I bought a RW Loveless or is it?

I think we've all been exposed to questionable fit and/or finish, at one time or another, from just about every maker out there. The more prolific the maker, the greater chance of a few slipping by. I've seen a Loveless before that probably shouldn't have passed muster. But I've seen a lot of knives in my time that were absolutely awful - from guys who, in time, became awful-ly well known and superb at what they did.
 
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sometimes, things are just too good to be true.
 
Bruce Bump said:
. The guy that sold it to me needed the money and I've given way more than $500 away before and got less for it in return.
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This is the reason I like to hang out with knifemakers. You're a good egg, Mr. Bump. I like that outlook!!!!
 
Bruce - why not do everybody a favor and destroy the knife if is not legit. The good karma will come back to you.
 
I'm not going to sell it or give it away because it will just cause the same problem with another sap like me. Right now it won't cut butter but with a good sharpening I could take it hunting. I wonder about the heat treatment now?
 
Maybe etch "Fake" on the blade... it would at least give a good laugh:)
 
Would it be possible that Bob would have had a visitor to his shop with a knife they made and put his etch on it as a memento? I never knew him myself but from what I have read, he did have a sense of humor.
 
flatgrinder said:
I'm not an expert by any means, so this is just my opinion.

It's a fake because:

1. The handle fasteners are the "mail order" ones, lots of places sell these. They aren't true Loveless fasteners, and are nowhere as strong.
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Hi Lin,

Can you help me learn the difference please. :)

To my eye looking at that, it looks like Loveless bolts - I think in the last picture the bolt on the right has that little mark you can get where the thin bit of the threaded section is missing. Is that a mark from it being riveted over instead? I'm still relatively new to this and am interested.
 
stew said:
Hi Lin,

Can you help me learn the difference please. :)

To my eye looking at that, it looks like Loveless bolts - I think in the last picture the bolt on the right has that little mark you can get where the thin bit of the threaded section is missing. Is that a mark from it being riveted over instead? I'm still relatively new to this and am interested.
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Hey Stew,

It appears that this was the type of fastener used on the knife: http://www.knifemaking.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=loveless+bolts

They're frequently sold online or ebay as "Loveless bolts" or "Loveless rivets" -as far as I know, the Loveless shop does not and never has used fasteners exactly like these.

In a nutshell, Bob's version uses a bushing on the front and a threaded nut on the other side -not two threaded nuts.
 
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flatgrinder said:
Hey Stew,

It appears that this was the type of fastener used on the knife: http://www.knifemaking.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=loveless+bolts

They're frequently sold online or ebay as "Loveless bolts" or "Loveless rivets" -as far as I know, the Loveless shop does not and never has used fasteners exactly like these.

In a nutshell, Bob's version uses a bushing on the front and a threaded nut on the other side -not two threaded nuts.
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Aah, gotcha. They look like what I know as Loveless bolts then - which isn't actually what Bob used. :D Thankyou!
Good old marketing!

From the sound of it a true Loveless would look like it was a solid on one side but the bullseye on the other?
 
stew said:
Aah, gotcha. They look like what I know as Loveless bolts then - which isn't actually what Bob used. :D Thankyou!
Good old marketing!

From the sound of it a true Loveless would look like it was a solid on one side but the bullseye on the other?
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It would look like a larger bullseye on one side and a smaller one on the other. Check out the book "Living on the Edge" -the early knives had brass and stainless fasteners, it's clearly obvious on those. If you have any other questions, please pm me. (This is Bruce's thread). :)
 
This thread kind of makes one wonder how many 'Fake' Loveless knives are out there.
There's probably pieces in collections where the collectors have no idea that they are 'Fake'.

THANKS Bruce for sharing this with us as it's a good reminder that collectors need to be aware when buying expensive custom knives.
It pretty much goes back to the old saying "'if it seems too good to be true, it's probably not"
 
brownshoe said:
"stuff like that can be copied by any immoral scum".

Don't always assume the negative. My buddy was a neighbor to the painter Andrew Wyeth. One day in fifth grade he brought home one of his own paintings from school. His dad had died recently and he and his family were in a blue funk. Andrew Wyeth was there and to lighten things up he complimented his work and signed the painting. It was then framed and hung in their home as their only "Wyeth."
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Cool story.
 
I have the book "living on the edge" and compared the logo from this knife and the ones in the book. This logo is identical to the real one. Jim Merritt saw these same photos and said the materials were correct including the bolts. His only answer is that it must have been one of Bobs students, there were many. I ask him if students were allowed to use Bobs stencil and he said "NO" but "maybe one did".
 
flatgrinder said:
It would look like a larger bullseye on one side and a smaller one on the other. Check out the book "Living on the Edge" -the early knives had brass and stainless fasteners, it's clearly obvious on those. If you have any other questions, please pm me. (This is Bruce's thread). :)
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Don't worry about it, this thread is intended to enlighten collectors. Go for any discussion you wish.
 
"this thread is intended to enlighten collectors."

Very enlightening in many ways. I was curious about the comments on fit and finish- was it random or over specific time frames?

Mitch
 
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