DDR Zaza MM3 Project

mndart

mndart

OH! Dog walker
Joined
Apr 16, 2004
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I just received some new shots from Darrel. I thought I would share these pieces with you all. Darrel and Zaza Revishvili are working on a new project together. They made 4 of these MM3's. 2 damascus and 2 dlc coated. They are assisted openers.

I think Darrel has stepped up to a whole new level with these MM's. I have to get over to his shop and see one of these live!!

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Another one they finished in the last week or so;
this is a MM3, anodized, assisted opener..

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Wow. You know what they say, when you have a great design just keep doing it over and over and making it look insanely cool each and every time.
 
I appreciate all the work that Darrell puts into his knives but from a makers point of view I would change a couple of things.

I think that the collaboration with Zaza Revishvili is a cool idea, he does unique work. I think that the filigree should have been set into the handle like an interframe. It is screwed on top of the handle and almost looks like it was an afterthought. The stone in the center looks like it protrudes above the handle a lot.

The second knife has a little too much Todd Begg influence in the handle for me.
 
WOW!!! That is beautiful!!! I LOVE Darrell's designs!! Those are spectacular!!!
 
Unlike Chuck, I really like the look of the second knife. I would have to get a real good look at the first one before I could make up my mind about it. I am not usually fond of jewel encrusted knives.
 
The Damascus is oh,so nice.If I look at it too long,it looks like a terrain map.
 
striper28 said:
I appreciate all the work that Darrell puts into his knives but from a makers point of view I would change a couple of things.

I think that the collaboration with Zaza Revishvili is a cool idea, he does unique work. I think that the filigree should have been set into the handle like an interframe. It is screwed on top of the handle and almost looks like it was an afterthought. The stone in the center looks like it protrudes above the handle a lot.
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striper,

Thanks for your thoughts.

The inlay has an inlay attached to the bottom that is interframed into the handles. This idea was Zaza's to sit the filigree on top of the knife. The nice thing about collaborating with another makers is that the knives melt together with two ideas. In Zaza's vision this was what he wanted. In my mind the frame and blade were my vision.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.




striper28 said:
The second knife has a little too much Todd Begg influence in the handle for me.

Click to expand...




From 1994 until now I have been making knives with grooves and holes in them. I feel you have the influence reverse in this case. This is just some history I wanted to explain so that you others understand where the grooves with holes that I use come from. The very last thing I ever want to do is have knives that "look" like others. I have been making knives along time and the history gets lost sometimes when newer folks put certain embellishments on their knives and people forget the past. I am just stating the "facts" that get lost sometimes when the history is forgotten. I am not criticizing your statement... I just to clear the record up so I do not get accused of copying others work.






I hope you enjoy the file work on both the knives. It is my new hyperstep I hyperstep II.

I developed it so that it would be very exclusive to my knives.



Thanks for the good words.
 
Darrell,
I didn't mean any offense by my statements, they are just my humble opinions.
I have seen many of your knives with groves and holes in them but the similarities between the two of you is close. I think that this knife has them to more of an extreme compared to other knives that you have made.

I think that the groove with holes have almost become Todd's trademark look because everything he does has them.
 
Striper28,



No offence taken. The knives from 1994-1998 were all very high end automatics that are buried in collectors safes somewhere.

I understand what you’re saying about Todd Developing his LOOK for his knives.

All I’m say is I have been there done that. It’s still something I did many years ago so I have no ethical guilt about it at all.

I don’t really care who does it.

Micro Tech has been doing it as long as I have so Todd is welcome to do it all he wants. A good example is my MADD MAXX 5.5 that Camillus brought out years ago? It has curved grooves in the handle. This was before Todd was making knives as far as I can remember or had that grooved look to his knives. Now he has one with a curved groove.

That doesn’t mean that I am jumping up and down pointing my finger at him for using a curved groove.



Once again I just feel you have the situation reversed.

My first auto stiletto had grooves and holes in some of the blades and handles. I took them to the "old old" Chicago show that was a pocket knife collator show, blade show, art knife invitational in Florida and to the Cincinnati show. Autos were "taboo" for the magazines at that time so there was no press on them. I didn’t care that much about pictures so you won’t see them in old article and on goggle.



Anyway that is my history with the situation.

I dis-like having to explain myself but I want to the record set straight once and for all.



I harbor no ill will towards anyone. I just want to speak up for myself to clear the confusion.





 
In this particular incarnation, it cheapens the look of them(talking about the collaboration pieces here). I would prefer to see the frame onlay/inlay on both sides of the knife.

