Pics of Knives You Hated Selling

[Fiddleback]

Two knives in my most recent batch really are hard to ship out. I'm still passionate about knives, so this isn't uncommon. I get into a specific knife because of some curve, or some wood grain as it comes through the process, then its hard to sell. My wife helps. She likes me to sell the knives. LOL.

I bet you guys run into this too, and I thought it would be an interesting thread if we all posted them as they came up. So, please post the knives you made/make/are to make that you were sorely tempted to keep. Be sure to list the specs!

Anyway here they are for me this week:

The first is my Bushfinger model. Its got a 4" blade, and 4.5" handle. The steel is 5/32" thick CPM 154, and the wood is stabalized Redwood burl. Convex sabergrind.

The second is this custom Recluse. Same bar of steel as above, same grind. Its wearing that sweet Red Oak that gets to me a lot lately. (stabalized)

 

[Raymond Richard]

Andy, I remember seeing you at Blade in 07. You've come quite a long ways in a short period of time. Nice looking knives!

 

[kingsqueak]

Can't blame you on those, the colors just popped on both aside from the really nice mill work.

 

[Fiddleback]

Andy, I remember seeing you at Blade in 07. You've come quite a long ways in a short period of time. Nice looking knives!

Thanks Ray. I can't imagine you remember me. I musta visited your table four times though. Your work really gets to me. I handed you the Osage handled Nessmuk in this pic. It was from this batch, which was my first.

Look at the big ole glue line you could see around the pin:

Man. Thank God I've come a little bit! Thats not pretty.

 

[Mike157]

All I can say is beautiful. Thank you for posting your photos. And I'm saving my pennies. I like the exposed tang also.
Mike

 

[Nathan the Machinist]

Wow Andy, you've become very accomplished.

 

[Robert Dark]

Andy has a style all his own. He makes some good looking stuff. I got to "Coon-Finger" several of his knives at Blade this year.

As far as knives that I hated to sell...........Man, I hate to sell any of them. Every time I ship one out, it seems that a little piece of me goes with it. If you ever visit my website and click on the Gallery or Gallery II, you can see all kinds of pics and specs..... Just keep in mind that I hated to let every one of them go.

What the heck...... I can't take-'em with me when I'm gone, so maybe some day, somewhere, someone will enjoy them.

Robert

 

[ctaylorjr]

Not one I hated to sell, but one I was AFRAID to GIVE!

This knife was made from a 40 something year old file that was my Great Great Uncle's and I wanted to make a knife for my 1st uncle from it. I modeled this knife from one he has in his collection. The knife I modeled this one from is in BAD shape.

I took a lot of pictures and then went to work. He was MORE than pleased with the knife and the olde pharte almost cracked a smile...

This is the first knife I made since getting out of the hobby in 1993...

THIS is the knife I DIDN'T want to give... I liked it a LOT and it is made from the tang and 3" of the same file... I made this one for my mother and modeled it after a carving of a knife she bought in Sweden back in the 70s. The carving is made from soapstone and is mostly one color.

Now, to answer your question, I haven't wanted to keep a knife I made to sell, yet!

Charlie

 

[Allen Newberry]

Well, I actually donated this one to the Arkansas Custom Knife Show, which will be in Feb. So I still get to look at it for a few more months. But, I really like this one!

 

[ctaylorjr]

Allen, That is a SWEET KNIFE!

That's the quality I am hoping to get to in my ventures...

Charlie

 

[kevin -the professor]

Allen - I really, really like that one!

I liked the first one in the thread a great deal, also.

Mine are not as nice in terms of having traditional lines, and the fit and finish has come a long ways since these... but I think the fact that they happened relatively early made them harder to part with.

Here are a couple for me - they were fairly early in my making and selling, and I did not want to part because they have composite construction and though they don't look like a modern knife they are actually close to some historical examples in shape. I was so surprised that I got composite pattern welding to work back then, I wanted to keep all of it. Now, I just keep each one and marvel at it and play with it for a couple of weeks before I send it out.

My wife helped with that, too!

Kevin

 

[hoopster]

This Fiddleback Nessmuk.

It was a joy to use in the kitchen but not really a true kitchen knife so I was forced to sell it due to medical bills. My intention is to eventually replace it with a Woodsman or Hunter.

