- Joined
- Feb 27, 2001
- Messages
- 12,169
Mark was kind enough to fly me down to Mason Texas last week and let me hang around in his shop while he worked on knives for S.O.S. and some orders. I was I am sure very helpful to Mark...The days kind of went like this..
Ren: Mark what is this button for
Mark: DON'T TOUCH THAT
Ren: Mark I spilled this stuff on the ground and its smoking is it supposed to do that?
Mark: Call 911
Ren: Wow when I tried to Polish that Damascus folder you just finished the blade just Snapped in half...that wheel spins really fast...Was that knife expensive?
o.k. I'm lying..but I had the privilege to watch a perfectionist and a master at work and was very impressed with what I saw.
Here are some pics...
a shot of Marks shop. Mark is very clean and detail minded. His shop reflects this.
some folders that were in the last stages of assembly. Mark does everything on his folders. His screws, Spacers, and Clips are all high polished and then heat treated with a torch to color and then polished again. A painstaking process..
Mark's Oven...he does all his own heat treat to exacting standards..
Knives in the works....
While watching Mark work he would assemble a folder..hand it to me to examine and play with. I of course thought they were perfect but Mark was never quite happy. He said.." If this is a knife that I would not carry then my customers will not carry it either" and there was always something that did not feel right to him and the knife would be disassembled and a washer or a small spot on the back of the blade was touched up and reassembled again. Marks detail on the Clip assembly is a amazing painstaking process. Matt Cohen ( Marks bud and apprentice ) said to me that he has seen Mark fuss over one clip on one knife for over 5 hours till he thought it was perfection.
Here is one of Marks folders that I shot pics of assuming it was finished...This knife received three hours additional work after these shots...
Fixed blades are just as exacting. I watched Mark put the finish grind on Several fixed blades and sharpen them. An amazing process. Mark is so good at this he probably could do this in his sleep and when finished OMG these knives are sharp..
Some fixed blades that went to the show and to a few customers.
This is a special evil project that Mark is making for me...a massive evil Trench knife sporting over 22" blade...its gonna be scary...Ill post more pics when its finished..
and finally...we made it to the show...We were right next to the Martin Knife company...also Great people. Holy Cow were those guys prepared...when We needed water...they had water under their table..When I needed a new TSA lock for my pelican case..Newt even had one of those...Great people...
Here is a shot of corkie at the show...selling his wares...Sorry Mark I know you hate your picture being taken...but dang...when your so good its hard to be humble...as you can see this customer has approached the Terrell table in the proper posture. Kneeling to the Knife Master.
some other shots I took of Marks Work that...just fooling around with the camera.
Ren: Mark what is this button for
Mark: DON'T TOUCH THAT
Ren: Mark I spilled this stuff on the ground and its smoking is it supposed to do that?
Mark: Call 911
Ren: Wow when I tried to Polish that Damascus folder you just finished the blade just Snapped in half...that wheel spins really fast...Was that knife expensive?
o.k. I'm lying..but I had the privilege to watch a perfectionist and a master at work and was very impressed with what I saw.
Here are some pics...
a shot of Marks shop. Mark is very clean and detail minded. His shop reflects this.
some folders that were in the last stages of assembly. Mark does everything on his folders. His screws, Spacers, and Clips are all high polished and then heat treated with a torch to color and then polished again. A painstaking process..
Mark's Oven...he does all his own heat treat to exacting standards..
Knives in the works....
While watching Mark work he would assemble a folder..hand it to me to examine and play with. I of course thought they were perfect but Mark was never quite happy. He said.." If this is a knife that I would not carry then my customers will not carry it either" and there was always something that did not feel right to him and the knife would be disassembled and a washer or a small spot on the back of the blade was touched up and reassembled again. Marks detail on the Clip assembly is a amazing painstaking process. Matt Cohen ( Marks bud and apprentice ) said to me that he has seen Mark fuss over one clip on one knife for over 5 hours till he thought it was perfection.
Here is one of Marks folders that I shot pics of assuming it was finished...This knife received three hours additional work after these shots...
Fixed blades are just as exacting. I watched Mark put the finish grind on Several fixed blades and sharpen them. An amazing process. Mark is so good at this he probably could do this in his sleep and when finished OMG these knives are sharp..
Some fixed blades that went to the show and to a few customers.
This is a special evil project that Mark is making for me...a massive evil Trench knife sporting over 22" blade...its gonna be scary...Ill post more pics when its finished..
and finally...we made it to the show...We were right next to the Martin Knife company...also Great people. Holy Cow were those guys prepared...when We needed water...they had water under their table..When I needed a new TSA lock for my pelican case..Newt even had one of those...Great people...
Here is a shot of corkie at the show...selling his wares...Sorry Mark I know you hate your picture being taken...but dang...when your so good its hard to be humble...as you can see this customer has approached the Terrell table in the proper posture. Kneeling to the Knife Master.
some other shots I took of Marks Work that...just fooling around with the camera.
