- Joined
- Mar 15, 2012
- Messages
- 80
I've been meaning to post up a quick review of a knife I had custom made by Darrin Sanders. Darrin is a knifemaker here at BF and I had admired some of his other works in the For Sale section for some time. He is located in the state of LA and puts quality craftsmanship and materials into his work.
Darrin posted up two side shots of the knife without its sheath here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/968420-Prickly-Pear-Cactus-amp-1095-Hunter
Originally, I wanted a nice dressy hunting knife in 1095 made with a set of Magma Red Cactus Scales that I had purchased and patiently waited for from Curtis at Turntex Woodworks out of TX. If you haven't seen his work, take a second to head over and see the very unique material in various colors.
For the overall blade profile similar to his micarta knife seen here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/954296-1095-amp-Tan-Linen-Micarta-Hunter
but wanted the handle shape to be profiled like his Bocote blade here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/942843-1095-amp-Bocote-Hunter
As Darrin was fresh out of 1095 he offered to upgrade me to 52100 at the same price. I know he put 1095 in his posting but he inidicated via email that it was indeed 52100. The blade profile is expertly ground and will no doubt make a great hunting knife if I can ever bring myself to take it out of the house. lol Overall balance is in the handle and will make controlling it much easier in precision work. Oh and did I mention the edge is hair popping sharp?!?
I wish I had a way to take high quality photos like some on this forum so I could show it in more detail along with the sheath but I'm afraid I might make a negative impression on the knife. The black leather sheath looks identical to the one shown in the micarta knife thread posted above and holds the knife snugly while sitting nicely at the hip.
Overall, my experience working with Darrin was as seemless and enjoyable as one could possibly hope for when doing a custom request. I know a lot of people are put off with his payment options not including Paypal but for me going to the USPS for a money order is quite easy and they got it to him via regular postage in 2 days. Please don't let it hinder you from doing business with him, he more than makes up for it with great feedback and customer service. I won't go into some of the other issues I've had with other makers on here doing custom work but suffice it to say that Darrin is not among those.
Darrin posted up two side shots of the knife without its sheath here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/968420-Prickly-Pear-Cactus-amp-1095-Hunter
Originally, I wanted a nice dressy hunting knife in 1095 made with a set of Magma Red Cactus Scales that I had purchased and patiently waited for from Curtis at Turntex Woodworks out of TX. If you haven't seen his work, take a second to head over and see the very unique material in various colors.
For the overall blade profile similar to his micarta knife seen here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/954296-1095-amp-Tan-Linen-Micarta-Hunter
but wanted the handle shape to be profiled like his Bocote blade here:
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/942843-1095-amp-Bocote-Hunter
As Darrin was fresh out of 1095 he offered to upgrade me to 52100 at the same price. I know he put 1095 in his posting but he inidicated via email that it was indeed 52100. The blade profile is expertly ground and will no doubt make a great hunting knife if I can ever bring myself to take it out of the house. lol Overall balance is in the handle and will make controlling it much easier in precision work. Oh and did I mention the edge is hair popping sharp?!?
I wish I had a way to take high quality photos like some on this forum so I could show it in more detail along with the sheath but I'm afraid I might make a negative impression on the knife. The black leather sheath looks identical to the one shown in the micarta knife thread posted above and holds the knife snugly while sitting nicely at the hip.
Overall, my experience working with Darrin was as seemless and enjoyable as one could possibly hope for when doing a custom request. I know a lot of people are put off with his payment options not including Paypal but for me going to the USPS for a money order is quite easy and they got it to him via regular postage in 2 days. Please don't let it hinder you from doing business with him, he more than makes up for it with great feedback and customer service. I won't go into some of the other issues I've had with other makers on here doing custom work but suffice it to say that Darrin is not among those.
