J&L Custom (fallen) Cutlery Utility Grade Bowie

this seems more like a 'preview' than a 'review' to me. Semantics aside...YOU'RE 'REVIEWING' A KNIFE AND ARE TOO LAZY TO CHOP ALL THE WAY THROUGH A 2x4?!

C'mon man, ya gotta try harder than that, lol
 
Yes ... Too lazy .

As I stated , I really don't know how to review a knife , however if stating materials and statistics isn't reviewing but previewing , then I am more confused than I thought! Lol

Thanks for the comments . I will make an effort to improve .
 
You seem to like your new knife, so you might want to fill in the gaps at the blade and guard so it does not rust out the tang.
 
AVigil said:
You seem to like your new knife, so you might want to fill in the gaps at the blade and guard so it does not rust out the tang.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your advice. I am not sure the gaps are that significant. I will examine it closer.

I am curious , the nakago of nihonto or modern made Japanese style swords are not oiled , and rust is allowed to form , which actually helps with the friction-fit of the tsuka. Some nihonto are 5 or more centuries old with stable black rust on the nakago which does not harm the integrity of the sword .

Is the situation with the tang of a Bowie knife that much more crucial?

Thanks in advance .
 
I see , thank you . I apparently have more to learn about Bowie knives than I knew . I am somewhat embarrassed by my naivety.

I think I have posted in the wrong forum , I suppose sub-$100 knives from hobby smiths don't belong here.

Could a mod please clean up my embarrassing mistake by moving this to an appropriate board , or perhaps deleting it all together .

Knife newb here , sorry for trespassing.
 
Marc Kaden Ridgeway said:
Thank you for your advice. I am not sure the gaps are that significant. I will examine it closer.

I am curious , the nakago of nihonto or modern made Japanese style swords are not oiled , and rust is allowed to form , which actually helps with the friction-fit of the tsuka. Some nihonto are 5 or more centuries old with stable black rust on the nakago which does not harm the integrity of the sword .

Is the situation with the tang of a Bowie knife that much more crucial?

Thanks in advance .
Click to expand...

Remember the Japanese swords were designed to be taken apart, cleaned and repaired.

John Nelson Cooper was a very well known and respected knifemaker and discovered how moisture could enter between the guard and tang and rust out and ruin a blade so IIRC he started soldering his guards to keep the rust out and others followed suit over the years.

You will not be able to solder your guard and tang gap. You will need to figure out how to get those gaps sealed or over time the rust will rot it out.
 
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Marc,

Welcome to the place on the interwebs where I spend most of my time. I liked your review, just don't like the knife.

It isn't a matter of cost or hobby knifemaker....please do some research and see what is happening in the world of bowies....it will put it all into perspective for you. I agree that this may be a good user, but we can disagree as to the collectibility.

In the meantime, here is a photo of a killer, low cost bowie:



Matt Roberts made it, he is a full time lawyer, part time maker....it cost $400.00, and was worth every penny.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
AVigil said:
Remember the Japanese swords were designed to be taken apart, cleaned and repaired.

John Nelson Cooper was a very well known and respected knifemaker and discovered how moisture could enter between the guard and tang and rust out and ruin a blade so IIRC he started soldering his guards to keep the rust out and others followed suit over the years.

You will not be able to solder your guard and tang gap. You will need to figure out how to get those gaps sealed or over time the rust will rot it out.
Click to expand...

Thank you
 
Marc Kaden Ridgeway said:
I see , thank you . I apparently have more to learn about Bowie knives than I knew . I am somewhat embarrassed by my naivety.

I think I have posted in the wrong forum , I suppose sub-$100 knives from hobby smiths don't belong here.

Could a mod please clean up my embarrassing mistake by moving this to an appropriate board , or perhaps deleting it all together .

Knife newb here , sorry for trespassing.
Click to expand...

hey man, no offense meant, givin you a ribbing is all!
Stick around :)
 
Wow is right!

This has been pretty humiliating for me . I shudder to think how the maker feels.

I prefaced this with a statement about my ignorance of knives. I mean , I know about knives , but not about knives as art . I have posted in the wrong subsection. Just found the knife review section.
I really do know very little about nice knives and I have been up front about that. For reference here is a thread with my "collection "


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1085775-My-Collection-in-its-Current-State

By perusing it one can see my low level of knife experience. I am a tad more experienced with swords.

I now understand this a bit better. Often , I see a knife maker post a picture of a sword they've made. Usually short and blocky... no distal taper and little to no profile taper... high polar moment , or else a COG at the guard . Either way the harmonics would be way off , with displaced vibratory nodes... I am surprised at how little people know about good swords ... even knife makers.

I see that cuts both ways ... as this review has taught me , to my chagrin, how little I know about knives .

The difference is I am usually not so vocal with my disdain.

Just a tad shocked at the lack of civility here...


My mistake for posting. I will endeavor to learn.

Thanks everyone.
 
Marc Kaden Ridgeway said:
Wow is right!

This has been pretty humiliating for me . I shudder to think how the maker feels.

