
 
supratentorial said:
but if they could make a cap lifter for the #14, I think it would be extremely popular. A "micro brew scout" that fits in a watch pocket. Doesn't necessarily have to have a sheepfoot or easy open notch. It could be done with whatever main blade they are using for this run. Just an idea but I think we are too late for it.
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That would be sweet. I'd be all over it.
 
Leslie Tomville said:
I had a lengthy conversation with Bill Howard at GEC this morning. First, let me say that he spoke highly of the Forum. He has met many of you at the Rendezvous, and you have represented us well. He described you as being among the very best knife people he knows. Second, it is clear to me that GEC is willing to be very accommodating to us. However, they are busier now, and their runs are larger in order to fill demand. This gives them less flexibility. Bill was aware of the interest of our members in unique and new patterns. Our ability to get something unique depends on how much time he has to work with. Their current production schedule runs into September, so there really is not much time left in 2018 from their point of view. We have in effect limited him to his last quarter.

The next pattern available to us is the #14 in either single clip or clip and secondary with end cap and a variety of handle materials in carbon steel. Bill asked me to make sure you understand that this will be a large run with several SFO's so it might be hard to design something truly unique, but they will do the best they can. There might be time left in 2018 for one more pattern which I could explore with Bill if GEC is the chosen manufacturer. He asked me to not reveal that pattern at this time.

So, there is the choice to be polled, either a GEC #14 as described above (or possibly a second pattern to de discussed later), OR a Buck 300 series, 500 series (to include the 55), or 110/112.

Please rest assured that the concerns about GEC somehow losing touch with us are not true. I am convinced that they will do anything they can to accommodate us. Going forward, the important thing for us to do is develop an organized system that would allow us to begin discussions with GEC early in the year. Bill specifically told me that he would then be able and willing to pinpoint a unique or even new pattern for us. That made perfect sense to me. Obviously, the more time we give him, the more magic he can work. He is also aware of the desire for more stainless, and that is a possibility. There is no doubt in my mind that GEC values us and our business and will work hard to please us. This year, we just have not had a good line of communication. I hope this helps.
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Thanks for taking the time to reach out Leslie.

I never had any doubts about GEC being willing to work with the forum. Anyone who has met and spoke with Bill Howard Sr, Bill Howard Jr, Chris, Randy, or really anyone at GEC knows that they are genuine people who truly care about the knives they make and the people who buy them, and stand behind their work.

I think the demand and popularity of GEC is growing rapidly and it is making them busier. That's good! It just means their production schedule stretches out longer than normal and we'll have to wait till later in the year if we go with GEC for the forum knife.

I know some members live closer than me to GEC, but I live within easy driving distance (about an hour and 45 minutes) and don't have kids etc. yet so I have more free time than many. I also am pretty young, so that might deter some from being comfortable with me communicating with GEC, and I have no ability to back the forum knife financially. Still, I would be more than happy to help out with next year's process (and/or this year's) whether it be as a helper to you @Leslie Tomville or as an in person liaison. I already tend to visit GEC a few times per year when I visit my dad in Franklin PA. I will be at the Rendezvous again this year and could talk with waynorth waynorth about any tips, the process, etc.

Just throwin' it out there. I wasn't involved enough with the last two year's forum knives so that also might preclude me, and I don't know what all it would entail.
 
knarfeng said:
Yes. I have a BCCI 301. It was roughly $110 with Micarta covers and BG42 blades.
I also have a Buck 501 in S30V with stabilized cherry handles. It was about $85.

Both were made by the Buck Custom Shop. The fit and finish are miles beyond the fit and finish of a standard Buck and are definitely in the GEC realm. If all you have ever seen is a standard production Buck knife, there is no comparison to what you get from the custom shop.

Buck does a superlative heat treat on S30V.

My suggestion would be to order a steel that Buck already uses. That will lower the costs.
Also, ordering a pattern that they already make will also keep the costs reasonable.

Personally, I hope SK can work something out with Spark. I think it is the option most likely to result in a 2018 Traditional Forum Knife.
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I believe skblades skblades said the drawback to the S30V was that it would not allow for tang stamp and would cost a bit more than the CPM-154 which can allow for stamp and FFG.
 
skblades skblades It sounds like a good number of people do not care for the spey blade (myself included), is it a big up-charge to replace that with a lambsfoot and add a coped blade or pen blade (see PHOTOSHOP image below)? I call this the "practical whittler" ;)

Whittler 301.JPG

- Kevin
 
Leslie Tomville said:
I had a lengthy conversation with Bill Howard at GEC this morning. First, let me say that he spoke highly of the Forum. He has met many of you at the Rendezvous, and you have represented us well. He described you as being among the very best knife people he knows. Second, it is clear to me that GEC is willing to be very accommodating to us. However, they are busier now, and their runs are larger in order to fill demand. This gives them less flexibility. Bill was aware of the interest of our members in unique and new patterns. Our ability to get something unique depends on how much time he has to work with. Their current production schedule runs into September, so there really is not much time left in 2018 from their point of view. We have in effect limited him to his last quarter.

The next pattern available to us is the #14 in either single clip or clip and secondary with end cap and a variety of handle materials in carbon steel. Bill asked me to make sure you understand that this will be a large run with several SFO's so it might be hard to design something truly unique, but they will do the best they can. There might be time left in 2018 for one more pattern which I could explore with Bill if GEC is the chosen manufacturer. He asked me to not reveal that pattern at this time.

