Kohai999
Second Degree Cutter
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2003
- Messages
- 12,554
I got out of chronological order, having met Rod before J.D.....please forgive me.
So I'm standing watch on the USS Sacramento (AOE-1) on a cold winter night in Puget Sound, 1988. The Officer of the Deck is this salty old goat who fancies himself a gun enthusiast, and he is telling me about the Ruger P85, which Ruger developed in hope of getting the contract for the 1911 replacement, of course that contract went to Beretta with the M9.
Since I was in Washington, and had gotten myself a WA State driver's license, and was getting my annual uniform allowance, I went out and got my first handgun in 1989. Was REALLY intrigued by the 15 round capacity and was assured that 9mm Parabellum was the cat's pajamas.
After getting the gun, I had to go shoot it (I hated that Ruger, it was clunky and not at all accurate, and found over the years, that I vastly prefer 1911 .45's). There was a range just outside of the city limits that guys from the tattoo shop had recommended, so I got a lift up there from my bro Sarge in Spring, 1989. We are tooling around the range and I see a sign advertising knives in this little shop by the ammo desk, so I amble over and it's Rod Chappel's shop, and HE WAS THERE!!
I remembered Rod from Jim Weyer books and posters at the NYCKS. Jim was pretty much the only game in town back then, and he really made a knife shine. Rod's were ideal for it as well.....high mirror polish, sweeping, dramatic grinds, often fossil ivory handles, just so photogenic and Rod had a lot of the posters decorating his shop.
It was a working knife shop with a counter for customers. Rod was making his day-to-day money sharpening knives, and I've never seen anyone do a BETTER job. He rolled the edge, like a cannel grind, and then polished the hell out of it on a loose buff at high speed. It sounds counterintuitive, but in practice, it was literally the sharpest edge that I have experienced....very close to the way the Japanese sharpen a katana, but there is a secondary bevel, where with the Japanese, it's pretty much a zero grind. I learned the how and why of this by talking with Rod and watching him over time.
Ordered a knife from him that day, which he drew out on the spot. Rod was one of the finest artists that I have ever known, his line art was purposeful, flowing and had "soul" even with the absence of shading. His penmanship/lettering was as strong and legible as if it had been done with a machine. The knife was a double ground bowie blade shape with allen head screws to attach the front and rear bolsters, and the price we agreed upon was in excess of $1,000.00, which is a lot of money regardless. I left him with $100.00 deposit.
I KNEW what I was getting into. Rod had been kicked out of the Knifemaker's Guild for cause, taking deposits and not making knives. He wasn't malicious about it, he just didn't keep good records. He would be at shows, and people would be ordering knives and throwing money at him (I saw this with my own eyes), and he just couldn't keep it all straight.
This is a post from well-respected knifemaker Jim Hammond in 2001 on BFC:
"When I first started making knives in 1977, Rod was one of my strongest influences design-wise. His designs were masterful and he still remains my all-time favorite designer. The conversations I had with him on creativity, inspiration and the dynamics of design were awesome.
However, having said that, it concerns me that today's generation of knife collectors and enthusiasts may not be fully aware of the other side of Rod's dealings. Having been kicked out of the Knifemakers Guild in the 1976-77 timeframe, he became famous (or rather, infamous) for taking deposits and never delivering those knives. In my case he took sizeable deposits plus large sections of walrus ivory for my knives and never delivered with anything but excuses. During those years it was an ongoing mantra among other collectors of the same story. Les (Robertson) wasn't kidding with his comments regarding deposits. I only have two of his knives (purchased at shows and not ordered), would liked to have had more, but these were the results of my business dealings with him.
My appreciation for the man's talents have in no way lessened over the years, but what disappoints me concerns his character, honesty and honor."
In addition to his poor business practices, Rod was extremely arrogant. I never saw anything approaching humility in the man, not until much, much later in his life when he was knocking on death's door.
This is the position that he was in when I met him that day at the gun range.
I left the gun range all giddy like a school girl and told my business partner Peter about our meeting with THE Rod Chappel. Peter wanted to meet Rod. Well, that was fortuitous.
First of all, Peter got Rod to build a walrus ivory handled FOLDING AUTOMATIC...which Rod delivered in time for the 1995(I think that was the date) Providence, RI knife show. It worked, sort of, but had some mechanical issues, and was so large and cumbersome that we nicknamed it "The Ivory Cucumber".....this helped Rod gain some new skills, and inspired him to work on some more "contemporary" knives during that time.
