- Joined
- Aug 22, 1999
- Messages
- 90
Hi Folks,
I just thought I'd post this for those interested. I have been wanting a Frizzell knife for a long time. I have a couple of friends who have them and they love them... "tough as nails" is a phrase often heard. So a few months ago I started looking into their line of knives to see if there was anything that caught my eye. The Speed Stick Katana was right up my alley, so I started saving some dough for it. Then I read my friend Jerry VanCook's article in Tactical Knives about his trip to Mineral Mountain and Ted Frizzell's workshop. The American Gladius and Arkansas Icepick looked great, and I thought, "I wonder if Ted would do a custom knife for me?"
I emailed Jerry and asked him just that. His reply was, "You really need to visit the shop, but if you can't do that, then give Ted a call, I'm sure he will work with you."
Well, I had an idea of what I wanted, but I needed to put it on paper, to see what it looked like. I wanted a 12in. blade ( I chose 12 inches because I wanted a knife, not a sword, and while it is up to the individual what constitutes a sword, for me it is anything over 12in., so...) with a Bowie tip and sharpened false edge. I also wanted it big enough to have a butcher knife/hatchet chopping ability. My reason for this was that supposedly Bowie's original knife was more like a butcher knife than what we see today, and I wanted the knife to have that quality.
Also, I thought the knife would look good with a D-guard, but I wanted it to be original. So when I drew the knife, I extended the main edge of the blade all the way back to the end of the handle. I wanted a foil grip as well.
I spoke with Ted and he said he would be happy to do it. I explained what I wanted, and he said to send him a scan of the drawing through email. After seeing it, he said it was no problem, but that the profile would have to be thinner (4in. wide instead if 4.5) and that the foil grip would have to go (but he had a way around it). He also recommended finger grooves in the handle, and I agreed that it would be a good idea. So that was it. I finally got my baby in the mail yesterday. I hope you all like my design. Ted called it a "wild beast"; he is right. I have put it next to an Ontario Hell's Belle for size comparison. It has a 6in. handle and an 18in. blade that extends from the tip of the handle to the point of the blade. The sharpened false edge is about 3in. Black micarta handles and parkerized finish.
I call it JIM BOWIE'S KITCHEN KNIFE
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/travblades
P.S. Sorry for the Yahoo link, but it was the only place I could store free photos for public use.
-Travis
I just thought I'd post this for those interested. I have been wanting a Frizzell knife for a long time. I have a couple of friends who have them and they love them... "tough as nails" is a phrase often heard. So a few months ago I started looking into their line of knives to see if there was anything that caught my eye. The Speed Stick Katana was right up my alley, so I started saving some dough for it. Then I read my friend Jerry VanCook's article in Tactical Knives about his trip to Mineral Mountain and Ted Frizzell's workshop. The American Gladius and Arkansas Icepick looked great, and I thought, "I wonder if Ted would do a custom knife for me?"
I emailed Jerry and asked him just that. His reply was, "You really need to visit the shop, but if you can't do that, then give Ted a call, I'm sure he will work with you."
Well, I had an idea of what I wanted, but I needed to put it on paper, to see what it looked like. I wanted a 12in. blade ( I chose 12 inches because I wanted a knife, not a sword, and while it is up to the individual what constitutes a sword, for me it is anything over 12in., so...) with a Bowie tip and sharpened false edge. I also wanted it big enough to have a butcher knife/hatchet chopping ability. My reason for this was that supposedly Bowie's original knife was more like a butcher knife than what we see today, and I wanted the knife to have that quality.
Also, I thought the knife would look good with a D-guard, but I wanted it to be original. So when I drew the knife, I extended the main edge of the blade all the way back to the end of the handle. I wanted a foil grip as well.
I spoke with Ted and he said he would be happy to do it. I explained what I wanted, and he said to send him a scan of the drawing through email. After seeing it, he said it was no problem, but that the profile would have to be thinner (4in. wide instead if 4.5) and that the foil grip would have to go (but he had a way around it). He also recommended finger grooves in the handle, and I agreed that it would be a good idea. So that was it. I finally got my baby in the mail yesterday. I hope you all like my design. Ted called it a "wild beast"; he is right. I have put it next to an Ontario Hell's Belle for size comparison. It has a 6in. handle and an 18in. blade that extends from the tip of the handle to the point of the blade. The sharpened false edge is about 3in. Black micarta handles and parkerized finish.
I call it JIM BOWIE'S KITCHEN KNIFE
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/travblades
P.S. Sorry for the Yahoo link, but it was the only place I could store free photos for public use.
-Travis