I prefaced this with a statement about my ignorance of knives. I mean , I know about knives , but not about knives as art . I have posted in the wrong subsection. Just found the knife review section.
I really do know very little about nice knives and I have been up front about that. For reference here is a thread with my "collection "


http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1085775-My-Collection-in-its-Current-State

By perusing it one can see my low level of knife experience. I am a tad more experienced with swords.

I now understand this a bit better. Often , I see a knife maker post a picture of a sword they've made. Usually short and blocky... no distal taper and little to no profile taper... high polar moment , or else a COG at the guard . Either way the harmonics would be way off , with displaced vibratory nodes... I am surprised at how little people know about good swords ... even knife makers.

I see that cuts both ways ... as this review has taught me , to my chagrin, how little I know about knives .

The difference is I am usually not so vocal with my disdain.

Just a tad shocked at the lack of civility here...

My mistake for posting. I will endeavor to learn.

Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...

I dont know your age or which circles you usually travel in, but considering the tone here on BF (some forums) and the fact that some of the Worlds premier knifemakers post their gorgeous knives here, I found the replies very restrained.

I have seen some of the knives made by some who posted here and some of the knives knives belonging to some of the collectors buying fine knives and I know that they all must have jumped in their chairs and made a concisous effort to be civil towards you. Several even succeded.
 
BladeScout said:
I dont know your age or which circles you usually travel in, but considering the tone here on BF (some forums) and the fact that some of the Worlds premier knifemakers post their gorgeous knives here, I found the replies very restrained.

I have seen some of the knives made by some who posted here and some of the knives knives belonging to some of the collectors buying fine knives and I know that they all must have jumped in their chairs and made a concisous effort to be civil towards you. Several even succeded.
Click to expand...

Awesome . You should be proud.

I am 41 and I am head staffer on the most heavily trafficked forum dedicated solely to swords on the net. I have a decent collection of swords, a few being full customs from some pretty famous names. I am a complete newb at "fine knives".

In the circles I usually travel in, when some newb like me comes along proud of his low-end sword , we usually provide some constructive critique to help the newb learn a bit about what makes a sword a good sword... kind of like AVigil and Mr. Garsson have done here. It does more to grow the community than just making snarky comments.

I have shouted mea culpa and back pedaled enough. I don't consider the review knife to be a "fine knife" just an $80 hand-made knife. As I have said , I posted in the wrong forum...

Sorry everyone ...



AVigil and Steve , thanks for the information.
 
Marc Kaden Ridgeway said:
Awesome . You should be proud.

I am 41 and I am head staffer on the most heavily trafficked forum dedicated solely to swords on the net. I have a decent collection of swords, a few being full customs from some pretty famous names. I am a complete newb at "fine knives".

In the circles I usually travel in, when some newb like me comes along proud of his low-end sword , we usually provide some constructive critique to help the newb learn a bit about what makes a sword a good sword... kind of like AVigil and Mr. Garsson have done here. It does more to grow the community than just making snarky comments.

I have shouted mea culpa and back pedaled enough. I don't consider the review knife to be a "fine knife" just an $80 hand-made knife. As I have said , I posted in the wrong forum...

Sorry everyone ...



AVigil and Steve , thanks for the information.
Click to expand...

I am uncertain of what YOU think, that I should be proud of, since you dont know me(but dont really care enough to investigate). How ever, I'm certainly proud of having had conversations with some of the fantastic knifemakers here and happy that this forum offers me a chance to see some great knives.

As you state that you are an adult and that you are the 'head staffer on the most heavily trafficked forum dedicated solely to swords on the net' and that you 'have a decent collection of swords, a few being full customs from some pretty famous names' it begs the question of how you would not be able to reqognize this knife for what it is and the obvious 'gaps' (both literally and figuratively) in both the design and the execution of same. I for one wont be taking custom sword advice from you any time soon.

Custom swords and knives follow some basic groundrules in execution after all and must be made to the standard of or exceed generic knives.

I thought, that I would ask you what you mean when you badmouth swordmakers who make swords with 'displaced vibratory nodes,' but 1. I dont particularly care about your tone....nor the way this is heading. 2. Its all about the blades.

So in short, Im out of this one - back to well executed custom and handmade knives.
 
I think that the lesson to take away from this one is for folks to consider getting acquainted with this somewhat unique forum before jumping in with both feet. Especially when you're not familiar with the topic of Custom Handmade Knives.

I speak from experience; I've made lots of mistakes here and will continue to make more. It's all part of the process!

If you're really interested in learning about the topic of custom handmade knives, then we'll see you around. If you were using this forum only to shill for someone, I hope you'll take the silver lining out of this experience and hang out to learn more along with the rest of us.
 
Kind of impossible to shill for him... He has no website . And I didn't link to any contact information.

I post in the sword room here , and thought it would be nice to post the knife review here as well .

I will continue to seek to learn about knives ... But I'm not quite ready for art knives yet ...but if its anything like swords I'm sure I will get there .
 
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