Gift a knife, get a penny.

I do it, and I'm not that old. I've had to explain it too many times, so now I just ask the person for a coin. When they hand me the coin, I give them their new knife.

James
 
After my dad lost the knife he carried for the past couple of decades, I bought him a new one, which he lost a week later. We figured it was bad luck because of this tradition, so I "rented" him one of my knives for a penny. For his next birthday I "sold" him a Kershaw for another penny.
 
Yep, we have done this in my family forever. Usually a penny, to not cut the friendship.:thumbup:
 
I'm a big fan of this tradition. I don't believe the superstition, but it's a nice ritual in the knife-making / gifting process, and it always sparks conversation.

When I make a knife for someone, I ask for a coin in return. It can be any kind of coin, but I ask that it be from their country of origin or residence, if possible. When I get the coin, I grind a flat space on one side, roughly engrave the name of the recipient and the year of the transaction, punch a small hole in it, and add it to the others hanging on a chain above my workbench. Most are Canadian, but there are a few international coins in the bunch.

All the best,

- Mike
 
I've also done it my whole life. Grandfather was a butcher and that is where I got it. Friends and family were always to important to take a chance. Thought we were the only weird ones that did it though.
 
My grandfather gave me my first knife at 10 yrs. old and my father told me to give him a penny, which I did, and this is the first time I have heard about this since, and that was 49 yrs. ago.
 
My Mom was clearing out some of her stuff a while back and ran across a bunch of knives her dad, grandpa, and uncles had. Most are what I would consider as 'finger nail cleaners'. Most are at least 60 years old. She insisted that I give her some sort of coinage in return. Must be working, I'm still in the 'will'. Later, Bob
 
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