New Collection Arrivals.. A Wide Slice...

[Jon Brand]

Didn't notice that Ankrom that is sick!

 

[Kohai999]

Didn't notice that Ankrom that is sick!

It is, but did you notice the carved Fleur de Lis on the end of the stag handled Steigerwalt? Ken has been knocking it out of the park for almost 30 years, and he shows no indication of slowing down....Good Lord is this some awesome stuff!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[Joss]

Two folders, one dagger and one small gents by Salvatore Puddu were acquired... I nabbed these from friend MartinR's collection..

I love the Art Nouveau engraving on that one.

A pair of "old school" switchblades from Ken Steigerwalt..

Carved straight laminate damascus is an old trick but it never cease to make its effect on me. Jim Schmidt was a master of that technique.

 

[rbslaughter1]

Hey guys, thank you so much.. It has been really fun watching the thread this weekend.. I would check every couple of hours, and getting the :thumbup: from friends, and members from even outside the U.S. was really appreciated... Again, thank you...

Coop was mentioned in almost every reply, and that's as it should be.. He is friendly to deal with, and his year's of experience show in every image... Thanks again J. C.

I found out that Kevin Jones at one time owned the larger Steigerwalt auto.. (Those familiar with his preference's in knives will no doubt find that surprising..) He sent a older photo, also done by Coop, to me and I'll post it to close.. I'm not sure of the exact age of the big Osborne Persian auto, but the two auto's by Ken, and the OTF by Jeff Harkins, are definitely older knives.. I mention this only because in spite of them being opened, and closed, perhaps 10x more than a regular folder, they all three work perfectly.. Fast and tight... Kudo's to the makers for that...

Thanks again for you thoughts and comments guys.... Best Regards, Rich Slaughter

 

[Jon Brand]

Steven I did not notice it but that is real nice. Ken is a maker whos knives I have almost purchased many times but failed to pull the trigger. Much respect for him as a maker.

 

[SharpByCoop]

Ya know, you would THINK I'd remember every knife which enters my hands. Often I see knives which are SO similar I think it's a duplicate, yet looking closely they have subtle differences. :thumbup:

Ken has now refined his style to a more 'art noveau' (sp?) look, and he's REALLY good at it. This prior work shows how he's put in his 10,000 hours.

I own a Jeffrey Harkins folder, and I have NEVER handled a knife which is more precise and exacting in fit and finish. He's a madman in this regard.

Rich is just the current steward for the Italian knives. They will be around in one thousand years as that techno-society marvels at what used to be done by hand.

Well.... as they do now!

Coop

 

[JParanee]

All I can say is WOW

Beautiful stuff

Congrats

 

[The Amazing Virginian]

Ya know, you would THINK I'd remember every knife which enters my hands. Often I see knives which are SO similar I think it's a duplicate, yet looking closely they have subtle differences. :thumbup:

Ken has now refined his style to a more 'art noveau' (sp?) look, and he's REALLY good at it. This prior work shows how he's put in his 10,000 hours.

I own a Jeffrey Harkins folder, and I have NEVER handled a knife which is more precise and exacting in fit and finish. He's a madman in this regard.

Rich is just the current steward for the Italian knives. They will be around in one thousand years as that techno-society marvels at what used to be done by hand.

Well.... as they do now!

Coop

Well stated.

Ken has been making knives in an Art Deco style for some time, but actually a lot of makers have been doing that the last couple of years (= getting overexposed). In some more recent pieces that I have seen he has moved into what he refers to as a Bauhaus style.

Staying ahead of the curve IMO is part of what makes his stuff so special.

 

[rbslaughter1]

Ken, do you have a preference to Ken's styles? Let's leave price out of it... I used the phrase "old school" earlier in this thread as a description, which I should have changed before I hit submit.. That phrase is so over used these days and means different things to different people... I didn't earlier, but will say now that I personally prefer his "previous" designs and lines...With those, he had a look that was instantly recognized as his.. His current models, while still well defined,are less so, due to other makers similarities ... In any artistic effort, having something that is 100% yours, is something to strive for.. (Music, Painting, Architecture, etc...).. It separates the "greats" from the merely "very good"... JMO..... Rich

 

[The Amazing Virginian]

Ken, do you have a preference to Ken's styles? Let's leave price out of it... I used the phrase "old school" earlier in this thread as a description, which I should have changed before I hit submit.. That phrase is so over used these days and means different things to different people... I didn't earlier, but will say now that I personally prefer his "previous" designs and lines...With those, he had a look that was instantly recognized as his.. His current models, while still well defined,are less so, due to other makers similarities ... In any artistic effort, having something that is 100% yours, is something to strive for.. (Music, Painting, Architecture, etc...).. It separates the "greats" from the merely "very good"... JMO..... Rich

While I find the "Bauhaus" (I think that is a misapplication of that term - but that is another thread) pieces to be very visually appealing, to me they are almost too unpractical as knives. Doesn't mean I still don't want one , as I dropped for both of the pieces shown above at the last Boston Art Knife Classic (along with a bunch of other folks) - no luck.

Personally, I was and am not a big fan of the knives with the fan tails or clamshells on both ends. I agree that it makes the knives more instantly recognizable . . . I just do not personally find it to be very visually appealing - although I do like it much better when done with Damascus as in one of the pair you posted here. Maybe it is something about that shape as I am also not a huge fan of clamshell guards. Something about it just strikes me as . . . artificial or mass produced. Like a piece of metal decoration you would find on a rack at a Michael's Arts & Crafts store and just bolt onto your knife. Yeah, I'm sure that sounds weird, but I can't say why any more than that.

Also, most of the older pieces were larger than I really like (even though I own a huge older automatic of his). Even though a similar style has been done and done well by many others (including Owen Wood, Jim & Joyce Minnick, Ron Best, and Matt Lerch, among others), I guess the bottom line is that I do prefer his Art Deco pieces. The ones I have seen are smaller and seem more refined to me than the older knives. And if I see one of these Art Deco knives, I think I am still almost always able to tell if it is one of Steigerwalt's knives right off the bat.

JM2₵.

Oh, and I agree with whoever posted above about the quality of those older auto mechanisms. Mine still fires like a dream after all these years.

 

[Todd Isa 53]

Great looking stuff here. What is the model of the second Imel knife that has Mammoth Tooth? I can't seem to find out much about it. I have this type of fixed blade, but don't even know what model it is. It says No. 1 on the bottom of mine.

Thanks.