Second of all, Peter started working at Rod's shop, learning how to make knives.....templating, profiling, grinding, handling, polishing, everything except heat treat. This was useful for Pete who wanted to MAKE knives, it was useful to me who wanted to KNOW how to make knives, and it was useful to Rod, because Peter paid him for his time, as well as often took him out to lunch.
Third, we took Rod to the Providence Show with us, and it was probably the first time that Rod had been to a knife show in 20 years. As he was being squired by borderline outlaw tattoo artists, the general expectation from those at the top of the knife game was low, but it helped Rod to start building some of his self-respect back.
I have no doubt that Rod would have found a way to get back on his feet without us, but for almost 10 years, we worked closely with Rod and he didn't have to worry about a whole lot, he had a support system in place. Rod taught me directly and indirectly HOW it was all done, in his method, and it completely changed what I KNEW, rather than what I THOUGHT I knew.
Rod did make me that knife, delivered in 1996, we called it the "Day Stalker", have a photocopy of the drawing in my papers somewhere. Peter has it, we traded a S&W model 65 Ladysmith 3" .357 magnum and a Ron Gaston boot knife for it(both of which I still have). Rod didn't listen to a damn thing that I requested for the piece(that the bolsters would actually be removable, and that the tang be deeply tapered........) and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I have two fantastic knives from him, a Loveless style Chute and a "Micro Mini Mag" Bowie in stag. I gave the knife with Ivory Micarta pictured here to Coop a few years ago.
Rod passed away on February, 2017....I had seen him at the Las Vegas knife show about two years ago, slowly fading from heart and kidney problems surrounded by some of his great knives, brought there by Seattle Cutlery.
I think back on the times that we worked with Rod fondly, and am grateful for the knowledge that he imparted. There are many threads on BFC about Rod, some I have contributed to in depth, but wanted to focus on a specific time and give it some room to breathe.
Not all that have influenced me deeply have been great friends, but the influence lives on with positivity past the dissapointment of human failings.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
So I'm standing watch on the USS Sacramento (AOE-1) on a cold winter night in Puget Sound, 1988. The Officer of the Deck is this salty old goat who fancies himself a gun enthusiast, and he is telling me about the Ruger P85, which Ruger developed in hope of getting the contract for the 1911 replacement, of course that contract went to Beretta with the M9.
Since I was in Washington, and had gotten myself a WA State driver's license, and was getting my annual uniform allowance, I went out and got my first handgun in 1989. Was REALLY intrigued by the 15 round capacity and was assured that 9mm Parabellum was the cat's pajamas.
After getting the gun, I had to go shoot it (I hated that Ruger, it was clunky and not at all accurate, and found over the years, that I vastly prefer 1911 .45's). There was a range just outside of the city limits that guys from the tattoo shop had recommended, so I got a lift up there from my bro Sarge in Spring, 1989. We are tooling around the range and I see a sign advertising knives in this little shop by the ammo desk, so I amble over and it's Rod Chappel's shop, and HE WAS THERE!!
I remembered Rod from Jim Weyer books and posters at the NYCKS. Jim was pretty much the only game in town back then, and he really made a knife shine. Rod's were ideal for it as well.....high mirror polish, sweeping, dramatic grinds, often fossil ivory handles, just so photogenic and Rod had a lot of the posters decorating his shop.
It was a working knife shop with a counter for customers. Rod was making his day-to-day money sharpening knives, and I've never seen anyone do a BETTER job. He rolled the edge, like a cannel grind, and then polished the hell out of it on a loose buff at high speed. It sounds counterintuitive, but in practice, it was literally the sharpest edge that I have experienced....very close to the way the Japanese sharpen a katana, but there is a secondary bevel, where with the Japanese, it's pretty much a zero grind. I learned the how and why of this by talking with Rod and watching him over time.
Ordered a knife from him that day, which he drew out on the spot. Rod was one of the finest artists that I have ever known, his line art was purposeful, flowing and had "soul" even with the absence of shading. His penmanship/lettering was as strong and legible as if it had been done with a machine. The knife was a double ground bowie blade shape with allen head screws to attach the front and rear bolsters, and the price we agreed upon was in excess of $1,000.00, which is a lot of money regardless. I left him with $100.00 deposit.