So, there is the choice to be polled, either a GEC #14 as described above (or possibly a second pattern to de discussed later), OR a Buck 300 series, 500 series (to include the 55), or 110/112.

Please rest assured that the concerns about GEC somehow losing touch with us are not true. I am convinced that they will do anything they can to accommodate us. Going forward, the important thing for us to do is develop an organized system that would allow us to begin discussions with GEC early in the year. Bill specifically told me that he would then be able and willing to pinpoint a unique or even new pattern for us. That made perfect sense to me. Obviously, the more time we give him, the more magic he can work. He is also aware of the desire for more stainless, and that is a possibility. There is no doubt in my mind that GEC values us and our business and will work hard to please us. This year, we just have not had a good line of communication. I hope this helps.
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Leslie, Thanks for all the leg work and the communication to the group! I'm very new here but can already tell this is a group of responsible and respectful individuals and I'm honored to be a part of that. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance with anything going forward with this project. Thanks again, sir!
 
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CONTACT HAS BEEN MADE with Spark.

Okey doke, here we go. If Buck is chosen, we have to make sure that all 250 are sold/pre-sold to the forum. Spark does not want any excess sold for profit or mark up or even showing up on our site or any others. It changes only one thing for SK, and that is if Buck is chosen, then we'll have to fill the pre-order of 250 prior to the order of the knives. SK won't be able to sell any leftovers of any kind. What say you members of the forum?
 
skblades said:
CONTACT HAS BEEN MADE with Spark.

Okey doke, here we go. If Buck is chosen, we have to make sure that all 250 are sold/pre-sold to the forum. Spark does not want any excess sold for profit or mark up or even showing up on our site or any others. It changes only one thing for SK, and that is if Buck is chosen, then we'll have to fill the pre-order of 250 prior to the order of the knives. SK won't be able to sell any leftovers of any kind. What say you members of the forum?
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If Buck is chosen, depending on the model selected(my vote is 301), I’d be in for 4.
 
skblades said:
CONTACT HAS BEEN MADE with Spark.

Okey doke, here we go. If Buck is chosen, we have to make sure that all 250 are sold/pre-sold to the forum. Spark does not want any excess sold for profit or mark up or even showing up on our site or any others. It changes only one thing for SK, and that is if Buck is chosen, then we'll have to fill the pre-order of 250 prior to the order of the knives. SK won't be able to sell any leftovers of any kind. What say you members of the forum?
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Thanks skblades skblades ! Is that a hard 250 limit, or is that a minimum? Just curious if we need only to hit that at least, or if that is the hard number (i.e. could we pre-order 263, for example)?
 
Does the pre-order include payment? Will Buck not start the manufacture until payment is received?
 
skblades said:
CONTACT HAS BEEN MADE with Spark.

Okey doke, here we go. If Buck is chosen, we have to make sure that all 250 are sold/pre-sold to the forum. Spark does not want any excess sold for profit or mark up or even showing up on our site or any others. It changes only one thing for SK, and that is if Buck is chosen, then we'll have to fill the pre-order of 250 prior to the order of the knives. SK won't be able to sell any leftovers of any kind. What say you members of the forum?
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First, let me express my thanks and appreciation for all you are doing here. I am sure that I speak for many here that your efforts are noted and very much valued.

Guaranteeing the pre-sale of 250 knives can be tricky. Last year, we had a TC Barlow for our forum knife and the odds were quite certain that they would sell out, and they most certainly did. But that is the nature of a TC Barlow... Your polling in terms of what Buck pattern to offer with whatever materials it is to be constructed with might give you a better gauge on whether you have any certainty towards covering that number of 250. If a Buck is selected, I will likely be in for multiples, especially if it is a pattern that speaks to me.

But still, filling 250 pre-orders prior to placing the order seems to be a bit of a risk. I am not sure how you would mitigate that. Get everyone's commitment prior to taking money? If you can't fill 250 orders then the whole thing is a wash? What happens when folks back out when it comes time to pony up? Just seems there are a lot of logistics that are in question.
 
As before, my vote is for something interesting on the GEC #14 frame. Probably a two blade and probably two near equal length blades. Unique is a fleeting thing as you may recall GEC made essentially the forum knives later themselves. The blade forum stamp will make it unique. Frankly, I don't know if I would be interested in something made by Buck. Generally speaking, they are pretty low on the priority list for me.
 
waynorth said:
Does the pre-order include payment? Will Buck not start the manufacture until payment is received?
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Yes, pre-order would be the full amount plus shipping. If we didn't make the mark by a large number, then refunding would be a pill, but a needed step. If we were short by 50, we could always leave them up for sale to the forum. Not sure yet on taking that risk, but it's a possibility.

I have terms with Buck that allow me to pay 30 days after delivery, so Buck will start without any money down.
 
My vote would be for GEC #14 single clip. That being said, I would purchase one of whatever the majority agrees on (Buck, GEC, etc.).
 
Pàdruig said:
But still, filling 250 pre-orders prior to placing the order seems to be a bit of a risk
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I remember some previous years when the hurdle was something like 120 pre-orders before Spark would commit to the run back when Spark was handing the forum knives himself, pre-2014. Some years it was down to the wire as to whether we'd get enough people who would pre-pay. 2013 was one of those.

You may find that if it's not a GEC, and the sales are limited to forum members only, that you may not hit that 250 number.
 
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