852211 real harness knife review

P

Pipeman

Joined
Dec 2, 2004
Messages
5,910
I've had this wonderful knife in hand for a week and I DO mean in hand, can't stop fondling it :D
Everything about this knife is as close to perfect as any "production " knife can be IMO. F&F is perfect, no gaps anywhere. The jigging is old time beautiful, the frame is perfect for the knifes function.
The pull on the big master is about a 6, the punch is a solid 8 with great hard lock up which is a good thing for a blade meant to be twisted. Both blades have solid 1/2 stops and the springs are a hairs width from flush in the half stop position and flush in open and closed. The punch even has a tiny nail nick hidden in the second groove. The punch came razor sharp and cuts perfect holes with a simple clockwise twist. I had wondered what a big leaf shaped blade would feel like when cutting. The frame is very comfortable in hand and the natural angle for cutting (leather) is perfect, cutting within the first inch of the blade. I can't say enough good things about this knife. Thanks to Jake for saving it for me and a Big thanks to Charlie for his work on the design of this classic. I did do a little dye work around the edges of the scales.

Very best regards

Robin

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Looks great Robin, and I'm glad you are enjoying it. That punch is a favorite of mine, and Bill did a bang-up job. I'm not sure he'll make it again, though - lots of hand work to finish it!
The handles look great with the edges dyed. What dye did you use?
 
Hi Charlie
I used the old standby Fiebings dark brown oil. Now I Need one in Ebony and maybe an easy open too..

Best regards

Robin
 
You improved the covers immensely with the dye. I saw the pic of the original from Collectors Knives.
 
Beautiful knife. Looks great with the dye job. The stock bone color was the only thing that I didn't like about that run.
 
Pipeman. Is it a dye or an oil you used or is the dye simply known as Fiebings dark brown oil?
Is it the kind of dye one boils up with water or rub it on to achieve the colour change/darkening?
Looks great.
cheers.
 
Hi Robin -

Thanks for the review - I love my Real Harness Knife - I was glad to be able to get one when Charlie had those made up.

best

mqqn
 
meako said:
Pipeman. Is it a dye or an oil you used or is the dye simply known as Fiebings dark brown oil?
Is it the kind of dye one boils up with water or rub it on to achieve the colour change/darkening?
Looks great.
cheers.
Click to expand...

Hi Meako
Fiebings is the brand of leather dye, they make both oil and spirit based dyes. The oil dye seems to take best on a very smooth surface but I have used both for bone, antler, wood and of course leather. It`s always best to do a tiny test on antler or white bone as it sometimes dyes a weird pinkish colour as it sinks in. It`s used right out of the bottle. Some of the guys on here have been using Rit brand fabric dyes with some very nice results. Fabric dyes are usually mixed with hot water which concerns me a bit but I plan to try some on antler.

Best regards

Robin
 
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