New Rob Davidson Pics

Peter Atwood

Peter Atwood

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
Messages
2,468
Here's a beauty I picked up from Rob Davidson of Bishop, Texas. I had stumbled onto his page http://www.rocketknives.com when I first started searching the net for custom knives. Originally I had commissioned a folding painter's tool from him but decided to change my order to one of his custom beauties. Boy am I glad I did!

atwoodfront.jpg


This handsome piece features a 3 1/2" heat colored ATS34 blade, heat colored titanium integral frame, black G10 back spacer, highly figured desert ironwood overlays and heat colored titanium clip. I think the heat coloring as opposed to anodizing gives a certain organic quality to the metal that complements the wood nicely.

The knife is remarkably balanced in my hand and cuts like the dickens. The action was quite stiff at first but has really smoothed out beautifully and lockup is rock solid. Passes the spine whack test with flying colors.

I ordered the knife in October and paid $275 up front. For the quality and the reasonable delivery time I would say that this piece was a bargain. Rob was really delightful to work with. He answered all my questions very patiently and gave me some pointers on building my own knives. It was a lot of fun to go through this process to get the knife that I really wanted.

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Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally I had commissioned a folding painter's tool from him but decided to change my order to one of his custom beauties.</font>
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This is a story I want to hear!!! The painters that work for me never like to spend money. Where can I actually find a painter who cares enough about his tools to order a Custom Painter's tool!!!!

My hat is off to you!

Michael

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He who has smelt the smoke is never free again...
 
Kumdo, I'm not really sure how he does the heat coloring but I think it is in an oven so that he can control the temperature with some precision. I've emailed him for more info as I am curious myself.

C4, the painters I know wouldn't spend that much either but they're not knife knuts! I was itching for a folding painter's 5 in 1 knife and started looking for a custom maker who would be willing to build it for me. Originally I wanted a double bladed piece with a 5 in 1 and a flexible putty knife. I chanced upon Rob's site and saw that he had double bladed liner locks so I contacted him. He was fairly enthusiastic about the challenge so we proceeded.

I started to fool around with building my own knives so I decided that during my slow time in the winter I would try to make my own piece. Here's what I came up with:

5in1.jpg


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The blade is 01 that I heat treated myself and left with a slightly crude 60 grit grind. I used SS for the liners and a piece of G10/Micarta laminate material for the handle slabs. It's not too bad for a first effort although it really doesn't stand up to heavy use at Mrs. Smith's house. It was fun to make though. I might build another one and do an integral frame instead for more secure lockup under heavy stress.

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Peter Atwood

email: fountainman@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by fountainman (edited 05-07-2001).]
 
Peter!

I am awaiting a knife almost identical to yours except it is BG-42 blade, and a scale release. It also has the desert ironwood scales.
He is remaking me a new BG-42 blade, and said it will be done soon.The other blade somehow developed a very minute vertical play, and he wanted to replace it. He first had to order some BG-42 stock to remake it.
What workmanship he does. Mine works smooth, and the scales feel good in the hand.
Hope you enjoy yours as much as I did mine til I returned it to him for the new blade. But it will be back soon.

Larry
 
Hello Peter I am glad you enjoy that knife, it is a beaut. I was woundering what his delivery time came to. Back around December I phoned him and we talked about a custom project that I wanted him to do but I lost my drawings and the project was on hold, obivously. Well I found my drawings after all these months and I was thinking about doing it again but have not contacted him yet do to other endevors. By the way I have also considered his fixed military blade,I cant stop dreaming about that one. You gota check it out! Aaron
 
Mr Atwood,

I don't recall a bottle opener on a stock painter's tool!!!

Nice job anyway!!

Michael
 
Hey Sharky, he gives priority to those who are willing to pay up front. For me that was about 5-6 months. Not too bad really.

C4, this is CUSTOM not stock. Gotta have a bottle opener!:D

Rob does the heat coloring in a 500 degree oven for several minutes. He says it's not an exact science, you just have to play around with it. He does seem to really care about his knives and customer satisfaction and that means a lot in my book.

I'm glad I ordered last year since I see that his prices have been nudged up a bit.
 
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