I also sold a Spyderco Caly3cf that I couldn't justify keeping. What a sweet knife.

 

[Fiddleback]

As far as knives that I hated to sell...........Man, I hate to sell any of them. Every time I ship one out, it seems that a little piece of me goes with it. If you ever visit my website and click on the Gallery or Gallery II, you can see all kinds of pics and specs..... Just keep in mind that I hated to let every one of them go.

What the heck...... I can't take-'em with me when I'm gone, so maybe some day, somewhere, someone will enjoy them.

Robert

It was a great pleasure to meet you at the show Robert. I agree, its a nice feeling that somebody is going to enjoy them. Its just not fun on shipping day!

Now, to answer your question, I haven't wanted to keep a knife I made to sell, yet!

Charlie

Looks to me like your work is outstanding, and soon, every knife will hurt to ship!!

WOW!!! Allen, I love looking at your work. Very original pieces.

Allen - I really, really like that one!

I liked the first one in the thread a great deal, also.

Mine are not as nice in terms of having traditional lines, and the fit and finish has come a long ways since these... but I think the fact that they happened relatively early made them harder to part with.

Here are a couple for me - they were fairly early in my making and selling, and I did not want to part because they have composite construction and though they don't look like a modern knife they are actually close to some historical examples in shape. I was so surprised that I got composite pattern welding to work back then, I wanted to keep all of it. Now, I just keep each one and marvel at it and play with it for a couple of weeks before I send it out.

My wife helped with that, too!

Kevin

I still have my very first try at knifemaking. Still like cutting with it. Ugly as hell though...

 

[Rusty McDonald]

Didnt want to but had to....

 

[R.H.Clark]

I really wanted to keep this one myself,maby because it is the nicest knife I ever owned.It is a 1095 Sambar Stag 4" hunter.It was one of the first blades I forged,ground and heat treated on my own.It was also my first inlayed sheath.Maby it's just hard to sell firsts.http://

 

[ballknives]

Hey guys no need to worry about urges to keep certain knives. I have kept several as milestone momentos in my knifemaking journey. I have my first fixed,folder,linerlock,auto and 1 or 2 others I couldn't part with.Here is a pic of a large fighter that also became my first scrimshaw project. The scrim was done by Linda Karst Stone and this knife is a keeper for me. Sorry I dont have a good pic with the two combined.

 

[Michael Lovett]

I know what yo mean. I would have liked to take this one to the woods a few times. It's a small little knife called the Mini Semi Skinner. I got the pattern from Bob a few years back.

Mike
Maker
The Loveless Connection Knives

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[DanGraves]

Boy I know what you guy's mean as I hated to let this one go. The handle is fossil Walrus tusk tip that the inuit indian had cut off perfectly which created a talered end on the tip that sat out in the weather for years. All Damascus fittings. I loved that knife. Oh well......

 

[bacustomknives]

WELL THIS WAS A ONE OF,HEAT BLUED , ROBERT EGGERLING QUILTED PATTERN MOSAIC DAMASCUS BLADE ,GREEN FOSSIL GIRAFFE BONE ,ABALONE INLAY,THE GOOD THING OUT OF IT ALL, IT MADE A TV APPREARENCE, ON THE SATURDAY NIGHT KNIFE AND GUN SHOW, SOLD IMMEDIATLY FOR $999.00:thumbup: I BELEIVE IT ENDED UP IN TEXAS

 

[Rick Baum]

I recently posted this first one which I shipped to my buddy that deployed to Afghanistan. He's going to Helmand Province to try to convince poppy growers to switch to something else... The handle and balance was so nice that I had to have an extra week with it before I let it go. It's 13 1/2" OA with an 8 1/2" blade of 5160. The blade thickness is 1/4" at the guard with a nice distal taper to the tip. The handle is home-made "Micarta" that was made from a set of my buddies BDU's that he wore during his first tour of Afghanistan. It has a copper guard that I patina'd to reduce glare.

The next knife I build is going to have to be an Umbilical Cord cutter for just such occasions.

The other knife is a Sendero styled bird and trout that turned out so nice that I might just have to keep it. Finished to a rubbed 400 grit. It too is forged from 5160 and has a curly Koa handle. It only weighs 2 oz.