Darrel, pretty sure that most who post here know that you have been making knives for a long time, and you have no need to defend yourself.

I just think that Chuck was noticing that for the first time, the WAY you did your grooves on the handle (depth, color, spacing of holes) looked Beggian to him. Even if you were the first one on the planet to combine grooving with holes, the WAY you did it would define what people came to expect.

This looks different, to my eyes, than the WAY you have done it in the past.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
The Maxx reminds me of a piece of Renaissance jewelry. Kewl :cool: . While the clip is OK on this knife, I think a piece like this should have something different done on the clip side. As Darrel said, this was a joint vision between two makers. So, it came out the way the wanted. Which, is still pretty freakin' kewl.

In my view, the similarity to Begg's groove and hole look is the same as all cars have round tires. Todd has taken an idea that was already out there and has incorporated it into all of his work. That is what he wants his look to be. Darrel has dug into his old work and brought out some of his old ideas and used them on some new work. This groove with holes happens to be one of those old ideas. If Darrel were putting them on all of his knives, then I would be saying - "What's up with this Todd Begg thing?" Since it is only on a few Maxxes, so what? While I think it looks pretty good on the Maxx, my bet is it won't be his biggest seller.
 
Darrel, the 'rendering' of the groove / hole thing on that bottom piece rocks, it slightly lightens the piece while adding style in a way that makes it more practical as an EDC, the anodized inset isn't subject to wear, I WANT ONE ha ha ha.

Any chance you'll ever offer your MMax's or AXD's in something a bit bigger than 4", but a bit smaller than the 5.5's?

I know both have their market and you've got a wider variety than most even now, but a 4.5" blade would be fun. What am I saying, that 3" one would be fun...

Great work Darrel, and again thanks for that great customer service as has been covered several times, you stand out with quality there as well.

Frank H. in Oregon
 
That is a gorgeous knife!!

On a side note, I just ordered on of Darrell's amazing AXD NG knives!!! I am so stoked!! I have a nice savings plan, so when it is ready, I will have it paid off!! I LOVE his designs!!
 
Its fascinating to me that no other knifemaker out there feels the need to give a historical accounting of their designs and ideas, dates of when certain elements were first used, even a psuedo disclaimer that any similarities to other makers work is just a coincidence..............how do you answer the question of outright theft of a singularily unique patented concept such as the Ken Onion speedsafe? Or was the Kershaw/Camillus lawsuit a dream? Your reputation for "being influenced" by other makers ideas....(Strider Tiger striping ring any bells??) is well known and well founded. A darn shame too, as your own ideas and earlier works stood on their own merits.

To suggest Todd's work has been influenced by YOUR work, is rather arrogant of you and could not be farther from the truth.


Tanya Begg
 
I would like to share with everyone that I recently asked Darrel to do a custom balisong for me using the Korth IKBS system (or similar ball bearing system). He was immediately very concerned about obtaining permission, or even a license to do so before he would even consider it. I don't think the issue for Darrel was so much legality issue, but rather that he didn't want to subject himself to the type of acusations that are being thrown up on this page. I couldn't help but walk away from the conversation feeling he had tremendous integrity and wanted to "make his own way" so to speak.

I am not sure if the Robo Assist system is what is being called into question here, but that system was developed by Bill Taylor and Darrel gives that credit on his own website.
 
It may be unavoidable, but it's kinda too bad that two makers with very unique styles got called into comparison here at all, understandable maybe but too bad nonetheless as either one is very unique and both are totally creative in their own right.

In the music world this kind of thing goes on all the time, people finding a balance between doing stuff nobody's ever hear of before (but sometimes not wanting to ever hear again LOL), and the thing of the art being familiar enough that people are fond of a new piece they hear, aren't alienated by "total" originality etc.

They call it "quoting from" to borrow aspects of guitar licks etc, and no matter what influences are assimilated, each artist (who evolves to major status) makes it his own, Clapton, Duane Alman etc, "borrowed" but made things totally their own.

It's probably best for all to notch down criticism of this aspect of art, or the art is what gets grinded up in the process.

I can't speak to sampling rap bits dropped into the mix, 'cause that ain't music LOL...

Frank H. (and hey, everyone send me their spare DDR's and Begg peices, I love both of those makers!)
 
Very nice knife. And, I understand completely about a maker's pointing out what he/she did and when. There is not much that is new out there-Just a lot of reinvention and perception of originality. That discussion is best left for another thread. This thread is about a beautiful knife!
 
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