sniperboy
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 19, 1999
- Messages
- 2,836
[seductive]
To tell you the truth I am acquainted with the term "Grifter" and have lots of evil, sleek, yet cool images of it - mainly from comics and movies, but I am not sure what it literally means. One thing is for sure though, when I look at this knife from none other than our own Neil Blackwood I can 'feel' what the slang means without the use of words.
To those keeping track Blackwood recently resurfaced an old project of his- which could very well be the first 'official' double edged Blackwood blade that all the world should see. and I am happy to have the privellege of owning the #2 knife of this model (the #1 prototype) is with Neil. (I also have the #2 American ninja which I am quite giddy to own - the #1 prototype being on some lucky collector's hands)
From the moment I saw Neil's Hawksbill knife I was in love with his work and it baffled me why he was not more 'famous', maybe it is because of his humble nature or that he has not being doign it full time but to his cult fans they know he's got talent - he's always ready to grow to do what he wants instead of letting his fame steer him (which happens to many more famous and 'unreachable' makers).. and I kidn of like his down to earth, funny, and friendly attitude. Talkgin to him on the phone really gave me a new impression of him - that is someone who really LOVES to make knves and one who is not eager to follow with the norm. HIs american ninja and Hayabusa series are trait to that. He is ready to work with the customer - accepting of ideas and ready to give some advice of his own. He's also ready to try new things liek folders and new steels liek talonite and stellite. This love for his craft and pride in his sense of direction really gave me confidence in him. I don't believe it took me this long to get to know him as a person and an artist.
I received this blade yesterday and it was hard to hold my excitement becausse the forums were down and now that it's up and running again I can't wait to blabber - in fact I am havinga hell of a time organizing my thoughts as I want to talk about all the aspects of the knife at once.
I guess I shoudl step back and take a breather.
Here is the original thread that Neil posted that made me fall in love with the blade the moment I saw it:
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/002255.html
3/16" D2, tapered tang, ivory Micarta with red and blue spacers and mosaic pins. 8 3/4" OAL, 4"
http://blackwoodknives.com/grifter1.jpg
[I was a goner]
Where to begin... I have always been fancying the idea of Neil making a double edged blade and I guess he read my mind - and I am sure the mind of others on the forums and FINALLY put a lot of dreams and desires to steel. THe blade, unlike others in Blackwood's design is thinly ground to a painfully sharp edge, minus the reinforced point trademark in his designs. Being as such the edge is deathly sharp and has a super thin point not to be trifled with.
I like i like.
THe handle has white micarta which I INSTANTLY fell in love with - and to those who know my taste in double edged white handled knives knew I was a goner from the first round. Under the micarta are two spacers. Blue under red. I will admit to you that I do like the red under white but I do not really like the look of blue and red (I prefer balck and red but hey it's his trademark and I respect that), it seems to make the knife less 'serious'. BUt ofcourse that is merely my personal preference - I do not let my picky colour coding tastes interfere with my appreciation for fine art.
I havent been around i guess or makers just don't take the time to fine polish their knives (or maybe don't have the artistic mind) but this is the first time I have seen BEAUTIFUL use of coloured spacers. Neil carved the white micarta down to the spacers to give it a nice 'layered'/gradient/eroded look. I don't know how else to explain it, but if you look at the knife plan view straight down you can see faint hues as the white micarta 'fades' into red then blue.
I was in awe when I saw it - very artisticaly done.
The handle is sculpted thin and decorated with two mosaic pins. A fine cocktail party knife, and a deadly don juan dueller not to be trifled with. THe handle is slightly sculpted as well for extreme comfort with just the right dips and swells long the front of the handle. That coupled with the thin and lightweight physique makes a sexy knife that just flies from the draw to grip changes to resheathing. Holding the knife in saber, forward and reverse, my fingers and palm fit comfortably in it and don't feel like they woudl tire even under long term use.
FOrumites have expressed a concern since there is no thumb guard on the top of the swedge when using the knife in saber grip. I had that concern too but thinkng about it my fingers are not long enough to run down the top edge to be cut (i've tried) and Neil's smooooth double indexing and thumb serrations really puts your hand in a solid grip with the handle. Even a commited thrust as Neil has tested will probably not dislodge your hand unless you just catastrophically let go.