I KNEW what I was getting into. Rod had been kicked out of the Knifemaker's Guild for cause, taking deposits and not making knives. He wasn't malicious about it, he just didn't keep good records. He would be at shows, and people would be ordering knives and throwing money at him (I saw this with my own eyes), and he just couldn't keep it all straight.
This is a post from well-respected knifemaker Jim Hammond in 2001 on BFC:
"When I first started making knives in 1977, Rod was one of my strongest influences design-wise. His designs were masterful and he still remains my all-time favorite designer. The conversations I had with him on creativity, inspiration and the dynamics of design were awesome.
However, having said that, it concerns me that today's generation of knife collectors and enthusiasts may not be fully aware of the other side of Rod's dealings. Having been kicked out of the Knifemakers Guild in the 1976-77 timeframe, he became famous (or rather, infamous) for taking deposits and never delivering those knives. In my case he took sizeable deposits plus large sections of walrus ivory for my knives and never delivered with anything but excuses. During those years it was an ongoing mantra among other collectors of the same story. Les (Robertson) wasn't kidding with his comments regarding deposits. I only have two of his knives (purchased at shows and not ordered), would liked to have had more, but these were the results of my business dealings with him.
My appreciation for the man's talents have in no way lessened over the years, but what disappoints me concerns his character, honesty and honor."
In addition to his poor business practices, Rod was extremely arrogant. I never saw anything approaching humility in the man, not until much, much later in his life when he was knocking on death's door.
This is the position that he was in when I met him that day at the gun range.
I left the gun range all giddy like a school girl and told my business partner Peter about our meeting with THE Rod Chappel. Peter wanted to meet Rod. Well, that was fortuitous.
First of all, Peter got Rod to build a walrus ivory handled FOLDING AUTOMATIC...which Rod delivered in time for the 1995(I think that was the date) Providence, RI knife show. It worked, sort of, but had some mechanical issues, and was so large and cumbersome that we nicknamed it "The Ivory Cucumber".....this helped Rod gain some new skills, and inspired him to work on some more "contemporary" knives during that time.
Second of all, Peter started working at Rod's shop, learning how to make knives.....templating, profiling, grinding, handling, polishing, everything except heat treat. This was useful for Pete who wanted to MAKE knives, it was useful to me who wanted to KNOW how to make knives, and it was useful to Rod, because Peter paid him for his time, as well as often took him out to lunch.
Third, we took Rod to the Providence Show with us, and it was probably the first time that Rod had been to a knife show in 20 years. As he was being squired by borderline outlaw tattoo artists, the general expectation from those at the top of the knife game was low, but it helped Rod to start building some of his self-respect back.
I have no doubt that Rod would have found a way to get back on his feet without us, but for almost 10 years, we worked closely with Rod and he didn't have to worry about a whole lot, he had a support system in place. Rod taught me directly and indirectly HOW it was all done, in his method, and it completely changed what I KNEW, rather than what I THOUGHT I knew.
Rod did make me that knife, delivered in 1996, we called it the "Day Stalker", have a photocopy of the drawing in my papers somewhere. Peter has it, we traded a S&W model 65 Ladysmith 3" .357 magnum and a Ron Gaston boot knife for it(both of which I still have). Rod didn't listen to a damn thing that I requested for the piece(that the bolsters would actually be removable, and that the tang be deeply tapered........) and it left a bad taste in my mouth. I have two fantastic knives from him, a Loveless style Chute and a "Micro Mini Mag" Bowie in stag. I gave the knife with Ivory Micarta pictured here to Coop a few years ago.
Rod passed away on February, 2017....I had seen him at the Las Vegas knife show about two years ago, slowly fading from heart and kidney problems surrounded by some of his great knives, brought there by Seattle Cutlery.
I think back on the times that we worked with Rod fondly, and am grateful for the knowledge that he imparted. There are many threads on BFC about Rod, some I have contributed to in depth, but wanted to focus on a specific time and give it some room to breathe.
Not all that have influenced me deeply have been great friends, but the influence lives on with positivity past the dissapointment of human failings.
Best Regards,
STeven Garsson
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, and Rod looked up, saw Jody and went wide-eyed! He told Jody that someone told him he had died, Jody laughed and Rod asked him where he'd been. Without breaking a grin Jody told him he'd been on Mars....THAT were two to draw to.