Experience with MooreMaker.com?

Megalobyte

Megalobyte

Joined
Jun 5, 2002
Messages
2,761
I have stumbled across a website for a company called Moore Maker. ( http://mooremaker.com )They make mostly older patterned slip joint folders. The quality looks to be good, i was wondering if anyone has bought one of these knives, and if so, what did you think? How would you compare them to Case, AG Russel, Hen/Rooster, Queen, etc... WOuld you calll them "near custom quality", or if you prefer, handmade quality?
 
I have only seen one ... it was well made

they are factory knives though
 
Moving this to the traditional knives forum
 
I have been thinking about picking one of these up for a user. They look to be high quality pieces. Does any body have any experience with them?
 
As far as I know, Moore Maker don't actually make knives. They contract the work to other manufacturers, such as Queen. I have a Moore Maker #5200 Trapper and it is a very nice knife. It needed sharpening when I got it, but I did not consider that to be a problem.
 
Keith, how would you compare it to other production slipjoints in the fit, finish, and steel departments?

For example, Camillus, Old Timer, etc.
 
I just received another MooreMaker #5202 yellow bone today from my wife's grandfather. He has a MooreMaker knife display in his living room along with three Case displays, and told me to pick one of the MooreMakers. I checked out several models, and they are all well made knives, but they all seem to need a good sharpening. He also included a MooreMaker 600 grit thin sharpener.

I think I may start carrying this knife.
 
I also have a Mooremaker Trapper and it is a good looking knife and seems to be well made. I have had this knife for several years and it sits in a drawer with a number of other ones. My only complaint with it is that it doesn't hold an edge very well.
 
I have never used an Old Timer, but I would say that my Moore Maker has a nicer fit and finish than the Camillus knives I have used. I would compare it in quality to Queen. As far as the steel is concerned, it seems OK to me. I do tend to have to sharpen it fairly often, but it is easy to do.
 
I hope I get this right, MM contracts with Bluegrass Cutlery with their own specs for their various patterns. Bluegrass then contracts out to an actual manufacturer (usually Queen) to build the knives to these specifications. Run a search at KF's slip joint forum for a history straight from the horses mouth (Leonard @ MM). All in all they are pretty good knives. I am a terrible perfectionist and require that quality (or at least as much as possible!) in my knives. I have four MM knives total and think very highly of them. I've also sent a couple back for a bit of blade play. All have needed a real edge put on the blade as an actual grind of any sort was basically non-existant when out of the box. That seems to be a bugaboo with slip joints in general, and I would probably profile and sharpen my own bevels and edge anyway, so that wasn't a big deal for me personally. MM uses 1095 but at a fairly low RC of 56. That probably explains the need to resharpen more often. 1095 is a very good carbon steel, but maybe adding a couple of RC points up from the 56RC would peak it's performance a bit? I'd imagine that they may feel that the average every day user would rather have a knife that was easier to sharpen than one that would hold an edge more tenaciously, but be markedly harder to touch up. Personally, I don't think 1095 is a chore to sharpen anyway and would prefer it a bit harder for better edge holding. It's also entirely possible that I don't realize the where 1095 peaks at it's best on the RC scale. But RC56 seems a bit soft. Someone else have a better idea of the performance of 1095 at the various RC levels? Are the MM knives better than the various higher end Queen or Schatt and Morgan knives? I doubt it, except they are a bit novel to show off.
 
I had to send a Moore Maker Trapper back because a scale was loose. They sent me a brand new knife back within a couple of days. Great customer service in my opinion.
 
As stated previously, MM does not make knives...only puts their name on average quality slip joints and jacks up the price. Queen makes knives for several companies...however, their quality production is especially reserved for their own Schatt & Morgan line.

There are several brands of slip joints around which deliver higher quality for less money than MM....in my own humble opinion. :)
 
I agree to an extent with Don. MM knives are a little overpriced.
I have two large yellow bone scaled MM stockmans, sold as working knives.
What I like in these stockmans is the quite slim design of both the handle and the master blades (turkish clip blade instead of the regular clip blade). The blades are aligned with the handles and not positioned in an odd angle as on many other stockmans. The scales are thin and on the jigged ones are very finely jigged. They are quite light, easy to wear. The corners of the square bolsters are not sharp.

