A big "Thank You" to Mark and Dan

Roadrunner

Roadrunner

Joined
Jun 9, 1999
Messages
4,729
As some of you may or may not be aware, I recently moved out of my dingy little barracks room and into a nice house in the suburbs. A big part of my decision to make this move was the chance to set up a small knife shop in the garage. I needed some advice and figured Dan Koster was the man to talk to. Boy was I ever right. Dan gave me some great advice on tools and suppliers, along with plenty of encouragement. I also traded a neat little cable damsascus knife I had picked up from Ferrous at MWKK04 for Dan's bandsaw and "a few assorted odds and ends". Well, that package arrived today. I opened it up to find far, far more stuff than I had been expecting. Dan threw in blade blanks, sheath leather, handle material, books, all kinds of useful start-up supplies. In addition to this incredible display of generosity, about a week ago I recieved a package from Mark Nelson with some spare 5160 he had lying around. He offered it to me when I posted about my new grinder. I had hoped for enough to make a little fixed blade or two. I recieved about 4 feet of 1/4"x1.5" spring steel and several blocks of handle material! I cringe to think of what the shipping alone cost. I hope I'm not embarrasing you two with this post, but the kindness, generosity and helpfulness of you two and everyone on this forum is what keeps me coming back and I feel you deserve some public recognition. Such things are the norm on this forum but practically alien behavior in the rest of my dealings with people. So thank you both once again from the bottom of my heart, and if you're ever in my neck of the woods be sure to drop me a line. :)
 
Mark and Dan are great guys, and I'm sure the overwhelming majority of H.I.'s forumites will agree. ;)
 
Roadrunner, thanks for sharing. Glad to hear Mark helped you out so much; his helpful attitude and generosity and willingness to share his knowledge is one of things that makes the Cantina such a great place.

And, oh, yeah, Dan's also pretty good for a "fuller brush" kind of guy! Seriously, he's an invaluable part of this forum and it wouldn't be the same without him, despite some very few claims to the contrary.

He did the designs and tallying and all the interactive work taking the load off Uncle Bill for both the Kerambit and BDC special projects, despite being hounded on all sides for variants of these designs which would only have confused the Kami's, made more work for all involved, and delayed the delivery of the knives. (Ask Yvsa how many variant requests he has had to turn down already for the FF project; extra stuff means complication and delay. Hell, if Uncle Bill cannot always get them to pay attention to what he wants, then how are we going to communicate requested bells & whistles to the Kami's?)

I know Dan took a lot of flak and e-mails complaining from folks (such as myself!) who had not prepaid and just expected to get what they wanted, and never a cross word.

In addition to helping out as forum moderator, he has also posted tips & tricks for newbies on everything from how to get your avatar and sigline to display, to an immense sharpening thread, to how to make your own leather covered kydex sheath for your favorite khuk, not to mention single-handedly updating the HI web site for Uncle Bill. And, I seem to recall that he has sharpened up and fixed up several khuks for other members. All this done while periodically taking some cheap shots from some folks with their own problems with him while having the class not to respond in his own defense.

He wouldn't, so what the hell, I just did! :D

Thanks Roadrunner for reminding us of a couple of great guys that we have on the forum! And please let us get a first look of some of the knives you create with all that 5160, leather and handle material!

Regards,

Norm
 
heehee. cool. I know he was eyeballing in right before you and I traded.

It;s a cool piece.

Keith
 
Dan and Mark are some really awesome guys with a lot of know-how. Heck, if i could gain just half as much knowledge and info as most you guys, then i'd be much better off. Duct tape and denial can only get you so far on most projects;) Mark always has a kind, thoughtful word or piece of advice to give, and Dan has given us so many cool design to play with. And Norm is right, Dan has taken some flack from time to time. Whether it was deserved or not is a moot point. The point is that he took his punches as a mod, as a designer, and as member of the cantina. We all get into pissing contests in here. We're mostly guys with our own personal agendas 23 hours out of the day. Words will be said. Dukes will be put up. But at the end of the day someone will buy a couple rounds for the house and smiles and back slaps will ensue. Thats the way it is around here, and i'll keep coming back as long as it stays that way:) Best of luck with your new shop, RR. Keep us posted on what you churn out with all of that stuff Mark and Dan sent you.

Jake
 
I've said it before I'll say it again!

You always hear about people meeting people online and then in person and the people are not cool in person.

After going to the MWKK and having dealings with various forumites over time I'd have to say that EVERYONE I have met or dealt with is AS NICE or EVEN NICER than you would think. It's a wonderful thing!!!!!! :D :cool:
 
Happy to do it Kurt. Glad that you liked the wood. Bloodwood is beautiful and tough but a bear to work with. Good luck with it. :D I can't wait to see what you do with the stuff, metal and wood both. Enjoy Mark
 
You aren't lying Mark. I used the big block last night, as a replacement handle on a Kumar Karda. Good thing the bandsaw arrived yesterday or it would have been a real chore. The epoxy is curing right now, tomorrow night I'll finish the shaping and attach the buttcap. Is there anything special I should do to finish it? I'm planning to use Tru-Oil, I like the way it looks on the 12" sirupati Dan cleaned up for me. Pics should be forthcoming in the next few days. :cool:
 
Nothing special in finishing it I far as I have been able to tell. I did find that if you sand it smooth , then hand rub it with a cloth and then put a few coats of oil on it the grain really comes out.


Edited to add, that I also finished a bit with super glue with a light buffing afterward and it seemed to turn out well.
 
Roadrunner said:
You aren't lying Mark. I used the big block last night, as a replacement handle on a Kumar Karda. Good thing the bandsaw arrived yesterday or it would have been a real chore. The epoxy is curing right now, tomorrow night I'll finish the shaping and attach the buttcap. Is there anything special I should do to finish it? I'm planning to use Tru-Oil, I like the way it looks on the 12" sirupati Dan cleaned up for me. Pics should be forthcoming in the next few days. :cool:
Click to expand...


Go Roadrunner!!!! :D
 
Glad you got the lil' package ok, Kurt. I was worried about it....packed it a little too hastily.

I still feel like I got a great deal....I just love that cable knife. Everybody that comes in the shop picks it up and plays with it. I keep 'er sharp and ready to go. Its worth has transcended monetary value. Thanks for the trade.

Looking forward to even bigger payoff.....when you post pics of those first coupla knives. ;)

Good luck - so glad you finally got out of the barracks. Now open 'er up and release the inner-demon on that steel! :eek: :D :eek:
 
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