Looking for...

J

joeshredd

Joined
May 8, 2002
Messages
2,254
a knifemaker who can produce an 'exact' duplicate of another knife... with the only changes being in the steel and handle materials.

I have a knife that has the blade shape and size that I want, a handle that has the perfect ergonomic fit for me and is in every way great... but I want one with a better steel and made to perform the way I expect it. I'm comfortable with the version I have now, but without testing to destruction, I truly don't know the limits of this one. And, because it comes so close to what I think of as the perfect beltknife, I'd like to commission one by a trusted and tested maker... who isn't adverse to getting the calipers out and duplicating someone elses' work.

I know several makers, locally and across the country... but I don't know any that might be interested in a project like this.

Any help with names, contacts, experiences would be great. If there are any makers who read this and want to email me, that'd be cool, too.

I know this is kind of a strange request, but it falls just outside of the normal "make me a knife like that" or " make one this way..."

Thanks in advance guys!
 
...even so I'll be the first to ask the obvious: Why would you not work with the original maker? Is he alive? Or simply resistant to better materials?

Coop
 
Coop, the first knife might not be a custom.

In the past, R.W. Clark would do this kind of work, but I am not sure if he still does. He is a member of these forums and would be easy to ask. You can find a lot of his work in the fixed blade section of the makers for sale forums.
 
Hi guys,
Thanks for the thoughts so far...

George - you are spot on, which is why what i'm looking for is rather difficult... who wants to simply copy someone else's work? However,there is a huge market for copies in the Art world, especially of some of the works of the masters.... There are also a significant number of makers who try and recreate/duplicate the works of some of th eearly masters like the San Francisco makers, or even of Moran knives... So I know the possibility exists for this sort of exercise.

Coop/Keith - I bought this from a local hobbyist maker who was a Boeing Engineer who got his walking papers... I fully hoped and expected to run into him at the show in the fall that was at the same place as the one in which I bought from him. I don't know if he's still alive or if he's moved... But, his was the first knife I bought last year, in what I now call my Mad Year... when I picked it up, it was like someone had designed that for me and my hand - I couldn't put it down and it was a very reasonably priced. However, if one looks, one can see imperfections in the grind and polish... nothing that really detracts from the looks or quality.... but the balance point is too far back for my tastes, and I'd like this made out of one of the newer CPM steels - so, changing the steel and the balance are the two things I'd like done.

And the suggestion that RW Clark might be interested is great - he already makes one that comes very close to what I have in mind... and that new liquid steel might be something I'd like to look into...

I guess some of you might see the quandry I'm in.. Asking someone to copy someone else's work isn't a simple thing... But I do know exactly what I want, and it just happens to be someone elses' pattern that comes close...

Please, keep the thoughts, both pro and con, coming... y'all have helped in the past, and I know somebody out there knows what I'm looking for and who can do it...

Thanks!!
 
you might get a little more input if we had some idea of the style of knife too. Every knifemaker has their preferred style/genre/whatever you want to call it, and if they can know that it's in style of type of knives that they alreayd enjoy making/do make, they might be more inclined to help you with this. Like I try making some tacticals, but I know some makers on here(whom I respect greatly, and have given me GREAT advice), personally don't like these styles of knives, so wouldn't make one, either an original or a copy. So that does affect it some too
 
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