Canal Street Cutlery Aesthetics Feedback Request

I like the CS shield. Looks fine to me in gold with the silver bolsters. If they made knives in a pattern that I wanted and a handle material I wanted, the shield would be fine with me as-is. My one CS knife is the Eric's Jack, which has stag handles with no shield. Great little knife.

To the OP. Buy what you like, don't buy what you don't like. It's really that simple. CS has a "Contact Us" link on their page if you want to make sure your suggestion is heard. http://www.canalstreetcutlery.com/contactus.html
 
As usual, John has a very simple and to the point post, which I agree with. I, too, like the CS shield, and either color is fine by me. In heraldry, the shield almost always carried the family crest or colors, so a shield with maker's name or initials seems very traditional to me, but the classic smooth shields look good as well. As long as the size and shape of the shield fits the frame, then OK. If the shield is too large and overshadows the covers, or if it is so small or plain that it doesn't add anything of consequence, then it's just as well left off. Canal Street knives are well made, good looking, and come nicely sharp. On the negative side, for me their springs have been too soft, but I've heard they have strengthened them somewhat as of late. They also have very few patterns to choose from, but if you find one you like, go for it.
 
I think they make gorgeous traditionals, I have a beautiful Barlow from them. I've only seen SS offerings though, I wish they would at least offer D2. If they do have offerings in carbon steels I apologize but if you make traditionals you might as well go all out.
 
jc57 said:
To the OP. Buy what you like, don't buy what you don't like. It's really that simple. CS has a "Contact Us" link on their page if you want to make sure your suggestion is heard.http://www.canalstreetcutlery.com/contactus.html
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Based on what I'm now reading about CSC's owner and his opinion of "forum guys" today, I don't think my suggestions would matter. See this thread. I liked the knife in the first photo, but the seller changed the photo on their website to the knife in the second photo in that thread within two hours of my original post.

Seeing those 2 versions of the same knife got me thinking about knife aesthetics, particularly with regard to CSC, and that's why I started this discussion asking people's opinions about CSC aesthetics. I was just curious about what other thought about shields, mixed metal colors, etc..
 
I'm not bothered by the circular shields of Queen or CSC. Or the metals each are made of. I like having stainless steel options with CSC, especially the 14-4 which I love, and I love my Coppersmiths Barlow and the two Half Moon Trappers I've owned. I've been pleased with the overall construction and with the softer yet precise pull. They are consistently- and well-tuned knives.

Rumors of demise can hurt a company financially, especially when those rumors flames are fanned by the web. I'm sure it was a bad day for everyone at CSC.
 
I have no bones to pick.
I find CSC brand aesthetics to be particularly pleasing.
The world isn't black and white. It's okay to mix metals too.
I REALLY like the KA-BAR Dog Head Coppersmith / CSC Pinch Lock Back, CSC Barlow and the mix of metals ...

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... and I'm okay with the golden shield on this CSC Sunset Smooth Bone too.
The golden shield seems particularly appropriate. Perhaps more so than a silver shield.

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I have one of those sunset bone lockbacks also. Not only is the build quality terrific, the blade practically glides open, but the dyed bone practically 'glows' like an actual sunset. Amazing. :thumbup:
 
The gold coin shield does not do it for me either. I agree with Nickel Oak in that the shield material should match the bolsters. Other than that, the knives are appealing to me. Generally, I prefer traditional shields on traditional knives. Same goes for engraved serial numbers on the bolsters, I'd rather they did engraving inside the knife on the liner.
 
Circle Shield, Bar Shield, Bomb ... whatever.
What IS traditional ... is A shield.
Whether or not the shield is done in good taste is simply a matter of personal preference ... as is a stamp or engraving on the bolster

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Furthermore and apparently in addition to a serial number on the bolster, a blade etch is traditional too ...

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But hold on. It doesn't matter WHAT the blade etch says ... traditionally, the tang can have a completely different cutlery name on it ...

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I could go on and on with any of the various modern traditional cutlery iterations. Should we start a thread about each one now?
Buy what you like. There is certainly enough out there to choose from. It's just not good taste to start a nit-pik thread about a cutlery over some minutia you may not be happy with IMO.
At the end of the day, it doesn't matter to me how CSC or GEC or Queen or whoever chooses to present their products. They are all fine production traditional pocket knifes on the whole.
In fact, that GEC/Tidioute (Ben Hogan) Slim Jack Lock Back is a favorite of mine and of the dozens of traditional pocket knives I own, that one makes it to my pocket 2-4 days of any given week.
As do my fantastic CSC Pinch Lock Backs.
Basically it comes down to carrying D2, 1095 or something else.
I'm impressed and overjoyed with the quality and tradition of the knives I buy. No bones to pick and no nit-pik minutia over here.

