Making a slipjoint your own?

Appreciate this thread a lot!

Living in Scandinavia the winters are HARSH (although these past 2 years we haven't had any snow by Christmas, unheard of, maybe Nobel Gore is right....)but that doesn't deter my grape growing ambitions! each year the vine gets dug up in its large pot and taken into a glassed in verandah&covered in foam. Out it goes again in Apr/May for outdoor life.

My knives get personal when they are less shiny and I begin to be convinced I've lost one and go into mourning....only to find them again days later!
 
Thats what makes carbon steel great.I'm not sure I agree with the idea of adding a patina prematurely like some do. Just use them and they get there.They tell a story. a buudy at work has a Scrade small stockman OT and he said he lost it. He found it a year later sitting in his fathers shop on a battery station.Talk about patinas. When you find one you lost it makes you hang onto it tighter.
 
realstagman said:
I find that I like used knives too. I've bought alot more new ones, but I never worry about putting an old knife in my pocket to use. I've been working really hard at getting over my desire to make a knife a safe queen. The more I look at the unused knives I have, the more I put on Ebay! I'm really trying to actually use the things I own. Alot of that has to do with the posts I read here. Nothing wrong with collecting and nothing wrong with safe queens if that's what you're into. I think the key is being true to yourself and if using your knives makes you happy use them and if you enjoy displaying them then by all means display them. It's the differences in people that make them interesting..
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Whoa:eek:, realstagman, I recon you and me are doing pretty much the exact same thing these days. Most all of my newer slippy knives (and even some of my older ones)have been going up on the auction block every week.. And quite a few others have been given to good folks that seem to really deserve a fine slippy for one reason or another. I have not been EDC'n any new or newish knives for a good long while now. I really think new knives are for either selling to others for profit, or better yet given away to good folks that will actually use them. It makes me so pleased to see one of my previously owned new knives assigned to some person that will actually use it and enjoy it!.

I like EDC'n older knives that I pick up on the secondary market, at local shows, garage sales or even on the web.. Then I personalize them and clean them up to carry as previously stated. I really like EDC'n slippy's that I have either personalized or knives that good folks I really like have passed on to me.. And when I receive a knife from a friend or relative, I still personalize it as I previously described.:D

Here is one I got a while back that came to me all rusted up and with some mild pitting. You couldn't even open the the master blade without a lot of prying effort.. Now look at her.

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1974 Case XX
 
Another outstanding thread.I'm always on the lookout at yard sales and antique stores for some good old knives. This one had a chip in the master blade near the tip.I stoned it out.Shortened the blade about 3/16 of an inch but made it useable again.The steel is just too good.The worm hole give it character.
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However, there's nothing like waiting to open a nice box like this and seeing a nice new knife. This one is on its way and I can't wait.
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RobbW,

I didn't want to highjack this thread to talk about figs, but you're set up so no one can PM you. My father-in-law, an old Italian gentleman, has his own way to get large amounts of figs off his trees here on Long Island. PM me to discuss.
 
sunnyd said:
Whoa:eek:, realstagman, I recon you and me are doing pretty much the exact same thing these days.
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I guess great minds think alike:D:D!

I think the only thing that keeps me from putting more on the bay is that it's just a pain in the rear. Need to get busy though. Selling gear I don't need to finance new purchases is one of my favorites ways of getting new things that I want. I call it "re-allocating" my assets;). Keeps me out of the checking account and under the wife's radar!!
 
realstagman said:
I guess great minds think alike:D:D!

I think the only thing that keeps me from putting more on the bay is that it's just a pain in the rear. Need to get busy though. Selling gear I don't need to finance new purchases is one of my favorites ways of getting new things that I want. I call it "re-allocating" my assets;). Keeps me out of the checking account and under the wife's radar!!
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Sound like me.
 
Nice new shiny knives are really pretty, but they become mine when I throw it in my pocket and start using it. While shiny is pretty, its not me. I enjoy using things for years and watch the item get character. Trucks, cars, knives, guns, etc I really like them when you can tell they are used but loved.

Carbon steel knives need a patina in process and character scratches from pocket carry. Stainless(SAKs) need the handles dulled down with character scratches and use scratches on the tools and blades to be really pretty.

I own a lot of knives I don't need or use, many new ones. I may look at them or take them off the shelf sometimes, but they don't tug at my heart like my users and my dad and grandfathers old users do.
 
I recieved my Mooremaker stockman today. I teally like it.Zero blade wobble, nice snap and astecically pleasing. I did however, have to make it my own by doing a few mods. A few of the inside bolsters didn't line up with some of the liners. I took my leathermans diamond file and carefully wet file them flush. The nail nick on the master blade was too far past the little nail clearance on the scale so I took my leatherman blade and scraped the horn away till I could get my nail in. Deburred the sharp edge on the inside liners a touch, and I'll buff the file areas out when I get back to work. I felt it was a decent knife to do a little finishing touch on it. The main blade it a turkish clip I find most appealing and comfortable.Scales are black with a few specs of blue in the back and a nice irridescent blue stripe in front.
It's mine now and it will be my EDC for a while.Just the right size for the pocket at 3 5/16.
 
This knife was new about a week ago. Since then it has been patinaed with vinegar. The blade spine and swedge has been knocked down with the diamond file on my leatherman, followed by 1500 emery paper on the whole knife. The ebony really got smooth after that, and the swedge and spine are no longer sharps.

before
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after
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There are a few different ways to make a knife my own...

1. It draws blood
2. Someone wants it and I realize I like it enough to say "heck no!"
3. I spend a lot of time with it
4. It buys me a nice steak dinner
5. I clean it up after its dirty (pivots cleaned, rust removed, etc)
 
Keith just puts a bowtie shield with "TLAR" stamped into it on the ones he makes for me. Like this:

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A wee bit over exposed, but you get the idea.

Otherwise, I just use it. It becomes "mine" when it gets the second resharpening meaning that after I touch up the blade from the factory to my liking and I have used it enough for it to need the second sharpening. It is then "mine". In the picture above, the white handled custom has become mine, but the Kabar lockback has not yet even though I've owned it a long time and will not carry it most likely (a gift from my youngest son).

Ed J
 
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