Matthew Caldwell "1-6" Tan

My 1-4 arrived today, I'm really impressed with the fit and finish. It's as good as any knife I have, and that's saying a lot! Not an overlap anywhere, the polishing looks fantastic, and the grip is shaped perfectly for the hand. I'm really impressed with this knife! If I can find one of the bigger blades in the orange/black, I'll definitely be picking it up as well. Great job on these Matt!
 
I'm glad you're happy with the knife. We do our best. I don't have any more of the B&O micarta for the bigger blades, but I'll be doing some one-off handles in G10. I'm currently machining some Black & Orange, Black & Blue, Black & Tan, and Green, Black & Pistachio. I've never worked with it before, so I'm curious to see how it'll turn out. I do know that it costs more than micarta & takes more effort to machine. I may do a couple sets of checkered walnut, as well. A.C.Warren is making some of his beautiful leather sheaths for the new knives, too. Hopefully I'll have some up on vintageknives by the end of the month.
 
G10 is good, however micarta you are using is also pretty good and not fluffy and water absorbing as some other micarta on the market - should not bee too much different.

I also suggest you to try some different steels like CPM M4.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Mike, not to put you on the spot but in your initial impressions, how does this knife compare to any Busse you may have?
Grind, ergos, fit and finish?

Thanks and feel free to pm if you are more comfortable with that. :)
 
ADD said:
Mike, not to put you on the spot but in your initial impressions, how does this knife compare to any Busse you may have?
Grind, ergos, fit and finish?

Thanks and feel free to pm if you are more comfortable with that. :)
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No problem! That's a tough call since I don't have a Busse that's designed quite like this knife. I have to say the Caldwell feels more "refined" than the Busse's I have. Fit and finish on the 1-4 are pretty much flawless, whereas the Busse's seem built more for function than form. Figure the Busse's were designed more for Military use. The closest I have to the 1-4 would be a Meaner Street from the custom shop. Even with that, the 1-4 has it over the MS in fit and finish, which is saying a lot.
I like the way the MS fits the hand, but the 1-4 seems like it was made to fit my hand. The ergonomics are really nice. Also, the texture of the grips on the 1-4 is something else. It's not infi, but everything else on the Caldwell is something to behold. I'm definitely impressed with this knife and plan on picking up another.
 
Thanks so much for the kind words. I draw a lot of inspiration from Busse & Chris Reeve knives. I've always liked their clean, utilitarian designs and attention to detail. As far as ruggedness goes, it's hard to beat a Busse. My knives are probably more suited to general outdoor & hunting use, rather than the battlefield. However, I do know of several knives that are seeing use in the military, and their owners seem to be happy with them.
 
I think excellent Ergo is what I found first. Integrated guard has micarta on it and this makes it very comfy and secure. And this is not only in the bottom - scales kind of widening bit in left and right which add more protection and also increase "relaxed holding". Relaxed holding means that you do not pay additional attention or effort to hold knife and can relax you palm while knife will not fall out.

In this terms butt is also very well designed for relaxed holding. It has hook - prety useful for chopping kind of use, as well as with regular cut it give additional point to apply pressure drawing knife. And it also widen left and right.

This is all result of special effort Matt paid to make his knives 3Dimentional - he is not just add slabs and sand it - he actually form slabs to be certain configuration and this is most I value and most what differ him on this market - I can only think about RosArms in terms of such comfortable handles.

And wide full flat ground blade - I just can not resist. I hope he'll make 1-4 with blade same width as for 1-6.

Thanks, Vassili.
 
Before making the 1-6, I did prototype a 4.25" blade that was 1.5" wide, using the long 1-6 handle. Unfortunately, to my eye, the proportions just didn't look right. I have drawn up a 5.25" L x 2" W blade on the 1-6 handle that looks rather wicked, though. That one may be a possibility.
My next project, the Model 1-5, is a 5" L x 1.25" W blade on a 1-4 sized handle. I think this will be a very versatile design. If all goes well, they should be available early next year.
 
Some of the best knives I've handled, and have had the privilege of sheathing. :thumbup:
 
Robert H said:
Some of the best knives I've handled, and have had the privilege of sheathing. :thumbup:
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Cant agree more with you. I will contact Matt cause Im not crazy about the bead blast finish. Hoping he can put a satin finish on my 1-6 and 1-9 to much my 1-4. Just great greta knives and cant wait to use them in deer camp this season.
 
It's a little tough to satin finish a knife that's already been bead-blasted (handles are epoxied down), but I can always swap your knife for a satin-finished one. A lot of guys like the bead-blast with the kydex because it doesn't show scuffing/wear as much. My personal knives are satin-finished and usually ride in kydex. Yeah, they look pretty scratched up, but that's probably because I use them. BTW-Robert's sheaths rock! He's doing a small batch of thigh rigs for my old 1-6, if anyone wants to upgrade their Spec-Ops Combatmaster (a great sheath for the money).
 
mdcaldwell&co said:
It's a little tough to satin finish a knife that's already been bead-blasted (handles are epoxied down), but I can always swap your knife for a satin-finished one. A lot of guys like the bead-blast with the kydex because it doesn't show scuffing/wear as much. My personal knives are satin-finished and usually ride in kydex. Yeah, they look pretty scratched up, but that's probably because I use them. BTW-Robert's sheaths rock! He's doing a small batch of thigh rigs for my old 1-6, if anyone wants to upgrade their Spec-Ops Combatmaster (a great sheath for the money).
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I just got it so can I ship it to u for a satin finish one?? my email is brenka@sbcglobal.net
 
I finally got around to taking a few pictures of my 1-4 today, I still can't get over the fit and finish of these knives. Hopefully I'll be able to catch another one soon!

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Those are some very good looking utilitarian knives. I really like the thickness and handle contoures.
-Barry-
 
Hi Matt (if you see this).

Do you have your own site ?.

recently picked up a 1-6 from a friend here in Australia, love at first sight :)
 
Glad you like your 1-6. No site as of yet. I'm not very good with computers or photography. I've let vintageknives.com, edgeoftheknife.com & occasionally edcknives.com showcase my knives, as they're so much better at it.
 
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Mr. Caldwell,

Just came across your knive recently, and they look FANTASTIC. I spend alot of time on forest trails in Missouri, and find that a 5" blade is near perfect for all that I need and do. Very intrigued by your post that you are working in a 1-5 and would like to make sure I don't miss out on that release. If you have a mailing list, my email address is mike.beavers@charter.net, and I'd love to be added. I'd really like on with black micarta or G10 handle. Can I buy directly, or do you on deal through Vintage Knives & Edge of the Knife? Looking forward to your next design!

Mike
 
Wow! I just realized it's been a long time since I checked out the forums. Happy New Year to all. I just sent some of the first Model 1-5's to Vintageknives on Friday. Billy will probably have them posted this week. I do make direct sales, but my dealers (vintageknives, edgeoftheknife & edcknives) do such a great job of promoting & selling my knives that I send them most of my production. Something new for 2009 is a the availability of stonewashed blades on our 1-5, 1-7 & 1-9 models. I fell in love with that finish on my Chris Reeve Sebenza, so I wanted to make it available on my knives, as well. The ones we've done look great!
 
I should add, if you don't find the handle/finish/sheath combination you're looking for on one of the sites, by all means contact me directly. We don't do much with G10 or natural handle materials, but we use just about every kind of micarta available. If we have the material in stock, we can usually fill an order in 7-10 days.

Matt Caldwell
mdcaldwellco@msn.com
(425) 334-6659 9am-9pm PST
 
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