- Joined
- Feb 28, 2002
- Messages
- 13,348
My affection for the big bowies is generally well known, but my knife needs (as distinct from my knife wants) are generally satisfied by a much more modest blade. One gent's folder and one hunter / utility are about all that I need to cut what needs to be cut.
Back in the early fall I picked up one of the true raging bargains in the forged knife field: a Burt Foster Blue Collar hunter. Burt builds these knives to make a high-performance forged Master Smith knife available to a much larger market. He generally builds them in batches of a half-dozen or so (to keep costs down) and the knives themselves are as simple as can be: 1 piece of forged-to-shape 1095; 2 pieces of wood or micarta; 3 pins; 1 quality custom leather sheath. My knife sported a stout little blade of 3 1/4" with an overall length of 8". Scales were of stabilized curly oak.
Unlike the vast majority of custom knives in my possession, I put this one to use right away. Not hacking my way through a dark dangerous jungle - or anything nearly so exotic - but slicing open a bag of potting soil; pruning a shrub or cutting up a big cardboard box for recycling. In other words, the mundane and decidedly un-glamorous chores that are made somewhat enjoyable by using a quality tool.
The knife performed exceptionally well - cutting like a little laser. The generous handle gives you the opportunity to really work the modest blade for all it's worth. And its worth to me vastly exceeded the asking price.
Which brings us to the problem. The dry furnace-blasted heat that is the environmental reality of a long Canadian winter can suck the last drop of moisture from a piece of wood better than a nuclear-powered Hoover. The scales shrunk, exposing the sharp edges of the tang. Dammit.
Knife joy was substantially reduced by that tang making its presence known to my palm and fingers. Fortuitously, I got an e-mail from Burt letting me know that a knife that I had on order was almost ready. I told him I would send him the BC hunter and asked that he re-handle it, ship it back with the ordered knife and let me know the cost. [I'll pause here to state the obvious: shrinkage of natural materials is no fault of the maker.]
When Burt got the knife, he shot me a quick e-mail with a suggestion. Since the handle material had already shrunk as far as was likely, he could simply round the edges of the tang down to meet the scales. In the unlikely event of future shrinkage, the rounded tang would not present any functional problems in using the knife. This made a world of sense to me. Besides, I quite liked the look of that curly oak.
Both knives arrived a few days later. I was immensely pleased - and surprised - by the condition of the BC hunter:
*Burt had not only rounded the tang, but the spine as well, and he went further and applied a mirror polish to both. This contrasting finish is commonplace on Burt's upscale blades, but not generally to be found on this, his least-costly offering. Burt says it will also make the tang more corrision-resistant;
*When it left my possession, the brushed finish on the blade showed surprisingly few marks for a knife that had been used. But it came back showing NONE;
*The blade was sharpened to its original keen edge.
*Total time Burt had the knife: 2 days.
*Total cost to me for the above work: US$0.00
Can you say CUSTOMER SERVICE? Can you say CLASS ACT?
I would say that the knife is as good as new, but that's not true. It's better than new. The rounded spine adds a different and entirely welcome feel - as in, from comfortable to super-comfortable. And the two tone finish gives this yeoman blade a nice little touch of luxury.
My sincere thanks, Burt.
Knife with sheath:
Rounded, mirror-polished tang:
Knife resting in its quality oxblood sheath:
Cheers,
Roger Pinnock
Back in the early fall I picked up one of the true raging bargains in the forged knife field: a Burt Foster Blue Collar hunter. Burt builds these knives to make a high-performance forged Master Smith knife available to a much larger market. He generally builds them in batches of a half-dozen or so (to keep costs down) and the knives themselves are as simple as can be: 1 piece of forged-to-shape 1095; 2 pieces of wood or micarta; 3 pins; 1 quality custom leather sheath. My knife sported a stout little blade of 3 1/4" with an overall length of 8". Scales were of stabilized curly oak.
Unlike the vast majority of custom knives in my possession, I put this one to use right away. Not hacking my way through a dark dangerous jungle - or anything nearly so exotic - but slicing open a bag of potting soil; pruning a shrub or cutting up a big cardboard box for recycling. In other words, the mundane and decidedly un-glamorous chores that are made somewhat enjoyable by using a quality tool.
The knife performed exceptionally well - cutting like a little laser. The generous handle gives you the opportunity to really work the modest blade for all it's worth. And its worth to me vastly exceeded the asking price.
Which brings us to the problem. The dry furnace-blasted heat that is the environmental reality of a long Canadian winter can suck the last drop of moisture from a piece of wood better than a nuclear-powered Hoover. The scales shrunk, exposing the sharp edges of the tang. Dammit.
Knife joy was substantially reduced by that tang making its presence known to my palm and fingers. Fortuitously, I got an e-mail from Burt letting me know that a knife that I had on order was almost ready. I told him I would send him the BC hunter and asked that he re-handle it, ship it back with the ordered knife and let me know the cost. [I'll pause here to state the obvious: shrinkage of natural materials is no fault of the maker.]When Burt got the knife, he shot me a quick e-mail with a suggestion. Since the handle material had already shrunk as far as was likely, he could simply round the edges of the tang down to meet the scales. In the unlikely event of future shrinkage, the rounded tang would not present any functional problems in using the knife. This made a world of sense to me. Besides, I quite liked the look of that curly oak.
Both knives arrived a few days later. I was immensely pleased - and surprised - by the condition of the BC hunter:
*Burt had not only rounded the tang, but the spine as well, and he went further and applied a mirror polish to both. This contrasting finish is commonplace on Burt's upscale blades, but not generally to be found on this, his least-costly offering. Burt says it will also make the tang more corrision-resistant;
*When it left my possession, the brushed finish on the blade showed surprisingly few marks for a knife that had been used. But it came back showing NONE;
*The blade was sharpened to its original keen edge.
*Total time Burt had the knife: 2 days.
*Total cost to me for the above work: US$0.00
Can you say CUSTOMER SERVICE? Can you say CLASS ACT?
I would say that the knife is as good as new, but that's not true. It's better than new. The rounded spine adds a different and entirely welcome feel - as in, from comfortable to super-comfortable. And the two tone finish gives this yeoman blade a nice little touch of luxury.
My sincere thanks, Burt.
Knife with sheath:
Rounded, mirror-polished tang:
Knife resting in its quality oxblood sheath:
Cheers,
Roger Pinnock
