Christmas Surprise - Exceptional Work by Ray Laconico

To all who have offered kind words - thank you.

To the other few, I offer this: This is a meaningful gift to me for reasons I will not get into on this forum. My wife wanted to do something special for me, and her reasons for wanting to do so speak highly of her - of her capacity to show love and concern for other people despite the tremendous trials she is facing. If your reaction -your ONLY words - to such kindness is to make a negative comment about something you have not seen in person, I hope someday you will be the beneficiary of similar meaningful kindness that will soften your views.

As for Ray's work - see one in person and you will know. His attention to detail is apparent. He truly cares about his work, which is more than can be said of many others. The blade on this one, for example, is ground more cleanly and more precisely than another high-end knife I have (mentioned earlier in this thread) which actually has a very nice blade grind, and it was ground on a CNC machine while Ray's was ground by hand. I don't know how he does it. Is it perfect? No. But I need to qualify that statement by saying that I have never seen a perfect knife. If I look closely enough I can always see things that are not quite perfect. But I'll take Ray's level of perfect. The dedication and skill it takes to produce this level of work is worthy of respect.
 
That is a very nice knife, and the ebony looks good. Do you know how he finishes the ebony? Just curious.
What is the blade length and handle length for this beauty?
 
Don M said:
As for Ray's work - see one in person and you will know...

...I'll take Ray's level of perfect.


...The dedication and skill it takes to produce this level of work is worthy of respect.
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Very well stated, :D ...and so true. :thumbup: :cool: :thumbup:





Big Mike
 
Arty - I'd have to ask how he finishes the wood. I don't recall. I believe after sanding he uses steel wool, but don't quote me on that. The lighting in the pictures does not bring out the color that is there in person.

The blade is 3-1/8" long, and I measure the stock at 0.135". Closed length is 4-1/8". It weighs 3-1/8 oz.
 
Don,

I truly umderstand what you mean.

My story is not about knife, but the same care and attention. Some years ago, I was still using 5 years old phone. Was eyeing for a nice smartphone. Did talk a bit about it in passing to her. One night we went out for dinner, and to my surprise, she handed me that phone!

It is the start of my other hobby of tweaking & customizing phones .. and thinking about it, it still brings tears of gratitude in my heart ..

So, take what you have and cherish it .. congrats! Merry (belated) Christmas everyone ...;)
 
Don M said:
To all who have offered kind words - thank you.

To the other few, I offer this: This is a meaningful gift to me for reasons I will not get into on this forum. My wife wanted to do something special for me, and her reasons for wanting to do so speak highly of her - of her capacity to show love and concern for other people despite the tremendous trials she is facing. If your reaction -your ONLY words - to such kindness is to make a negative comment about something you have not seen in person, I hope someday you will be the beneficiary of similar meaningful kindness that will soften your views.
Click to expand...

Don,

First off, congratulations on having a loving wife, secondly, congratulations on receiving a lovely gift from a lovely wife.

I don't understand how people can react negativly to such a gift. A negative comment would be the furthest thing from my mind. Your reaction to those comments shows that you are a man of character.

You are a lucky man,

Bruceter
 
Linda usually calls me each year for Christmas ideas for Don, and this year was no different. But this time she made it clear that it was to be something special. I couldn't think of any production items that were currently available that would fit the bill. Linda mentioned getting something from Ray, but he already has two fixed blades. So I suggested a folder. She liked the idea, and we went from there. She knew what she wanted. She wanted a wood handle, but not a wood that he already has from Ray. I showed her some pictures of some of Ray's folders and we narrowed down the design and size. I sent her pictures of the different pieces of wood that I have. Linda made her final choice of design and scales, and Ray took it from there, and did a great job. I know the "rest of the story", as Paul Harvey would say, and suffice it to say that there was a lot of meaning behind this gift.

As Don says, until you look at Ray's work in person, you won't appreciate the quality. Ray is a perfectionist, and sometimes he will show me a knife and tell me that there is a quality issue and ask if I can find it. Usually I can't. I get to see many of his knives before they ship (I live a couple miles from Ray and visit him often). It always amazes me that he can get his grinds so perfect doing them free hand on a belt sander.

For the wood finish, he used to thin out epoxy (I think with rubbing alcohol) and apply several layers. Ray may correct me on this, but now I think he sticks with several coats of superglue thinned with acetone. And this one had a wax coating added on top of that (not any wax, either, but I forget what it was).
 
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