Old guys and their pen knives.

bdws1975 said:
Thanks for your kind words. I was looking at your profile and noticed you are a retired machinist. My pop and my oldest brother are both machinists. Both learned it in the service. Pop is retired (74 years old) and my bro still works in a shop (50 yo).
I respect both of them for the amazing work they did/do. I am proud of my heritage and am now very entrenched in their lives again. It feels good to 'be home' again.

Best to you,
Brett
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You're welcome, Brett.

I learned some of the fundementals of machining in the army engineers. There was a small machine shop where they did tool regrinding among other things, and I was facinated by the Bridgeport milling machine they had in there. When I was involved in a construction accident that broke up my right ankle and foot pretty bad, and the review board decieded that I was unfit for further service, they tossed me out on a medical discharge. The Veterns Administration got me into a apprentice program for machinists when I got home. It was'nt bad for a second choice carreer, but it was'nt the army. With a wife and a child with another on the way I could'nt be choosy.

I went through some depression, and it was my family that was behind me all the way. I had this tough old Irish grandfather who booted me in the butt literally, and told me to get on with life and stop moping around just because I could'nt be in the army anymore. He put me to work on his boat and did'nt cut me any slack at all. Even though the doctors at Walter Reed Army Hospital here in Washington told me I'd never walk without a cane again, grandad made it happen. At least for a while. He'd tell me to forward to give his man Jackson a hand, and when I hesitated with my cane, he told me to "put the God-----d cane down and go give him a hand!"

Abord the Lady Anne, don't even think of not obeying an order from the master.

In a couple of months I was walking better than the therapists at Walter Reed had me doing. Maybe a swaying deck is good therepy. But I had good old Irish stuborness going for me. Grandad had come from being a dirt poor Irish immirant to owning his own boat, and he was not about to let me quit. The Irish can be a headstrong lot.

Be pround of your heritage, and take some of the best lessons of the past from it. It makes us who we are.
 
jackknife said:
You're welcome, Brett.

I learned some of the fundementals of machining in the army engineers. There was a small machine shop where they did tool regrinding among other things, and I was facinated by the Bridgeport milling machine they had in there. When I was involved in a construction accident that broke up my right ankle and foot pretty bad, and the review board decieded that I was unfit for further service, they tossed me out on a medical discharge. The Veterns Administration got me into a apprentice program for machinists when I got home. It was'nt bad for a second choice carreer, but it was'nt the army. With a wife and a child with another on the way I could'nt be choosy.

I went through some depression, and it was my family that was behind me all the way. I had this tough old Irish grandfather who booted me in the butt literally, and told me to get on with life and stop moping around just because I could'nt be in the army anymore. He put me to work on his boat and did'nt cut me any slack at all. Even though the doctors at Walter Reed Army Hospital here in Washington told me I'd never walk without a cane again, grandad made it happen. At least for a while. He'd tell me to forward to give his man Jackson a hand, and when I hesitated with my cane, he told me to "put the God-----d cane down and go give him a hand!"

Abord the Lady Anne, don't even think of not obeying an order from the master.

In a couple of months I was walking better than the therapists at Walter Reed had me doing. Maybe a swaying deck is good therepy. But I had good old Irish stuborness going for me. Grandad had come from being a dirt poor Irish immirant to owning his own boat, and he was not about to let me quit. The Irish can be a headstrong lot.

Be pround of your heritage, and take some of the best lessons of the past from it. It makes us who we are.
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Gosh, I totally agree. My family are Pennsylvania Dutch and are a hard-headed, goofy bunch. I can't tell you how much of a joy it has been to reconnect after so long and realize where I get so many of my traits. It's been amazing.

As a matter of fact, when my wife and I got off the plan in Las Vegas to see my dad after 25 years of absence, my dad was there to greet us. After we got back to the hotel room (I didn't want to overstep my welcome by staying with them the first time I saw him in so long) my wife said 'Oh my god Brett, I now know where you get your humor and your looks.' It was actually the greatest joy for me to finally know where I came from. I will never let the connection be broken again.

As a matter of fact, I am buying tickets today to go back to PA for new year's holiday to see my family again. This includes by two brothers (half brothers), their families and my Aunt Gladys. She is about the kookiest and neatest lady you could meet.

Anyway, I am overjoyed to be able to have this discussion on a knife forum.

BTW, I took my Queen D2 to my fav knife shop today and had it reprofiled. Guy there likes me and did it for free. The Queen I bought is now sharp as heck and it a good little knife. No play whatsoever in the blade and a great f&f.

Of course, I had to buy a S&M 1992 trapper while I was there.

Best,
Brett
 
sunnyd said:
James,
Yours as well is also oh so sweet, in fact, you have an absolutely stunning collection all the way around!. And, I see I am not the only one buying Mr. Davison's fine custom slippie's.. And I love those vintage Bob Cargill's too.

