Excelsior Knife Spitfire Jack

wickettedge

wickettedge

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Got this recently and I wanted to post a few impressions here.

* Fit and finish is excellent, nice snaps, not too firm of a pull
* The hamon looks really nice, as well as the blade finish on the blade
* Came fairly sharp, could use some work there
* I wasn't sure I would like the snake file work on the spine, but it looks great
* Bolster doesn't look too wild, and overall it works
* Overall very impressed

Price on these runs ~$500, which is a lot, but the quality is there.
 
They certainly didn't skimp on the stag did they.
I cant say the overall package does much for me but I can see the quality and they sure used some choice stag.
 
Hickory n steel Hickory n steel yeah nice stag too. I also meant to mention that Excelsior is a brand of Daniels Family Knife Co., and a relaunch of an old brand.

I have no inside info on this, does anyone know if Excelsior will produce more models?
 
wickettedge said:
Hickory n steel Hickory n steel yeah nice stag too. I also meant to mention that Excelsior is a brand of Daniels Family Knife Co., and a relaunch of an old brand.

I have no inside info on this, does anyone know if Excelsior will produce more models?
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Thanks for the info.
I believe I've seen an old excelsior knife or two posted on here before, an early 1900's brand I think.
 
Good to see an old brand being resurrected by knife-makers with pedigree, but 500 is a lot in my book :eek:;)
 
After the quality issues that Queen had when DFC owned them I would be very hesitant to spend $100 on a knife they made, much less $500.
 
wickettedge said:
Hickory n steel Hickory n steel
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The plan for the Excelsior line was to have custom knife makers design their own slipjoints, and produce them in limited numbers. Instead of high caliber guys making 1 off knives, this was a way to do a limited run of collectible knives that are top tier quality. Yes, there should be more coming at some point, but I haven't heard of anything definite at this point.

Will Power said:
Good to see an old brand being resurrected by knife-makers with pedigree, but 500 is a lot in my book :eek:;)
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It is pricey, but considering these are 100% custom made quality knives by custom makers, I think it fits.

Norcaldude said:
After the quality issues that Queen had when DFC owned them I would be very hesitant to spend $100 on a knife they made, much less $500.
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There really is no comparison here. Queen factory knives are not the same thing as these custom made knives. These Excelsior knives have been out for a year and I haven't heard any complaints about them on any forums or on FB.
 
When purchasing one of these new Excelsior knives, or even just shopping for one, is there a COA or anything else stating which custom maker made the knife?
 
Railsplitter said:
When purchasing one of these new Excelsior knives, or even just shopping for one, is there a COA or anything else stating which custom maker made the knife?
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Yes, there is a 6 panel folded COA included that gives the full knife specs, the bio of the maker, the Excelsior brand intent, a short Daniels family history, and the Daniels stamped raised seal of authenticity.

For this knife, the maker was Chuck Hawes, with the Mokume bolster material made by Mike Sakmar.
 
Rookie82 said:
There really is no comparison here. Queen factory knives are not the same thing as these custom made knives. These Excelsior knives have been out for a year and I haven't heard any complaints about them on any forums or on FB.
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Sorry, I just don't trust DFC at this point. They let things go at Queen for years, from what I could see. If they want to stay in the knife business I think they need to rebuild some trust in the knife community.
You don't do that with $500 knives.

If I am going to spend $500 on a custom knife I'll contact a custom maker directly and cut out the middle man.
 
To my one eye, ;) it deserves a better nail nick and flush or domed pins, not GEC sunken pins, but I'm too opinionated.

Looks cute, hope you use it. Do you know the hardness of the W2?
 
I like the knife, I find it an interesting and beautiful piece of cutlery. It has some unique and rare qualities of materials and craftsmanship. I find it odd though, that they chose to use an old branding of traditional pocketknives, to sell a creation that really doesn't in any way reflect the heritage of said brand...the mokume bolsters, and hamon heat treated blade are glaring examples of what I am thinking here. I also agree that for said price, I would rather get the opportunity to work with the craftsman one on one and get a custom built knife with whatever features I desired... but again, it is a very cool looking knife.
 
brownshoe said:
To my one eye, ;) it deserves a better nail nick and flush or domed pins, not GEC sunken pins, but I'm too opinionated.