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BrotherJim said:
Circle Shield, Bar Shield ... whatever.
What IS traditional ... is A shield.
Whether or not the shield is done in good taste is simply a matter of personal preference ... as is a stamp or engraving on the bolster

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af105/Hobbsig/DSC06535_zpsaqpjhga1.jpg

Furthermore and apparently in addition to a serial number on the bolster, a blade etch is traditional too ...

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af105/Hobbsig/DSC06539_zpspgl11hlq.jpg

But hold on. It doesn't matter WHAT the blade etch says ... traditionally, the tang can have a completely different cutlery name on it ...

http://i998.photobucket.com/albums/af105/Hobbsig/DSC06541_zpsjbeglnls.jpg

I could go on and on with any of the various modern traditional cutlery iterations. Should we start a thread about each one now?
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All those examples are on a modern knife from one company that's been in business for less than 10 years. ;) For me, what is "traditional" goes back further. I certainly agree that shields and etches are traditional. I think serial numbers are strictly a modern phenomenon. But that is not important (to me at least). I do think that our perspective of "traditional" can go back a lot more years. But as I said previously, there are some folks that appreciate the oldies and others that don't. It's okay. We all have different interests and tastes. It's also okay to mix and max modern and classic elements. Everything isn't written in stone.



BrotherJim said:
Buy what you like. There is certainly enough out there to choose from.
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For your tastes. What I described isn't common anymore. I'd like for it to be more common but it's mostly just SFOs like the 2015 Bladeforums Traditional Knife.

BrotherJim said:
It's just not good taste to start a nit-pik thread about a cutlery over some minutia you may not be happy with IMO.
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An important part of an open forum is being able to share our ideas. Just because you don't agree doesn't mean the ideas aren't important. They're just not important to you.

Forum discussions would be very boring if all we were allowed to say is "that's great". It's the discussions about the details that bring about great things like the 2015 Bladeforums Traditional Knife (which is made by CSC).

Collector Knives expressed an interest in people's preferences and he's done some great SFOs. I hope there will be more and more SFOs like I described in my previous post.
 
supratentorial said:
What I described isn't common anymore. I'd like for it to be more common but it's mostly just SFOs like the 2015 Bladeforums Traditional Knife.
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... and that is truly a shame Jake. I can't see spending the premium coin for a knife that one could/should hope would be more commonly available. I do have an order in for this year's forum knife but am otherwise holding off on many SFOs while in the mean time, enjoying the awesome modern traditionals that are out there at a reasonable price point. It is what it is I guess.
 
You guys would miss the excitement. ;)

Everyone's tastes are different. But I hope that the discussion has been constructive. I find it interesting that the forum knife proposals from both CSC and GEC had classic shields without text. Why don't more of their production knives? To me, it only makes sense that manufacturers would make what is popular. 300 of the forum knives have been sold. Other SFOs like the Champlin knives and Charlie's SFOs have also been extremely popular and they closely resemble the oldies, including the shields (if they had them).
 
Everyone's tastes are different and the American consumer may seem to be the most fickle of all to many.
It's as though American Cutleries are to some degree, still trying to reinvent the wheel ... or are forced to reinvent the wheel to keep everyone happy/collecting and stay in business.
In Europe where the market may be much smaller, traditional production pocket knives are still available, little changed, as this tip of the iceberg photo attests.
Not even counting the Chambriard, Laguiole, Navaja, Nontron etc etc etc that are routinely produced and available at reasonable price points ... well, the Nontron is kinda special I guess.
Love these everyday workhorse knives and wouldn't change a single thing about them.
They are (particularly in the case of Opinel) certified works of very functional art one can carry with them.

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I think those all are nice examples. I haven't used all of those knives but some of those are personal favorites. Sometimes the old and reliable way of doing things doesn't need to be changed. Like you, I wouldn't change a thing about any of those knives.

Maybe American companies need to keep changing things to keep people's interest. Could be. I'm sure it's complex. But when they make runs of knives that follow the old styles, they seem to be extremely successful. Not everyone will care that the Champlin knives made by GEC closely resemble the oldies. But they do. Some may think it's just the aesthetics. But all that was worked out long ago.

I think there is room for both the old way and the new way in their regular production.
 
supratentorial said:
I think there is room for both the old way and the new way in their regular production.
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I too hope that to be true Jake. I also think the quality/fit finish of American production knives right now, is arguably as good or better than it's ever been. Steel is certainly better overall ... but was it ever really that bad?
 
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