Thanks Guys for sharing.
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Just discovered Todd's slippies, Very nice indeed. I appreciate the kind words on the collection. It did not start out as a collection, I just bought knives I like to carry, so most of my production knives have been carried at one time or another, somewhere along the way in the past 40 years, I decided to start NOT to carry every knife, I guess WT Fuller had something to do with that, his were so expensive to me at the time, I did not have the desire to mess them up. So, now here I am 20 + years later and still collecting. I do carry some William Henry's just cause I like the size and feel, but none of their collectible stuff of which I have some. Got to get some new shots of display, cause of all the new stuff showing up. BTW for a new slippie man on the forum, check out Mike Tison's work, hobby now, but destined for better things and recognition. His fit and finish are as good as any. Including Harvey's and WT's

I will add my thanks to everyone for all the great stories, a real pleasure to read.
James
 
This is my first day on this sight and I think I found teh best possible thread. Thanks for talking about your dads and Grandfathers and their knives. It reminded me of my grandfather and his old Imperial Barlow and Old timer stockman, which did about every job and was used to fix most of my toys growing up. Strange as it sounds, I equate carrying a pocketknife to being a "real" man. Most men used them as part of a hard honest day's living when I grew up. I took my 8 year old to get his first knife today at a gun show. I hope he ends up a real workin' man. Thanks again for this thread.:)
 
jvong, welcome to the "Folksy" forum as it has been called. There are some great people here and sometimes the talk gets a little side tracked from knives, but it seems to work. Feel free to jump in with any old family stories that may have some loose conection to traditional knives and the things that seem to go along with them.
 
I just bought this Case xx trapper last week- I had a 4" old timer trapper that i can't wear on my belt at work 'beacuse it is not an approved knife' and it's too big to keep in my pocket. but when i saw this beauty in the case at the local hardware store i got it. i guess the older i get the love of a classic design prevails and i almost detest anything tactical.
knife025.jpg
 
CorpsmanUP! said:
I just bought this Case xx trapper last week- I had a 4" old timer trapper that i can't wear on my belt at work 'beacuse it is not an approved knife' and it's too big to keep in my pocket. but when i saw this beauty in the case at the local hardware store i got it. i guess the older i get the love of a classic design prevails and i almost detest anything tactical.
knife025.jpg
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Funny, but I am beginning to really dig the traditional pocket slippies. I have always been into tactical folders but have recently begun to change in my taste.

Not entirely sure why, but I think it has something to do with my growing annoyance at our 'drama' culture.

Have a great day,
Brett
 
bdws1975 said:
Funny, but I am beginning to really dig the traditional pocket slippies. I have always been into tactical folders but have recently begun to change in my taste.

Not entirely sure why, but I think it has something to do with my growing annoyance at our 'drama' culture.

Have a great day,
Brett
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My taste has changed over the years.Started out with a Gerber Mark 2 or similar boot,Rolox,Al Mar big midlock, Then I found custom Knives,and aquired a few of those.My attention shifted to traditional and antique where it has remained.I do like the new Tacticals, I have a few,Kershaw Ken Onion Whirlwind,Benchmade CQC Emerson Tanto,Non tactical Spyderco Turzola, and a Gerber liner lock.Nothing can replace a nice old fashioned slip joint knife.
 
There is a time when all the whiz-bang, low drag, high speed, way cool stuff seems to be all there is worth looking at. Be it knives, guns, cars, etc.. Then you start getting tired of all the glitz and hoopla and being shouted at from every angle how you aren't cool, can't be a real man, and won't stand a chance unless you have the newest, biggest, baddest, whazzamahozit. You start to realize that .45 Colt, .45 ACP, and other "Old" cartridges still go THWAP when they hit something and they still put a major hurt on bad guys when the shooter actually hits where he's supposed to. You notice that old fellow in the old truck has been driving it for an awfully long time, but you don't recall ever seeing him on the side of the road, unless he wanted to be. Along the way he is sure to have replaced a few things, or had this or that rebuilt. However, he paid for that old truck years ago and the cost of upkeep has been a heck of a lot less over the years than the payments of buying a new truck every two years. And those traditional knives? You start to become aware of how carry friendly they are and that they seem to have some soul to them. Kind of like a trusty old friend you can carry around in your pocket. Oh yeah, and man, do they cut!

Yup. As we age, what impresses us changes a bit. The forms we favor change a little bit, or a lot. And we start to have higher expectations of function, and the form it comes in.

When I try to go back to some of my thick knives, especially my fixed blades, I get frustrated. They are sharp, even shaving sharp. But with those thick blades they just won't cut as slick, clean, or fast as those thinner, traditional blades that guys who spent most of their lives outdoors using them all the time counted on.
 
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