- Joined
- Feb 28, 2002
- Messages
- 13,348
Greetings all,
I have long been a fan of David's work in general and his subhilts in particular, so when this beauty (and its fraternal twin) appeared on Les' site I made a rare impulse purchase. I'm glad I did.
I asked David if he could give me some information on the knife and he was happy to oblige. You won't need me to tell the story - David pretty much says it all:
"Les had the idea for a large sub hilt fighter back in 1990 and sent me a rough sketch. I made some modifications to it, mainly in slimming down the blade (it was over 2" wide at the belly!). I jokingly called it the "Magnum Les Robertson", or the MLR for short. That's when he informed me that MLR was an older military term for "Main Line of Resistance". The new term was "Forward Line Of Troops". FLOT just didn't sound right, so it became the MLR.
I made several of these knives for Les throughout the 90s in various materials, including damascus, ivory, and stone. About two years ago after having made none for almost a decade, Les asked me to make another one. I updated the design by cleaning it up a little, but still leaving the essence of the original design. I've made several for Les in the last couple of years. All have had 10" blades except yours and one other made at the same time. Les and I both like the 8.5" blade a lot. I think it feels great in your hand, and it has a different look than the larger ones, even though the only real difference is the blade length.
Your knife has a blade of CPM154 stainless steel that is double hollow ground and hand finished. Often I give blades like these a two tone finish by using a finer abrasive on the bevels and a slightly coarser one on the ricasso. It tends to be subtle and you may not see it, but that's how I do them. The fittings are 416 stainless with a hand finish. Should you ever wish to have your knife engraved, they are very suitable for it and would present no problem for an engraver. The handle is ironwood which I polished."
I am VERY pleased indeed with this piece. The lines are both purposeful and elegant. Excellent grinds combine with superb finish. The proportions, to my eye, seem spot on and the feel in hand is a "just right" combination of speed and control.
One of the neat things about this purchase is that it ultimately involved a small team of some of the best people in the business. At my request, Les shipped it to Paul Long for one of his excellent sheaths. Then to Coop for the above pics. But as I discovered, the knife had already made a visit to Chuck Ward before being posted for sale, so I have the benefit of his talented eye as well. Heck, I only need one more for a hockey team!
I'll just say a big thanks to all involved and leave you with Chuck's photo as the final word:
Roger
I have long been a fan of David's work in general and his subhilts in particular, so when this beauty (and its fraternal twin) appeared on Les' site I made a rare impulse purchase. I'm glad I did.
I asked David if he could give me some information on the knife and he was happy to oblige. You won't need me to tell the story - David pretty much says it all:
"Les had the idea for a large sub hilt fighter back in 1990 and sent me a rough sketch. I made some modifications to it, mainly in slimming down the blade (it was over 2" wide at the belly!). I jokingly called it the "Magnum Les Robertson", or the MLR for short. That's when he informed me that MLR was an older military term for "Main Line of Resistance". The new term was "Forward Line Of Troops". FLOT just didn't sound right, so it became the MLR.
I made several of these knives for Les throughout the 90s in various materials, including damascus, ivory, and stone. About two years ago after having made none for almost a decade, Les asked me to make another one. I updated the design by cleaning it up a little, but still leaving the essence of the original design. I've made several for Les in the last couple of years. All have had 10" blades except yours and one other made at the same time. Les and I both like the 8.5" blade a lot. I think it feels great in your hand, and it has a different look than the larger ones, even though the only real difference is the blade length.
Your knife has a blade of CPM154 stainless steel that is double hollow ground and hand finished. Often I give blades like these a two tone finish by using a finer abrasive on the bevels and a slightly coarser one on the ricasso. It tends to be subtle and you may not see it, but that's how I do them. The fittings are 416 stainless with a hand finish. Should you ever wish to have your knife engraved, they are very suitable for it and would present no problem for an engraver. The handle is ironwood which I polished."
I am VERY pleased indeed with this piece. The lines are both purposeful and elegant. Excellent grinds combine with superb finish. The proportions, to my eye, seem spot on and the feel in hand is a "just right" combination of speed and control.
One of the neat things about this purchase is that it ultimately involved a small team of some of the best people in the business. At my request, Les shipped it to Paul Long for one of his excellent sheaths. Then to Coop for the above pics. But as I discovered, the knife had already made a visit to Chuck Ward before being posted for sale, so I have the benefit of his talented eye as well. Heck, I only need one more for a hockey team!
I'll just say a big thanks to all involved and leave you with Chuck's photo as the final word:
Roger
Thats one sweet sub Rog... So many knives so little money