EVen as I understand this in my mind, my body is still a little worried, but then again logic and gut feelign are two things not always intertwined. I woudl suggest a sliiiight thumb ramp on the spine of the blade to add reassurance on the grip. However I woudl not change my knife if given that option because I think it woudl interfere with the sleek and streamlined shape of the knife.. won't you agree?
THese are just my worry wart conceptions, I woudl liek to stress that this handle has a solid grip due to the serrations and double finger indexing.. which is.. surprisingly not obstructive or uncomfortable or limiting unliek other knife designs that rely on too many sharp unsculpted finger indexing grooves.
Last but not the least I would liek to gloat about Neil's fine sheath. I made a request for him to make a folded slim and compact kydex sheath - no offense but the kydex sheath on my american ninja in it's 2 piece sandwich construction was just too bulky and paddle like for my tastes. It felt like it belonged in some fraternity iniciation rite
(we're still friends right Sir Blackwood?
)
Neil made the sheath to my specifications and it's a slim and compact package for slightly canted horizontal on the back carry and shoudler rig carry. But it doens't stop there. Where others might stop at making a sheath just an 'accesory' an ugly 'thing' to hold the knife. Neil went the extra mile to carve and CHAMFER the edges of the kydex sheath to match the overall look of the knife. No boxy rivetty kydex paddle here. Usually I feel that knife makers do their thing and shethmakers shoudl be left to do their own thing, Neil is equally skilled in both departments and I was really impressed that he went beyond the call of duty to beautify the sheath. the sheath is comfortable and effective, albeit being a bit tight on the knife - but it will surely losen with time or I can cut it down to size to grip less of the handle.
I am sure I have balbbered incoherently about this knife and I am sorry - for fear of sounding silly and high on sugar I'll stop
All in all I conclude that this knife is light, swift, comfortable, sharp, and SEXY!
WHen i opened the package all I coudl think of was "I've been waiting for this knife for a long time, I just didn't know it yet." And I say that with no false flattery.
This angel will be a fine addition to the [perfect-Sniper/Immaculate white knife collection.]
Thank you and good night.
------------------
URBAN.LEGENDS.(BalisongGARBAGE)
ENGEL.DESIGN.ROOM
[FAKE01].[the mirror site](www.rejectionist.com)
Knives.I.Want
If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]
To tell you the truth I am acquainted with the term "Grifter" and have lots of evil, sleek, yet cool images of it - mainly from comics and movies, but I am not sure what it literally means. One thing is for sure though, when I look at this knife from none other than our own Neil Blackwood I can 'feel' what the slang means without the use of words.
To those keeping track Blackwood recently resurfaced an old project of his- which could very well be the first 'official' double edged Blackwood blade that all the world should see. and I am happy to have the privellege of owning the #2 knife of this model (the #1 prototype) is with Neil. (I also have the #2 American ninja which I am quite giddy to own - the #1 prototype being on some lucky collector's hands)
From the moment I saw Neil's Hawksbill knife I was in love with his work and it baffled me why he was not more 'famous', maybe it is because of his humble nature or that he has not being doign it full time but to his cult fans they know he's got talent - he's always ready to grow to do what he wants instead of letting his fame steer him (which happens to many more famous and 'unreachable' makers).. and I kidn of like his down to earth, funny, and friendly attitude. Talkgin to him on the phone really gave me a new impression of him - that is someone who really LOVES to make knves and one who is not eager to follow with the norm. HIs american ninja and Hayabusa series are trait to that. He is ready to work with the customer - accepting of ideas and ready to give some advice of his own. He's also ready to try new things liek folders and new steels liek talonite and stellite. This love for his craft and pride in his sense of direction really gave me confidence in him. I don't believe it took me this long to get to know him as a person and an artist.
I received this blade yesterday and it was hard to hold my excitement becausse the forums were down and now that it's up and running again I can't wait to blabber - in fact I am havinga hell of a time organizing my thoughts as I want to talk about all the aspects of the knife at once.
I guess I shoudl step back and take a breather.
Here is the original thread that Neil posted that made me fall in love with the blade the moment I saw it:
http://www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum4/HTML/002255.html
3/16" D2, tapered tang, ivory Micarta with red and blue spacers and mosaic pins. 8 3/4" OAL, 4"
http://blackwoodknives.com/grifter1.jpg
[I was a goner]
Where to begin... I have always been fancying the idea of Neil making a double edged blade and I guess he read my mind - and I am sure the mind of others on the forums and FINALLY put a lot of dreams and desires to steel. THe blade, unlike others in Blackwood's design is thinly ground to a painfully sharp edge, minus the reinforced point trademark in his designs. Being as such the edge is deathly sharp and has a super thin point not to be trifled with.