The one thing I dont like is the extent to which the sheepsfoot blade is sticking out due to the extremely long kick.
The fit and finish is better than on the average Case knives I have handled, but is not as good as e.g. on the Schatt & Morgans.
The two bone scales on one of the knives are not of the same color shade and they are heavily impregnated with black machine oil around the bolsters. Other than that they are goood quality knives.
I never handled the stag scaled or specially colored, probably collector oriented MM knives. They might be of better fit & finish, I don't know.
 
I have to say that I am not too fussy and the quality of Mooremaker suits me just fine They are a bit pricey and that is why that they came out with their line of working knives--made by Camillus. They have handles made of yellow delrin or black buffalo horn and are cheaper than the bone handles.

You would think that the Mooremaker knives would sell at the same prices as Queen knives and Camillus sell for. After all, they are the two companies that make the Mooremaker, but that is not the case. Look around--some western stores sell Moormakers at a discount, also you can always find them for sale on e-bay at a discount price.
 
the real advantage to MM is that you can get patterns that are unique to the company-horseman's trappers and the like.
 
I am immensely enjoying carrying and using a medium stockman pattern in stag scales by MooreMaker. Nice people to do business with and with good customer service. Sometimes this merits a few dollars more. Each to his own.
 
I agree with Boink,
In addition ot my rotation of customs, Ive been carrying a moremaker 5301 for almost a year now. I thoroughly enjoy using this stockman. I have a honey colored jigged bone. Personally, I love the way it feels in the hand, and cuts. I would say the finish is excellent, the fit, good. There is a bit of blade rub, but so what. The blades are really nice. The 1095 steel is easy to get hair poppin sharp and stays sharp. It costs a bit more, but well worth it.

I would definetly recommend moremaker, but more importantly, use it.
Jay
 
It would appear that Moore Maker can vary in quality. Bottom line really is that if one of the MM handles appeals to you, then go for it, but basically as they are made by Queen, then the equivalent Queen (or Schatt & Morgan) are better value, and arguably of better quality too, especially the Schatt & Morgan.

A little while ago, I did a review of the Moore Maker splitback whittler, and it wasn't at all impressive. In fact, I was very unhappy with it. However if you read to the bottom, then you will see what I did (had to do) to correct its problems, and then a postscript that describes that it "grew on me".

Interestingly, despite my very negative review, this has turned out to be the best whittler that I have at doing its job. Whittling. And I do so very much like its "retro" appearance.

But the very bottom line.... is that it has prompted me to order a Queen equivalent in stag. (for less than the price of the Moore Maker). That just about says it all really.

Regards
Rod
 
I have bought several of the mooremaker knives from them, other retailers, and from e-bay and I am well pleased with all of them. I would say that their quality is the same as a knife from Queen or Camillus, which is logical as they make them for mooremaker. I am pleased to see that they use the 1095. Case has cut way back on their cv production, Schrade is out of business so mooremaker is my new source for 1095.

They do have many unique patterns, for example, knives with a hoof pick, a leather punch, trappers where the clip blade has a liner lock, and a serpentine stockman with 5 blades. They just came out with a trapper where both blades lock--one model is 3 and 3/4 inches long, another is a giant trapper model about 4 and 1/2 inches long. The only problem I have with them is the bright yellow handles--I know that they are traditional and serve a purpose if you drop the knife, but I am not a big fan of the yellow handles on a knife.

In short, very high quality, good ol' 1095, but a bit pricey.
 
Boink said:
I am immensely enjoying carrying and using a medium stockman pattern in stag scales by MooreMaker. Nice people to do business with and with good customer service. Sometimes this merits a few dollars more. Each to his own.
Click to expand...


That is one other thing that I can add about mooremaker--their customer service is absolutely fantastic. If you do call them to order a knife you will not end up with somebody hired to just take orders, you will be talking directly to one of the owners of the company. They can answer all your questions, give advice, etc. And it is no hassle to return something if you don't like it.
 
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