Randall Question

J

jersey jim

Joined
Oct 23, 2004
Messages
9
I posted this on the Custom knife forum but think I should have posted it here, sorry. I've been looking at some Randall made knives on ebay and am wondering if a knife has been refinished at the Randall shop is it marked as refinished?

Thanks
Jim
 
They turn them out as near to new as the knife will allow but they are not marked in any way.
 
They are not marked as such, but you can look for some clues if the pictures are good enough, just have to know what to look for. Rhett is pretty good at this, hopefully he will chime in.
 
I'm not sure if Rhett will weigh in, so I thought some input may be better than none. There are a few things I do / look for. Note that there are few "certainties" associated with this determination process:

1. If I have any concerns I ask the seller straight out knowing that a no response will not necessarily be Gospel.

2. The general condition of the blade should closely match that of the hilt, handle and sheath.

3. Typically a cleaned (refinished) knife will have left side of the Randall logo somewhat washed out. Note many older knives that have not been cleaned also exhibit this phenomenon due to hand stamping inconsistancy.

4. If the blade has been named etched and this etching is washed out, then I'm pretty certain it's been cleaned.

5. Sometimes the length of the blade will be reduced after being cleaned. Newer knives should have a blade length very close to Randall's original spec. The older the knife, the higher the probability of a length variation as originally ground.

6. The blade grind on knives produced 40-60 years ago were typically ground about 5 degrees off perpindicular. A contemporary refinished knife will usually be ground at a right angle to the plane of the blade.

7. If it's a Johnson sheath, the blade will sometimes exhibit a number of linear scratches matching up with the backside of the male snap keeper. If it's a Heiser sheath with a stone pocket, the blade should exhibit linear scratches matching up with one or two staples that Heiser used to position the stone pocket for sewing.

That's all I can think of for now. Maybe other people can add to this.

Regards,

Ron
 
Jim,

I arrived home late last night from the Pigeon Forge Knife Show in Tennessee. The knife would not be marked as refinished. If the knife is refinished at the Randall shop it does not seem to hurt the value of the knife if it was made after say, 1970. But a used sheath and a mint knife bring less money. Earlier knives, especially 1940 and 1950's knives, it hurts the value greatly as a knife that age, has a certain aged patina, that serious collectors look for. The actual look is hard to explain and something you just have to see. Find a collector that will show you some and try to get to know what to look for.

Or you can carry your favorite laboratory microscope with you and look for the tell-tale signs Mr. Mathews sees. But evidence of those marks do not hurt the value of the knife. If the cleaning was done yesterday, those marks will probably not be there. But if this was the fellows favorite knife, they may be if he was taking it out of the sheath a lot. Just having a little fun with Mr. Mathews for his "none reply " remark. But Friday when I looked I did not see this post here, as it must have still been on the Custom Forum.

Regards,

Rhett Stidham
 
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