- Joined
- May 18, 2011
- Messages
- 733
O.K., 15 years after selling off my custom tactical collection to pay off school, I've got back into collecting.
I've avoided getting into too many of just one type of knife, unlike my early years. And I definetely want to ease back into custom level spending. There's plenty of decent vintage Al Mars / Gerbers and SOGs to go after this time around.
Nevertheless, during a search for a not overly priced, used Gerber Mark I Presentation dagger, (if you NEED a dagger, why not get the COOLEST one you can?) I ran into a knife lot I just had to bid on. It had the used Mark I i was looking for along with 5 "fantasy" knives. From the pic I could tell that any non normal knife was a fantasy knife to the seller. There was a vintage letter opener with a beautiful scrimshawed ship on a bone handle (hardly fantasy) and a folder with a damascus wharncliffe blade that looked interesting. I didn't know it would be a custom, but figured it looked cool enough to be a decent bonus if I won the auction.
Well I bid 50 and got the whole lot for 40, only a few others bid, and I guess the serious collectors want nothing to do with an imperfect non mint Mark I with a tarnished brass guard and zebrawood handle.
When I receved the lot, I could tell the folder was handmade, and saw a stamp I could barely makeout on the blade.
After some google research I realized it was an E.V. Chavar "Fang" type folder. I remembered the name from my custom collecting days in the 90s and his use of the wharncliffe style but I remembered mostly neck knives from him.
I found out some good and bad, he was a well respected knifemaker and voting member of the knifemakers guild. But unfortunately he passed away at the young age of 44 in 2008. I found references to his "fang" neck knives but not many folders.
I only saw two very fancy folders with damascus blades (non wharncliffe) and more complex handles, that were said to have sold for around 500 and 800 if I remember correctly. There was no date of the actual sale and it was a known online custom knife website, not *b*y.
Mine is interesting in that the handle is very simple in a single titanium (non magnetic) liner lock design with polished G10 scales. But has a fancier damascus blade. I read that he used famous "master of damascus steel" Daryl Meier.
The knife was used, but very lightly. I dont know anything about damascus and barely touched the blade, just put some oil on it and wiped off some grime. The handle had to be cleaned a little more. Maybe it was stored somewhere dirty but didnt seem to get much use.
Anyways, here's some pics, ENJOY.
And feel free to add any info.
I've avoided getting into too many of just one type of knife, unlike my early years. And I definetely want to ease back into custom level spending. There's plenty of decent vintage Al Mars / Gerbers and SOGs to go after this time around.
Nevertheless, during a search for a not overly priced, used Gerber Mark I Presentation dagger, (if you NEED a dagger, why not get the COOLEST one you can?) I ran into a knife lot I just had to bid on. It had the used Mark I i was looking for along with 5 "fantasy" knives. From the pic I could tell that any non normal knife was a fantasy knife to the seller. There was a vintage letter opener with a beautiful scrimshawed ship on a bone handle (hardly fantasy) and a folder with a damascus wharncliffe blade that looked interesting. I didn't know it would be a custom, but figured it looked cool enough to be a decent bonus if I won the auction.
Well I bid 50 and got the whole lot for 40, only a few others bid, and I guess the serious collectors want nothing to do with an imperfect non mint Mark I with a tarnished brass guard and zebrawood handle.
When I receved the lot, I could tell the folder was handmade, and saw a stamp I could barely makeout on the blade.
After some google research I realized it was an E.V. Chavar "Fang" type folder. I remembered the name from my custom collecting days in the 90s and his use of the wharncliffe style but I remembered mostly neck knives from him.
I found out some good and bad, he was a well respected knifemaker and voting member of the knifemakers guild. But unfortunately he passed away at the young age of 44 in 2008. I found references to his "fang" neck knives but not many folders.
I only saw two very fancy folders with damascus blades (non wharncliffe) and more complex handles, that were said to have sold for around 500 and 800 if I remember correctly. There was no date of the actual sale and it was a known online custom knife website, not *b*y.
Mine is interesting in that the handle is very simple in a single titanium (non magnetic) liner lock design with polished G10 scales. But has a fancier damascus blade. I read that he used famous "master of damascus steel" Daryl Meier.
The knife was used, but very lightly. I dont know anything about damascus and barely touched the blade, just put some oil on it and wiped off some grime. The handle had to be cleaned a little more. Maybe it was stored somewhere dirty but didnt seem to get much use.
Anyways, here's some pics, ENJOY.
And feel free to add any info.
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