Once more... Swivel Knives

O

Omega Leather Works

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Jun 13, 2007
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Really need one. The one I had caked the bed so on to new and better things.

Questions

Which knife?

Normally, just seeing the $50 price tag for the brass/bearing equipped Barry King, it would be a no-brainer. The thing is, it doesn't use standard/Tandy blades. Unfortunately they don't offer a hollow ground blade.

Which blade?

This I'm really unsure about. I'd like to try a hollow ground, but I don't know the positives and negatives of any of them. I didn't like how thick the stock blade was I know they can be purchased thinner.

Any advice? I'm looking at some black Japanese knives and they look quite nice.
 
I'm in the same boat as you, but we have absolutely no choice locally, so it's import for me.......
 
You know I'm gonna say the BK. Should of had you play with ours while you were here. Alll of BK's blades are hollow ground. I'd get a 3/8" blade that will cover 90 percent of what we do any ways.
 
I have had a couple of Robert Beard swivel knives for several years. They are relatively expensive but the bearing system makes them smooth and easy to operate. The blades are available in every width and grind I know of and they are standard fit. The BK knives are probably equal in quality and while the blade shafts are proprietary to his barrels, he does offer blades only, in the standard shaft, as well so you can use just his blades in almost any swivel knife. I have a couple of his standard shaft bead blades in much cheaper knives.

Paul
 
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What about the wrangler knives? A shop over here markets them as exclusive distribution at quite high prices. We are talking 150€+
Az one point or another I will have to get one myself, though I am currently expanding on my stamp collection and focusing on that. The few cuts I make are done with a niolox kiridashi.
 
If you are referring to Leather Wrangler brand knives, then yes, his are high quality also and while I am not familiar with the value of the Euro, $150 USD would be very reasonable for a knife and blade. His selection of round and utility knives is also of superior quality. He is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Link below so you can research at your leisure.

http://www.leatherwranglers.com/products.html

Edit to add: I just got off the phone with Paul at Leather Wranglers buying a couple of diamond stones to sharpen my knives and he said he does, in fact, have a retail store in Germany carrying his products so it is probably a Leather Wrangler brand you are looking at. Considering shipping etc. I would think the 150 Euros would be very much in line with the pricing you could expect if you bought it here and had it shipped. Comparatively speaking for the quality you will get, it is a good deal.

Paul
 
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according to the currency calculator online, 150 Euro is approx 170.00 USD

Way over my budget, but very nice indeed.

The wacky color anodizing reminds me of Tatoo machines. Kind of Hollywood in my eye.
 
sheathmaker said:
If you are referring to Leather Wrangler brand knives, then yes, his are high quality also and while I am not familiar with the value of the Euro, $150 USD would be very reasonable for a knife and blade. His selection of round and utility knives is also of superior quality. He is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. Link below so you can research at your leisure.

http://www.leatherwranglers.com/products.html

Edit to add: I just got off the phone with Paul at Leather Wranglers buying a couple of diamond stones to sharpen my knives and he said he does, in fact, have a retail store in Germany carrying his products so it is probably a Leather Wrangler brand you are looking at. Considering shipping etc. I would think the 150 Euros would be very much in line with the pricing you could expect if you bought it here and had it shipped. Comparatively speaking for the quality you will get, it is a good deal.

Paul
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thank you very much for clearing things up and sorry for not being more precise (i only had my cell phone with me, was busy at an expo).
http://www.ledermacher.de/produktansicht.php?id=1140&kat=36&ukat=91
it is without a blade but it is also "only" 130€. while i really believe it to be a great tool, it is also beyond my price range, especially as i am not into carving (yet).
it seems this is really the german distributor (also the one which i will get my barry king maul from) and the carry the other knives in s35vn as well (http://www.ledermacher.de/produktansicht.php?id=1140&kat=36&ukat=91).
it is actually also the very same shop i get basically all my stuff from and which might be able to get me pro carv and quick slik... they are currently checking. a very helpful bunch and always very nice contact.
 
Good web site and I assume and equally good shop. There are a couple of good alternative knives on that site which are a little more budget priced. The Barry King knives should be considered, but remember they only use Barry King Blades and the blades are not interchangeable with other knives. Also the Black Craft Japan knives look pretty good for the price. I am surprised that many of them do not come with "your choice" of blade at the listed price. Almost all vendors in the USA include the blade with the knife, in fact, I can't think of one who doesn't.

