Randall 2-8 fit and finish

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Hermit_Knight

Joined
Mar 19, 2018
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Hey guys and gals I’m lucky enough to be able to get a Randall model 2-8 but I’ve been told they can come quite dull and the tips are rounded, it would be a safe queen but still I’d like it to come reasonably sharp for the price. Any experiences? Thanks!
 
I have a brand new Model 14 from the Fat Man in Florida. It came embarrassingly dull, and the tip is indeed blunt. You can run your finger down the blade, and not get cut. You can poke yourself in the palm, and it wont puncture. The blade looks like it was polished with a Brillo pad. They are not .25 thick. More like .20 thick. As far as custom knives go......Randall's are crudely made. I hope yours comes to you in good shape. Good luck.

Edit: I want to clarify. In my opinion MY Randall is crudely made. I'm not impressed at all. I feel that I got a turd. I don't want to say that all Randall's are crude, but mine is. In regards to the "custom" comment that I made I figured that since they are all hand forged/hand made that come with many options that put them into the custom category.
 
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I have a 5-6, a 12-9 14, and had/sold a 16 special fighter... all were sharp and pointy, and hold up well to regular use, per my experience.
 
scottyj said:
I have a brand new Model 14 from the Fat Man in Florida. It came embarrassingly dull, and the tip is indeed blunt. You can run your finger down the blade, and not get cut. You can poke yourself in the palm, and it wont puncture. The blade looks like it was polished with a Brillo pad. They are not .25 thick. More like .20 thick. As far as custom knives go......Randall's are crudely made. I hope yours comes to you in good shape. Good luck.
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It seems people’s Randall’s come either dull or sharp and perhaps it’s a bit of a gamble, I hope it’s sharp I mean I could reprofile it but I’d rather it come sharp for the price! I’ll let you all know in the next week what the fit and finish is like.
Regards Hermit.
 
I'm not going to argue with you that for the price you've paid, you deserve a sharp knife, however, I will argue with you that with the knife you purchased, you didn't buy it because it was "the best" in regards to materials and fit/finish.

A Randal is just that. It's an absolute classic. I live a few hours down the road from their HQ. I can remember seeing a crudely drawn sign in front of their shop back when I worked in Orlando. I had no idea I was in the presence of a legend.
 
scottyj said:
I have a brand new Model 14 from the Fat Man in Florida. It came embarrassingly dull, and the tip is indeed blunt. You can run your finger down the blade, and not get cut. You can poke yourself in the palm, and it wont puncture. The blade looks like it was polished with a Brillo pad. They are not .25 thick. More like .20 thick. As far as custom knives go......Randall's are crudely made. I hope yours comes to you in good shape. Good luck.
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I'm not sure Randalls would meet the definition of a "custom" knife as I think they are made in a production shop. I'd be interested in other opinions on this. My idea of a custom is one or maybe two people building knives. I don't own a Randall but have seen some nice ones and some that looked awkward to use. --KV
 
Randall's classified more as handmade, Benchmade as opposed to custom. I've purchased about 9 Randall's since 1987. A few over the last ten years. I never had a dull or crudely made Randall. I think the lemons are not that common
 
I visited the shop about 10 years ago. They sharpen the final edge for each knife by hand on a stone. You could see it from the entrance. My friends fishing knife is sharp enough.
 
1982 Model 14
2011 Model 14
2017 Model 1-7
2018 Model 12-9

All highly satisfactory, the two I bought new are perfectly sharp.
 

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The OP hasn't logged in since May 2019...
I wonder if he was happy with his Model 2.
(This thread being dragged up gives me an excuse to unwrap mine for a picture)
 
hhmoore said:
The OP hasn't logged in since May 2019...
I wonder if he was happy with his Model 2.
(This thread being dragged up gives me an excuse to unwrap mine for a picture)
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If he ordered it directly from Randall it hasn’t shipped yet.
 
Sorry. My bad! I was going by post 1, it looked like he already ordered it.

My mind didn’t connect post 5&8 with the OP, because he said that WValtakis WValtakis picture in post 2 convinced him to order one. After he already ordered it? Maybe it was posted in another thread first?

Anyway you are correct, pictures and a review are way over due. Unless he backed out of the deal and did not want to admit it?
 
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