I like i like.
THe handle has white micarta which I INSTANTLY fell in love with - and to those who know my taste in double edged white handled knives knew I was a goner from the first round. Under the micarta are two spacers. Blue under red. I will admit to you that I do like the red under white but I do not really like the look of blue and red (I prefer balck and red but hey it's his trademark and I respect that), it seems to make the knife less 'serious'. BUt ofcourse that is merely my personal preference - I do not let my picky colour coding tastes interfere with my appreciation for fine art.
I havent been around i guess or makers just don't take the time to fine polish their knives (or maybe don't have the artistic mind) but this is the first time I have seen BEAUTIFUL use of coloured spacers. Neil carved the white micarta down to the spacers to give it a nice 'layered'/gradient/eroded look. I don't know how else to explain it, but if you look at the knife plan view straight down you can see faint hues as the white micarta 'fades' into red then blue.
I was in awe when I saw it - very artisticaly done.
The handle is sculpted thin and decorated with two mosaic pins. A fine cocktail party knife, and a deadly don juan dueller not to be trifled with. THe handle is slightly sculpted as well for extreme comfort with just the right dips and swells long the front of the handle. That coupled with the thin and lightweight physique makes a sexy knife that just flies from the draw to grip changes to resheathing. Holding the knife in saber, forward and reverse, my fingers and palm fit comfortably in it and don't feel like they woudl tire even under long term use.
FOrumites have expressed a concern since there is no thumb guard on the top of the swedge when using the knife in saber grip. I had that concern too but thinkng about it my fingers are not long enough to run down the top edge to be cut (i've tried) and Neil's smooooth double indexing and thumb serrations really puts your hand in a solid grip with the handle. Even a commited thrust as Neil has tested will probably not dislodge your hand unless you just catastrophically let go.
EVen as I understand this in my mind, my body is still a little worried, but then again logic and gut feelign are two things not always intertwined. I woudl suggest a sliiiight thumb ramp on the spine of the blade to add reassurance on the grip. However I woudl not change my knife if given that option because I think it woudl interfere with the sleek and streamlined shape of the knife.. won't you agree?
THese are just my worry wart conceptions, I woudl liek to stress that this handle has a solid grip due to the serrations and double finger indexing.. which is.. surprisingly not obstructive or uncomfortable or limiting unliek other knife designs that rely on too many sharp unsculpted finger indexing grooves.
Last but not the least I would liek to gloat about Neil's fine sheath. I made a request for him to make a folded slim and compact kydex sheath - no offense but the kydex sheath on my american ninja in it's 2 piece sandwich construction was just too bulky and paddle like for my tastes. It felt like it belonged in some fraternity iniciation rite
Neil made the sheath to my specifications and it's a slim and compact package for slightly canted horizontal on the back carry and shoudler rig carry. But it doens't stop there. Where others might stop at making a sheath just an 'accesory' an ugly 'thing' to hold the knife. Neil went the extra mile to carve and CHAMFER the edges of the kydex sheath to match the overall look of the knife. No boxy rivetty kydex paddle here. Usually I feel that knife makers do their thing and shethmakers shoudl be left to do their own thing, Neil is equally skilled in both departments and I was really impressed that he went beyond the call of duty to beautify the sheath. the sheath is comfortable and effective, albeit being a bit tight on the knife - but it will surely losen with time or I can cut it down to size to grip less of the handle.
I am sure I have balbbered incoherently about this knife and I am sorry - for fear of sounding silly and high on sugar I'll stop
WHen i opened the package all I coudl think of was "I've been waiting for this knife for a long time, I just didn't know it yet." And I say that with no false flattery.
This angel will be a fine addition to the [perfect-Sniper/Immaculate white knife collection.]
Thank you and good night.
------------------
URBAN.LEGENDS.(BalisongGARBAGE)
ENGEL.DESIGN.ROOM
[FAKE01].[the mirror site](www.rejectionist.com)
Knives.I.Want
If you play with love you will be heartbroken; if you play with knives you will [bleed]