Paul
 
well i guess they want to sort of "give you the freedom" of choosing yourself... which amounts to the same price wise i guess. i am looking at the craft japan knives as a possible choice as well... waiting for my tax refunds ;)
 
vilePossum let us know what you decide on. When Anthony was here I got to see some of your work. Nice job. Intrigued by the molding at the bottom of the folder sheath. Interesting. Nice little knife too!
 
Thank you very much for your kind words. I saw that kind of molding in a video which use it as bottom stop for additional items attached via loops at the side of the knife. Anthony gave me a short report via email about his visit at your place. So awesome. Quite an honor to have you inspect my work.
 
Kyoshin Elle have 3 models, the difference being the width of the barrel. All 3 are height adjustable.

Goods Japan, to me, is a great resource for international orders. Their tools are supposed to be excellent (I'm very happy with the few tools I've bought myself) and the prices are very reasonable. Expedited shipping is cheap and smart.

Only thing I don't like is that they aren't super clear about certain things. They sell 3 different types of stamps, chrome plated, black (oxide?) and stainless steel. I can't figure out which are which.

Anyway, $33 for the above swivel knife seems like a good buy to me.
 
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well, i already sent you an email about this topic, and if i get around to purchasing it i will go with the craft japan swivel knife, which seems fairly similiar to what you posted.
on a side note, my favorite leather retailer now opened a real walk in store a two hour drive away... my wife will be so pissed. :)
also, i think there was a thread about different swivel knife blades or some mention of it, i can't seem to find it though. the way it seems to me most people will prefer a hollow ground blade?
 
vilePossum said:
well, i already sent you an email about this topic, and if i get around to purchasing it i will go with the craft japan swivel knife, which seems fairly similiar to what you posted.
on a side note, my favorite leather retailer now opened a real walk in store a two hour drive away... my wife will be so pissed. :)
also, i think there was a thread about different swivel knife blades or some mention of it, i can't seem to find it though. the way it seems to me most people will prefer a hollow ground blade?
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Florian, I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. Took a few steps backward in healing, but that's enough of that.

Yeah man, I think whatever you get from CJ is going to be high quality. Kind of what I think Tandy would have been like when they were selling US made tools. I'm comfortable buying sight unseen from CraftJapan, at least from the top brands, Craft Sha, Kyoshin Elle and Seiwa. Not sure about their chems and other supplies because good quality products are commonly available here.

I'd love to see the thread that mentions hollow ground blades. There was some talk a while back about the ceramic and ruby blades, but I don't recall anything about a hollow grind. I'd like to try the non-steel blades. The ruby blades are pretty expensive being new old stock, but you can find a bunch of ceramic blades on ebay in a few configurations. Even if they come dull (not filigree) I can sharpen them like I do with some of my ceramic kitchen knives.

Whatever happens I'll look forward to a review on whichever swivel knife you buy. I trust your opinion.
 
I mentioned the hollow ground blades, but Paul struck it down as not necessary. I'm still intrigued by them though and will get a couple eventually.

The ruby blades are interesting as well, but hard to find and expensive, dont drop it. Same with the ceramic. Tandy used to carry ceramic blades but they didnt sell well and got dropped.
 
I've had both the ruby and the ceramic. I use steel now for whatever thats worth. I can do more, better with the steel. I think the advantage/selling point of the other two is edgeholding ability. How big an issue is that really in cased leather?
 
That and its so easy to touch up that blade it makes the extra cost redundant. I have that little roller attachment to keep the right angle and its a piece of cake. The most I've ever had to do was my white ceramic to polish it up nice.

I think (yea, take that with a grain of salt) that the key is a nice polished blade to slide smoothly through the leather.
 
Dwayne, I've been thinking about the hollow grind blades, and the main reason I think they are unnecessary is because the part of the blade that actually does the work is not hollow ground and by the time you sharpen it up to the hollow grind line, you are either too old to use it, or it's too old to use…..but I really can't back up my opinion with facts…..it's just my opinion.

Oh yeah, I've had a couple of hollow ground blades and I really could could not discern any real difference or advantage, but they do work okay. I use just the regular ground blades now and have for years.

Paul
 
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