Finally got a Tony Bose

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fasteddie

fasteddie

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Two actually. Back Pocket knives. 3-3/4 blade; 8-3/8 OAL. One in acid etched a-2 (the dark one) the other in 440V. Both are just perfect knives. Tony jigged and dyed the bone himself. The light colored one, he made for himself.
 
Congratulations on two very fine ones fasteddie. Hope you enjoy them (actually I know you will :D)
 
Nice score on those two knives, but I have a question,
Is Tony Bose still as good as it gets when it comes to slipjoints?
 
In my opinion, Bose is still the King of the Hill. There are a few others approaching rapidly tho.
Greg
 
Originally posted by mckgreg
In my opinion, Bose is still the King of the Hill. There are a few others approaching rapidly tho.
Greg
Click to expand...
So who do you think is approaching rapidly? (multi-blade folders)

Personally, I like the work of Ruple, Rick Browne, Shadley, and Reese Bose. Overeynder's doctors knives look great, but I haven't touched one yet. Reese sure gives Tony a run for the money. Like I was telling a friend who knows the Bose's personally, "Tell the best knifemaker in the world that Ed says hi. And tell his dad hello too." ;)
 
I agree with Greg. There is a lot to a multiblade. Fit, action, and finish are trikier on these knives than they are on most other types of folders and there is less room for minor adjustments to make those three aspects come together. I think Bose, Shadley and Davis are still the best because it is difficult to see how they could improve upon those aspects. When you think about it the maker is dealing with up to 4 bolsters and at times several blades and springs to tension them. The actions on all the blades have to be crisp and they have to nest evenly in a small channel. That is a lot more to consider than a single blade in 1 channel with two bolsters.

My thought is that the slight separation on the knives made by Tony is the action of the blade. I also see guys like Richard Rogers, Baily Bradshaw, Joel Chamblin and others as being hairline close to that level. To find the differences you have to get to a pretty nit-picky level and you have to look at several since by the nature of the beast even like models made by the same maker are going to have minor differences in the aspects of fit, finish and blade action (especially blade action).

In other words, I do not think every knife made by so and so is going to be better than the same model made by someone else (In all honesty the most perfect multiblade that I own was made by Eugene), but I do think that in general they do not come better than the ones Tony makes. That does not mean Tony's knives are the only ones I buy. I get just as much enjoyment from the knives of Dan's, Bill's, Joel's, Richard's, Bailey's, Tony's, Terry's, Art's, Eugene's and others. A few are pretty good friends too and that just makes them even more special to me.
 
Gus, that's an impressive list. I didn't mention some of those makers because I haven't personally held their knives, since I'm relatively new at collecting multiblade slip joints. I'm looking forward to attending my first Blade show in a few weeks so I can meet and handle knives by Chamblin, Rogers, Bradshaw, and a few others. Another name I'd throw in is Dwayne Dushane. I own one of his knives, and its right up there.

I've been told that one of the things that makes the action so nice on Tony's knives is that he uses bushings in the pivots. Like I said, I'm new at this, so I really don't know how prevalent that is.

Hey Greg, any other makers you'd care to add?
 
Steigerwalt, Sawby. We could go on and on here but, in my opinion at this point in time, the closest thing to a Bose is a Ruple. Just the overall feel of the knife. I am not talking his great filework alone here. Just the "overall" sense of his knives. Makes great patterns that have a certain "flare" that is unique. I own a few custom slipjoints that all appeal to me in one way or another. But like I said earlier, at this point in time.............
Greg
 
Fastfreddie,
That Stockman you have from Rick Browne is a pretty good rendition of his pieces.It was and still is one of my favorites.
Rick Browne is probably one of the most under rated knifemakers around.
Randy
 
Originally posted by Gus Kalanzis
I get just as much enjoyment from the knives of Dan's, Bill's, Joel's, Richard's, Bailey's, Tony's, Terry's, Art's, Eugene's and others. A few are pretty good friends too and that just makes them even more special to me.
Click to expand...

OK Gus, I understand you're on a first named basis with all of these makers, and I know who most of them are, but I have to admit I don't know who all of them are so can you fill in some last names?
 
Let me help.
Dan Burke,Bill Ruple,Joel Chamblin,Richard Rogers,Bailey Bradshaw,Tony Bose,Terry Davis,Eugene Shadley and you, Gusdude, will have to tell us all who Art is.:D
Randy
 
Art - Washburn (but Phil already knows that :D).
We gotta throw Reese Bose in there too of course. Been anxious to handle some of Dwayne Dushane's work.
 
Oh,you mean the same Art Washburn that OWES me a Doctors knife from 4 YEARS ago?The same Art that you have a Doctor pattern he made for you a year or so ago?? Oh that Art.:D
Talked to Art at Vegas.His plate is really full with his new job.
 
Anybody know a guy named Don Hanson III? :D

I gotta put him way up there too.
 
One very nice touch that the picture does not show, is on the dark brown one with a-2 blade and spring. A-2 is a carbon steel so it can rust. To minimize that possibility, Tony acid etches the blade, which serves as kind of a protective coating against rust. And to make the spring and blade match, he blues the spring. Gives it an old looking patina.
 
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