Lile Knives Question

Thomason

Thomason

Joined
Nov 28, 2002
Messages
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If I understand correctly, after Jimmy Lile passed away his wife continued to run the business for a period of time. Lile knives made from this point on were marked Lile with a dot over the "i" to distinguish them from previous knives. A couple of questions. Who made the knives? Would they be considered a custom knife or production knife? What is the quality like on these Lile with a dot knives? I just bought a little 7 1/2 in D2 and micarta so the questions are just curiosity on my part before I get the knife next week. Thanks, gentlemen.
 
Basically, the same people that were making them before he died.

He was quite old at the time of his death, and had not made a knife in quite a few years.
 
I've seen a fair number of Lile with a dot knives at gun/knife shows back when Mrs. Lile was selling. The quality was good to excellent.

Whether or not they are custom or production depends upon how you define the terms. How many people need to work in a man's shop before it's a production knife vs. a custom? I never asked if they did custom work. I did ask if they were hand made and was told that outside of regular power tools (e.g. belt sanders, grinders, etc.) they were hand made. Mrs. Lile & Co. table had a variety of models with a variety of handle material. They had one of the Rambo knives for sale at least once, I remember someone asking why it was so much more expensive than the United version being sold a few booths away :) They said theirs was handmade and a duplicate in every respect possible and the United version was a factory reproduction.
 
Already addressed, but here is a bit more info from an email exchange I had with Jacqueline Weir of Lile Handmade Knives.

-----Original Message-----
From: Lile Knives [mailto:knives@lileknives.com]
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 7:50 AM
To: Jeff Workman
Subject: Re: The dot


Mr. Workman, the dot signifies the knife was made after Mr. Lile's death. Jimmy died in 1991 but the same 2 men are still making the knives that have been making them since 1984 but we put the dot to protect those who have the older pieces. My husband and I were at the St. Charles Show.

Thanks,

Lile Handmade Knives


Jacqueline Weir
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Workman"
To: <knives@lileknives.com>
Sent: Monday, December 10, 2001 8:19 PM
Subject: The dot


> I bought a knife at a show last Sunday in St. Charles Missouri.
> Noticed that some knives have dots above the Lile and some don't.
> What does that signify? Thanks! jeffaworkman@yahoo.com
 
P.S. I don't remember the model number or name for the knife I bought, but it is one of my favorites and the sheath is absolutely top notch.
 
Thomason: FWIW: That is the Lile knife I have. It is nicely shaped, lightweight, etc. The micarta has gone from a nice burgandy color to more of a brown. I'm not sure if that is related to too much mineral oil, natural aging, or what. I like mine. Jeff
 
It is true that Jimmy died in 1991, however I can't say he was "to old" and had quit making knives. Jimmy and I worked together for a long time, he was a close friend of mine and was ten years older than me and I am 62 today. Jacque kept his wishes and did put the dot above his name after his death. His first thought was to put the "Lile" stamp on the oposite side too but that was not done. It is also true that the same guys that worked with him continued to make his knives.
 
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