Pleasant Surprises!

Bloodloss

Bloodloss

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I think many of us, from time to time, come across a knife that totally exceeds our expectations. This can happen in different ways, like being a good value for the dollar or fit and finish being better than we expected. Maybe you've even made a knife a bit of a project (intentionally or unintentionally 😉) and it came out even better than you could have imagined. Making this phenomenon even more rare and satisfying, is when you end up really liking the knife because it just clicks with you, thus earning it a higher status in your collection.

This thread is for sharing those pleasant surprises with everyone. If you have any, post 'em up and tell us about them.
 
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Last year, I came across this Castillo Torre for what I thought was a good price. I pulled the trigger because the materials, color and size suited me, and I wanted to try a European lockback.
https://imgur.com/a/aFVZvJy

My initial impression was that it was a solid knife of just the size I prefer.

https://imgur.com/a/h3rWUsZ

However, there were some shortcomings. The tip sat proud and there was side play. I was able to remedy all that by the usual methods and the knife was ready for action.

A minor gripe, the hollow grind is not perfectly even on both sides, giving the appearance of a slightly bent tip, but the blade appears centered well overall. Also, there are some small voids in the linen micarta material. Not really a big deal.

The blade doesn't really snap closed, but if you close it slowly, it will close on its own the last 20° or so. Although very easy to open, it doesn't come open in the pocket. I can hold the knife by the blade and give it a shake and it stays closed.

https://imgur.com/a/9rzpg2k

The design on the liners is a nice touch. Not quite what I would call coined, does this design have a name? It was a mess with polishing compound from the factory though, and I assume pocket junk will collect there as well.

https://imgur.com/a/RT8W789

Very comfortable and fits me nicely!

https://imgur.com/a/YcZZrwy

Overall, this knife turned out better than I anticipated and I really connect with it. It was well worth the time tinkering with it. It's no beauty queen and it will never be worth big bucks, but there's just something about it that makes it a very satisfying knife to own and use. If y'all know that feeling, you know what I mean.
 
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For me it was Bear and Sons wharncliffe barlow. Very good build quality, easily better than my recent Case knives, and nice materials. So good that I bought a second one.

I’ve been reluctant to post as I fear the gatekeepers will be along to buy them all up and flip for higher prices. Get ‘em while you can.
 
I have bought a lot of GEC's but this one just blew me away when I first saw it .
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But this Remington Daddy Barlow , made by GEC , IMHO is just a beautiful knife . A very plain and simple knife in appearance but with every thing done just right . I should have bought a dozen of them .
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Harry
 
Oh, good ones, Harry! The camel bone 87 seems like a very special run. I'd love to handle one of those. I agree with you about the Cowboy, those turned out very nice!
 
This is fun! Cool thread.

I have two that really blew me away as far as what I expected VS what they are. Both are Chinese manufactured and both were somewhere around the same price.

This is the French broad jack from Rosecraft and it's just unbelievable. D2 and bright red bone. Stainless liners and bolsters. Perfect action. Just great.



QSP Hedgehog has a razor sharp (literally) hollow ground 14C28N blade. Awesome micarta scales. Nice size. If I wasn't completely in love with the case sowbelly I'd probably carry this everyday. Fit, finish, action, etc is absolutely perfect.

 
Case Large Texas Jack
It is not a knife that I would have ever even dreamed of ordering for myself. I like 3-1/2 inch Jacks, not those Big 'Uns.
But I've had two of them sent to me as gifts, and I have to say they have become my absolute favorite Jacks. I'd have never known if it wasn't for Porch Generosity.
 
Some years back, Ken Erickson and I were having a phone conversation and he mentioned to me that he couldn't figure out what he wanted to build next. I started flipping through an old Remington catalog while we spoke, and then sent him an illustration of a locking whittler I had come across.
I told him, "If you want a challenge, build that. That should keep you going for a while." And then I promptly forgot about it.

Ken and I were planning on meeting up at the Blade Show that year, (he had been to our home previously), and I told him I'd see him in a few months.

Anyway, I went up to his room on the Thursday evening before the show opened and he told me he had something he wanted to show me.

