Freeman 451 BLF - Under-appreciated

[Sigsog226]

Ive been wanting to get one since they came out and finally got one a few weeks ago. Its even better then i expected it to be and hasn't left my pocket since. Jeff also upgraded me to s35v, gave me a black g10 insert, and lanyard for free too. Can't say enough good things about him or his product.
I went for the blue aluminum handle and desert tan insert. I was worried about how it would look, but turned out great. Has a handsome look to it.

 

[halflife78]

Prior to Blade Show I did some research looking to find a alternate knife to purchase aside from the common brands and I ended up settling on a Freeman beforehand. Got into Bladeshow via the early bird and this was the first place I went to with my Dad. I ended up getting a 451 and my Dad got a compact fixed blade. As everyone else had said, this is one of the smoothest flippers I have ever handled. I plan on picking up a couple more from Jeff this year hopefully.

Since Jeff is here, my future wishlist:
1. Deep pocket clip would be awesome.
2. Smaller version of the 451, I would buy a couple in a heartbeat.
3. Left handed version of the flipper. (I can hope)

I have a local shop I am going to try and talk into carrying these also.

 

[SpySmasher]

Hey everyone, thanks for the comments. As for the machining on the blade, that is just a product of the way I'm making those. Maybe less friction but really not sure and no way to truly and accurately measure that in my shop with the tools at my disposal... There is a lot of machining on both the perimeter and the tang to make both the lock and detent work correctly. So that means machining on both sides is needed. So I figured I would set it up so that I could better use the machine time vs. using "me" time to bevel. In manufacturing, once you have something fixtured and setup, it often makes more sense to use that set position to your advantage. You get better accuracy and repeatability that way. Plus, while the cnc is machining blades, I can be doing other hand work like assembling and sharpening. I think when I start doing higher production numbers, I may go another route for efficiency and cycle time reduction. Well, and being honest, I thought it looked cool and different than other blades out there .

Jeff, if you happen to see this: thanks from the bottom of my heart for making the 451 a button lock. If I never see another midtech framelock I'll be perfectly happy.

 

[Final Option]

Just received my 451 today, the button lock was well designed and executed. Very smooth and flipper works great, for the price the 451 is a good bargain. Jeff even answers his emails to boot! Thanks to OP for your post on Freeman Knives.

 

[aleforme]

Prior to Blade Show I did some research looking to find a alternate knife to purchase aside from the common brands and I ended up settling on a Freeman beforehand. Got into Bladeshow via the early bird and this was the first place I went to with my Dad. I ended up getting a 451 and my Dad got a compact fixed blade. As everyone else had said, this is one of the smoothest flippers I have ever handled. I plan on picking up a couple more from Jeff this year hopefully.

Since Jeff is here, my future wishlist:
1. Deep pocket clip would be awesome.
2. Smaller version of the 451, I would buy a couple in a heartbeat.
3. Left handed version of the flipper. (I can hope)

I have a local shop I am going to try and talk into carrying these also.

Yes, please a smaller version. I would be one of the first in line!