Kissing Crane Whittler with stag scales

Gary W. Graley

Gary W. Graley

“Imagination is more important than knowledge"
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 2, 1999
Messages
27,471
Hello to the Folksy Folks, just ordered a Kissing Crane Whittler,
it is a big rascal at 4 1/2" closed!

Main blade is a spearpoint and the two shorter blades one is sheepsfoot and
the other kinda like a spey blade.

Says it's made in Germany, do any of you guys/gals have one of these to
share a photo?

Hopefully it will be here by weeks end and I'll post some images then, in the
mean time, any help is appreciated :)

G2
 
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WOW, 4 1/2 inches ? Sounds like its going to be a sweet knife. Lookin forward to the pics. Should be a really good candidate for one of your nice sheaths.
 
Don't think so, it's the top middle image at this page here
You'll need to scroll up to the top of that page

Kissing Crane Whittler
Year: Condition: Mint
Misc: 170th Ann; German made
Handle: Great Stag
Steel: Carbon Size: 4 1/2"
ID: KCJV1844
 
I've looked that one over a few times, but held off until we paid some things off. At 4-1/2", it was just a tad too big for me, pocketwise. (My Case large Stockman is a little big too, but with jeans it's not a problem.)

Of course, now that the belt sheath was mentioned...hmmmmm...

Looking forward to your review. :thumbup:

thx - cpr
 
This is a earlier 4 inch model.
Greg

orig.jpg
 
Kissing Crane has that good German quality. If you don't own any german knives than you will like the suble differences in the steels.Nickel silver is darker and the steel more blue or gray.At least it appears to me.Nice stag on it too.
 
Thanks Greg, that's a sweet looking knife there!
G2
 
The new KK knives are made in China. Germany has no country of origin laws and the knives are made in China, shipped to germany and stamped there. It may even be legal for the design to originate in Germany ( which is next to impossible to argue legally ) and have the knives made elsewhere with the Germany stamp. Might want to check with Bernie on that one. No, not much is what it appears to be anymore. When a company of newly made knives declares their blades to be "High Carbon" it probably means that there is a trace of carbon. It could be higher in carbon than the other blades they manufacture so they can declare them "High Carbon". Smoke and mirrors fellas. Smoke and mirrors. Not wanting to rain on the parade but sometimes we need to know when we're getting wet. Not all companies follow these unscrupolous guidelines but it will surprise you how many do.
Greg
 
Thanks Greg, that's surprising and dissapointing too, hope, against hope, that this one
is of good quality, we shall see.
G2
 
mckgreg said:
The new KK knives are made in China. Germany has no country of origin laws and the knives are made in China, shipped to germany and stamped there. It may even be legal for the design to originate in Germany ( which is next to impossible to argue legally ) and have the knives made elsewhere with the Germany stamp. Might want to check with Bernie on that one. No, not much is what it appears to be anymore. When a company of newly made knives declares their blades to be "High Carbon" it probably means that there is a trace of carbon. It could be higher in carbon than the other blades they manufacture so they can declare them "High Carbon". Smoke and mirrors fellas. Smoke and mirrors. Not wanting to rain on the parade but sometimes we need to know when we're getting wet. Not all companies follow these unscrupolous guidelines but it will surprise you how many do.
Greg
Click to expand...
Hi greg, It has been just recently that they went to China, right? I was looking in SMKW catalog and saw the new KK's going for cheap money. That's what tipped me off. I too was disappointed.
 
A.G. Russell has KK's for sale and he flat tells ya that they are made in China. He is about as straight an arrow as you are gonna find and I for one appreciate that immensely. I wasn't able to blow up the images of the KK's he has for sale so that I could see the tang stamps but it doesn't really matter. When they were out-sourced or moved to China I can't say. Whether parts of the knives were or are made in Germany or not is still a mystery to me. KK's have slid dramatically quality wise since about 1980 and fell of the map of reason in the last few years. Some might see it different but to me that is how it stands. Ask questions, do a little searching and make up your own mind. I think A.G. spoke about the KK history not to long ago here in the forums although he may have been talking about Hen & Rooster which has followed a similar path. Can't remember for sure so we'll have to poke around and see.
Greg
 
China or not, the pic of Gary's knife LOOKED very good,some decent looking stag there!
 
The knife arrived today, very nicely done, the two small blades have half stops
the large blade does not but then it probably isn't needed for that.
The small blades are quite thin and should cut like razors for sure, the main blade
is fairly thin and also should cut nicely.
The tang stamps all say Germany and the main blade has engraved neatly
R. Klaas 170th Anniversary
on the other side it says 172 of 600
which is neat as I graduated in 1972 ;)
Photos to come later as I get a chance, the fit and finish of the scales and bolsters
are well done, no qualms so far !
G2
 
I have the knife you just bought, and I believe those earlier models were still made in Germany. I can't remember the source, but I think the older/German models have round shield, and the newer/Chinese models have the two-crane kite shield.
 
Thanks berzerker, the one I have seems to be of good fit and finish;

IMG_0461.jpg


IMG_0469.jpg


IMG_0464.jpg


Took some sharpening to get the main blade up to snuff, but, that's the usual thing for
a lot of knives that arrive, most are not as sharp as I like them to be.

Also, even though this is a longish knife, it is fairly thin handled and you don't get that
huge feeling of a knife when you carry or use, nice ;)

G2
 
Thanks one thing I also did was to sand down the very edges along the
stag, as it was sharply done evenly with the spine of the knife, so now
they feel more pocket worn friendly ;) just a light touch on a sander drum
and then on a buffing wheel was all it needed to be more comfortable
some times the knives we get have a crisp edge of the scale material
our hands are not shaped like that, so giving some radius to the material
makes it overall more friendly to the user, as Tim Wright would say, the
only thing sharp on the knife should be the edge!
G2
 
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