Looks cute, hope you use it. Do you know the hardness of the W2?
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I suspect, but could well be wrong, that they're sunken because they're screw construction....?
 
I'm finding that I am more of a "user" than collector. If I am not interested in using a knife, I don't need to have it. I have a bunch of 62's, but I would use any of them, if there were enough days in the week. While I appreciate the skill required to build many of the custom knives, I simply cannot justify the cost of a knife that I very likely won't use.... because of the cost.

Even in my relatively brief sojurn into traditional slipjoints, I'm finding that many times, a simple Case knife is as "good" a knife as I need. I appreciate (and still buy) the GEC's, but many times, the less expensive Case knife will do everything I expect from a knife.

I have seen some custom knives offered on the exchange for $400-500, and have thought.... you know, that $20 Rough Rider is finished out almost as nicely as those are... the big difference being the steel, of course. (and the country of manufacture). That's where the GEC's come in.... they are a "custom quality mass-produced" knife...and are affordable.

I'm not knocking the custom jobs.... some of Horsewright's knives are exceptional looking working knives, and I plan to acquire one soon.... but many of the other custom jobs just don't seem to be worth the investment.... for ME. For those of you that enjoy, and buy them, I say "bully for you". I'm happy you get pleasure from them. It's great that we all don't see things exactly the same way, isn't it?
 
brownshoe said:
To my one eye, ;) it deserves a better nail nick and flush or domed pins, not GEC sunken pins, but I'm too opinionated.
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I was thinking the same thing, the nail nick especially. The eye focuses on it, and not in a good way.
 
hornetguy said:
I'm finding that I am more of a "user" than collector. If I am not interested in using a knife, I don't need to have it. I have a bunch of 62's, but I would use any of them, if there were enough days in the week. While I appreciate the skill required to build many of the custom knives, I simply cannot justify the cost of a knife that I very likely won't use.... because of the cost.

Even in my relatively brief sojurn into traditional slipjoints, I'm finding that many times, a simple Case knife is as "good" a knife as I need. I appreciate (and still buy) the GEC's, but many times, the less expensive Case knife will do everything I expect from a knife.

I have seen some custom knives offered on the exchange for $400-500, and have thought.... you know, that $20 Rough Rider is finished out almost as nicely as those are... the big difference being the steel, of course. (and the country of manufacture). That's where the GEC's come in.... they are a "custom quality mass-produced" knife...and are affordable.

I'm not knocking the custom jobs.... some of Horsewright's knives are exceptional looking working knives, and I plan to acquire one soon.... but many of the other custom jobs just don't seem to be worth the investment.... for ME. For those of you that enjoy, and buy them, I say "bully for you". I'm happy you get pleasure from them. It's great that we all don't see things exactly the same way, isn't it?
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When I bought my custom slipjoints, GEC hadn’t yet hit their stride. Most of their patterns were either fat and clunky or way too thin. They looked “off.” They boasted of making classic traditional knives, but their offerings sure didn’t look like it.

Things have changed now that they’ve been at it a while. The #74 stallions, the barlows, the WCLF...all are top notch knives with designs that equal their build quality. If these knives had been around when I got my Hampton and Ohta, I probably wouldn’t have gotten my Hampton and Ohta. GECs are that good.

But, they’re not custom quality. GECs are excellent knives, great ones even, but they have to make certain concessions for production purposes. Off the top of my head, they don’t polish the inside of the springs or tangs of their knives. Their knives have gaps. Minuscule ones, but they are there. GEC struggles with maintaining the crisp lines of the swedging on their highly polished Northfield blades. They no longer offer shields on stag covers. And don’t even get me started on the eyesores of recessed pins.

They probably can do these things, but why bother? These are strictly aesthetic considerations and they don’t compromise function one bit. Adding them would be cost prohibitive for a production knife.

As for investment, knives are a poor one. You want to make investments, look into real estate or the stock market. For the vast majority of people knives are either a tool or a hobby. For those here, they’re probably a form of entertainment.
 
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