And this is what he had up his sleeve...

(To say that I was 'stunned' would be to minimize my amazement...)


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Built entirely from scratch without any plans or blueprints. It shows Ken's true creative genius. I can point to others of Ken's that I could say similar things about...but this was just a jaw dropping achievement imho, considering it was built from looking at an old black and white illustration from a catalog.
 
I bought this one via the 'bay years ago. I've always liked the aesthetics of the old-school Folding Hunter patterns from Case, Schrade / Old Timer, Queen and others. This one was used but obviously well taken care of by who knows how many previous owners, before I bought it. Didn't have to pay something outrageous for it, because it wasn't 'mint' anymore. I knew going in, the size & bulk of these patterns would likely make them less than practical for my simple EDC needs. But the classic lines made these some of the most aesthetically beautiful Traditional patterns I've seen, with a history going back maybe a hundred years or more.

What REALLY SURPRISED me, with this particular one, was how absolutely beautifully it sharpened up. I put my own edges on it - I think I initially used a guided sharpener for the main clip blade. And then sometime later, I free-handed the secondary skinner blade to a thinly convexed profile, using SiC sandpaper over a hard backing (glass or granite, I don't remember). But BOTH blades took screaming-sharp & wicked paper towel-slicing edges and HELD them with repeated use. Might be the best-sharpening blades I own to this day, both in ease of sharpening and in steady, consistent performance.

It's a 1965 Case 6265 SAB Folding Hunter, in their old carbon/cv steel (though not stamped as 'CV' back then). The frame is a throwback to the 'XX' era with the deeper recess just aft of the front bolster. And the 'USA' stamping on the tang, in tandem with the XX era frame, indicates a transition between the XX era (1940 - '64) and the 'USA' era (1965 - '69), which is why I'm sure it dates very closely to the year 1965. I carry this one everyday now, just because it feels so right to have it in my pocket. And I was able to make it my very own, with reshaped edges I'm proud of.
hjNtBgn.jpg
 
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JohnDF said:
Case Large Texas Jack
It is not a knife that I would have ever even dreamed of ordering for myself. I like 3-1/2 inch Jacks, not those Big 'Uns.
But I've had two of them sent to me as gifts, and I have to say they have become my absolute favorite Jacks. I'd have never known if it wasn't for Porch Generosity.
Click to expand...
That thing is gorgeous - that bone is spectacular! Thank you for sharing.

I had a 92 some years back when I was younger. I swapped it off in a trade and I have been looking ever since for one. I got out of that bad habit (swapping)... and I still regret it after 20 years!
 
I too choose the Case XX 65 pattern Folding Hunter. I started out thinking it wasn't very attractive, but having a slight interest. I ended up with the one I have when I made a knife display board. I was telling a local person about it, who worked at the Ace Hardware in town. He's a big knife guy too, so I ended up taking the board to show him and he offered to trade me any two knives out of the display for it. He said he had some points built up and that he got a discount. Of the knives in the display, there was only a couple that struck my fancy, one being the Folding Hunter. I got to choose between 5 or 6 and I picked the best for centering, jigging, a polish.

I have carried it nearly constantly for 2 years now. It displaced a Buck 110, which I thought was nearly perfect. I still occasionally rotate in a Buck 192 for a belt knife. The Folding Hunter is on my side right now. I want to find an older CV model as a companion to my new SS version.

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JM2 said:
That thing is gorgeous - that bone is spectacular!
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Thank you. :)
JM2 said:
I had a 92 some years back when I was younger. I swapped it off in a trade and I have been looking ever since for one. I got out of that bad habit (swapping)... and I still regret it after 20 years!
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Good Luck in your search, they are really getting hard to find. I'm hoping they will be a Vault Pattern some day.
 
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SharpBits said:
For me it was Bear and Sons wharncliffe barlow. Very good build quality, easily better than my recent Case knives, and nice materials. So good that I bought a second one.

I’ve been reluctant to post as I fear the gatekeepers will be along to buy them all up and flip for higher prices. Get ‘em while you can.
Click to expand...
Absolutely! I haven't bought a second yet, but it's a nice one.
 
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