Nice features on new A G Russell Ti Framelock..

There's only going to be 600 made?

I hope there's some left by this June,but I doubt it.:(


I'm sorry,I just skimmed through this thread.It's HUGE!:o
 
If Orient= Japan then 1/2 price is good. If Orient= either China then I would stick with the good old USA and pay $350. The way the $ is right now I would say it isn't Japan. Taiwan isn't that bad but it is going to be a long time before I would pay that kind of money and have Taiwan on my knife.
SG-2 is great steel, at least Kershaw's is. Will the new knife be a KAI product also?
 
A. G. Russell said:
I have now designed a 3.9 inch Frame Lock with a 2.95 inch blade. I can make this in the U. S. with ZDP at about $350 or I can go the the Orient and make it with SG-2 a powder metal like VG-10 at 59-61 Rc for about $150. Will you really pay over twice for U.S. made?
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Sal Glesser employs an interesting hybrid method on some knives where the core materials (S30V for example) are produced in the US and final assembly is "over there". I forget where he posted it, but it seems to work well at keeping pricing at reasonable levels while using US bred technology and materials innovations.

To answer your question, I'll probably pay some up-charge (maybe 25%?) for made in USA, but there should be a compelling reason - design, quality, limited quantity, etc. I prefer USA made products but not to the point of exclusivity.

Hypothetically, if the knife you mentioned costs $150 made in the Orient, my gut feeling is that I'd pay $200-250 for made in the USA. You could argue that Chris Reeve and a couple of others do it for in the $350+ range, and my only response would be longevity of product and the aftermarket demand. Knowing that the resale on a Sebenza or Strider is fairly high keeps buyers comfortable buying at these prices. It's one of the reasons Honda does so well charging premium prices for their cars.

Hope this helps. Again, thanks for the informal Q&A. Always a pleasure.
 
presz said:
If Orient= Japan then 1/2 price is good. If Orient= either China then I would stick with the good old USA and pay $350. The way the $ is right now I would say it isn't Japan. Taiwan isn't that bad but it is going to be a long time before I would pay that kind of money and have Taiwan on my knife.
SG-2 is great steel, at least Kershaw's is. Will the new knife be a KAI product also?
Click to expand...

If I did it in Japan I could probably use ZDP. There are Japanese makers who have moved their operations to Mainland China and they are using Japanese steels but not yet ZDP. After viewing the fantastic work they are doing I have designed three knives for them to do for us. A button lock, a lockback and perhaps the the framelock spoken of here.

First class work is not cheap no mater where it is done. When you buy titanium, carbon fiber and SG-2 it is hard to price it under $100 and make a living.
 
mqqn said:
Hi folks -

For what it's worth, to me the knife became more attractive when I found out it was made by Kershaw.
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Yeah, I feel the same way. Kershaw seems like a great, stand-up company with great products.
 
A. G. Russell said:
Well the first shipment came in Friday after I left the office. Today all orders are being processed and filled as fast as we can get the knives checked.

I hope that those of you who ordered this knife will report on them to the members here.
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Done, Mr. Russell -

Woot! I got my Acies today!

Wow - I love it!


The knife is beautiful with very smooth action, ZERO blade play, excellent lock up and the lock bar is very easy to move off of the tang for closing.

The thumb studs to seem to be the same ones used on the Blur - they are kinda sharp, but since the blade is so smooth it is not hard on your thumb like a blur is.

My blade is nicely centered and fit and finish are just perfect.

The clip does stick out further than I would like. That was my original impression - but now that I have played with the knife for a few hours and walked around with it in pocket - this clip is just fine. I wish it was a matte finish so it was not so flashy, but it is well designed and keeps the knife deep in your pocket yet ready at hand.

The A.G. Russell etch on the blade is classy and not garish or detracting from the looks of the knife. The tang area has ZDP-189 on it in smallish etch. Nice.

The blade itself is nicely finished, and it does have a swedge to it. My example is well sharpened, it can rough-shave the hair from my forearm.

The ball-detent retains the blade and snicks in giving nice feedback.

I REALLY like this knife - and I think it will be with me all the time now.

Nice job Mr. Russell - you really did well on the Acies!

Pictures added!

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best regards -

mqqn
 
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I learned four days ago that the knives DO NOT have the steel insert in the lock bar! Finally got in touch with the folks at Kershaw and learned that they were unable to make the steel insert work, that it would not unlock as well as the titanium face. I do not mind their making me the best possible knife, I just wish that they had let me know so I would not have put the wrong information in my catalog and on the net.
 
I posted this same thing in Testing and Reviews, but I'll post it here as well.

I'm confused. I see nothing in the description about any steel insert? What was this steel insert supposed to be or do? Is that what that divot is for on the inside of the lockbar? :confused::confused::confused:
 
A. G. Russell said:
I have now designed a 3.9 inch Frame Lock with a 2.95 inch blade. I can make this in the U. S. with ZDP at about $350 or I can go the the Orient and make it with SG-2 a powder metal like VG-10 at 59-61 Rc for about $150. Will you really pay over twice for U.S. made?
Click to expand...

I will pre-pay for the smaller, US-made version now, if you'll make it w/ the ZDP steel.
 
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