Large 21 w. CF inlays and Basket Weave damascus blade

James Longstreet

James Longstreet

Joined
May 1, 2014
Messages
890
Finally got my Blade HQ exclusive with CF inlays and damascus blade. It was quite a journey.

The 1st one I grabbed last year was a large 21 w. CF inlays and Insingo blade. One thing I did not like on that one was the (for my eyes) not ideal pairing of the stonewashed blade with the polished titanium scale:

21 Insingo Carbon Fiber Inlays, 08 at Flickr


I kept it within my collection, until Blade HQ got a new batch of their exclusives in and I could grab the large 21 with the regular spearpoint blade, which is polished (satin) at this exclusive. Now I've had a better match:

Large 21, CF Inlays, Blade HQ, 04 at Flickr

So sold the exclusive with the Insingo blade.

Just a week later there was suddenly the exclusive w. CF scales and w. damascus blade at the shop! Fortunately it was there when I was checking, because I believe the stock qty was very low. Maybe 5 pieces or so. I guess. So I didn't hesitate and picked one. Now the one with the S35V blade had to leave, as I am very much into damascus blades. So here we are after this little journey:

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 01 at Flickr

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 02 at Flickr

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 03 at Flickr

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 04 at Flickr

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 05 at Flickr

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 06 at Flickr

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 07 at Flickr

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 10 at Flickr

21, CF Inlays, Basket Weave, 12 at Flickr
 
Oh man, that is awesome! I got to start saving to get one of those, it really looks amazing, thanks for posting this, the more I get to know CRK the more I lust for their blades. I'm addicted.
 
Very cool. I agree on your first point...wonder why they never polished it? Anyway, the basket is awesome..had no idea they made em with the cf inlay AND damascus...super cool close ups too!
 
That's definitely one of the best looking knives that I've ever seen.
I just spent five minutes looking at your great images.
 
Congrats Stefan! As for the Insingo, I don't believe they ever polish an insingo blade.. Probably that's the reason why all CF inpays with insingo blade are stonewashed.
 
ice_man said:
Congrats Stefan! As for the Insingo, I don't believe they ever polish an insingo blade.. Probably that's the reason why all CF inpays with insingo blade are stonewashed.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ice. Yes. You are correct. Never saw a polished/satin insingo blade ...... Would love to :-)
 
Very nice knife. Thanks for sharing.
Could you do some shots with a brighter background?
You are right with the finish of the insingo blade - iirc the reason is the blade-thickness.
But the regular blade should be nicer if polished.
Great pixs.
red mag
 
Thanks. Whats wrong with the background? It takes quite some amount of time to make these pictures. So what is it in particular you would like to see by having a brighter background?
 
Nothing wrong with the background.
Viewed on a big screen it's nice and got atmosphere.
Only when looking at the pics on a handheld device (aka smartphone) it tends to get so dark.
In the shots with the knife open, the contrast gets lost - and that's a pitty.
The blade and the background are black and have a pattern.
Please don't get this as critique, as it was ment as an appreciation of your wonderful work as a whole.
Since you set standards, i thought to share my impression as a fan.
red mag
 
Thanks a lot for this valuable input. As I am working on the pictures while having them on a large screen, I never thought about this point. Looking at the pictures via iPad, it still seems to be okay. Smartphone I've never tried.

When I started with my little foto studio, the original background foil/sheet was black, without any "pattern". That was more "quite", but also a bit boring. Unfortunately the quality of that foil wasn't that good and after a while it got scratches by the blade, which were visible at the closeup pics. The current background foil is thicker/heavier, so more scratch resistent. The pattern adds a little bit to the pictures and is less simple/boring. But also it creates reflections, which are kind of interesting/nice. But also sometimes difficult to handle.

I do have a white vinyl background too. Tried that one too, but found that the contrast between the object (the knife) and the background ist very strong/harsh, if you know what I mean. Also a white background looks more "clinical" whereas the black background integrates the knife better into the surrounding, but has its weakness in terms of contrast.

Appreciate any comment, even critical ones, helping to improve. In your case I wasn't simply not sure what led you to your request concerning brighter background.

Best,
Stefan
 
Great pictures of some gorgeous knives! The Demascus and CF really compliment each other very nicely. :thumbup:
 
Damn that's beautiful.

I'm a sucker for carbon, especially when mixed with nice Ti. I'd love a small Carbon inlay with Insingo blade to keep my small micarta inlay Insingo company ;)
 
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