- Joined
- Oct 2, 1998
- Messages
- 1,874
I recently had the pleasure of working with Washington maker Ray Rogers on a little folder project. After another forumite posted pics of a Rogers folder, I check out his website and liked what I saw. Ray works with a wide variety of steels (ATS-34, BG-42, CPM stuff, carbon steels, etc
), does both stock removal and forging, works with just about any handle materials, makes many different types of knives (folders, fixed blades, hunters, tacticals, kitchen
), loves to share his knowledge (check out his shop tour and tutorials on his site), and readily accepts a challenge. Hell also work with you on any type of blade shape, grind, and stock thickness you desire. He does his own heat treat and cryo quenching as well. And to top it all off, his prices are outstanding.
I was in the market for a new every day carry folder, and really liked his Companion folder, but wanted to make a few modifications. After many e-mails back and forth, and Ray actually sending me his daily carry Companion to check out in person (how many makers will do that?!?!) I finally decided on the following configuration a drop point blade with a full hollow grind, tan G-10 handles, integral bolsters, and a 3 3/8" BG-42 blade. I was basically looking for a pocket scalpel, so he started with 1/8 stock and surface ground it down to 3/32 for me. I also wanted dual thumb studs and an integral lock. Since he had never done an integral lock before, I sent him pictures of several integrals a Sebenza, Carson Model 4, an Elishewitz, and a BM Pinnacle for him to get the idea, then sent one of my personal knives for him to inspect in person.
Here was the end result:
<CENTER>
Ray Rogers Integral Companion
<A HREF="http://home.carolina.rr.com/senator/images/Ray_Rogers_Companion.jpg"> <IMG SRC="http://home.carolina.rr.com/senator/images/Ray_Rogers_Companion_small.jpg"border="3"> </A>
</CENTER>
See more pics here.
The knife has been my daily carry for several weeks now. Here are some initial observations
The first thing you notice is the tan G-10. Its terrific looking. You dont see it on every other knife, and its more people-friendly than most black tactical-looking pieces. There are a couple of grooves milled into the handles for extra traction, and to provide a nice aesthetic touch. The titanium bolsters have a brushed satin finish on them that will be easy to refinish myself when I feel the need. A really nice feature is the fact that the bolsters are of integral construction. The bolsters and liner are one piece with space milled out for the handle material of choice. The bolsters are also slanted, another nice touch. Ray mills out a recess in G-10 at the butt-end of the knife, so that the titanium pocket clip sits flush where it attaches with two torx screws to the handle. The clip holds the knife securely in place in your pocket. There is a black (G-10?) half-length backspacer, which provides overall strength and rigidity.
Upon picking it up, you notice how thin and light it is. Its only 3/8 thick, and light enough not to be noticed when its clipped to your pocket. The ball detent is the best Ive ever seen. Being a tip-up carry, I want a strong detent. This one is not only strong, but extremely crisp as well. It really grabs the blade and snaps it closed. The blade is perfectly centered between the liners when closed. There are grooves on each side of the handle/bolsters to allow easier access to the thumb studs. It took a day or two to get used to the strong detent, but opening it is second nature now. Id like to see some sort of texturing on the studs to aid in traction, and may try my hand at that before long. The blade rides on some type of precision bearing, which provides a very smooth action. The blade locks into place with a nice solid thunk thanks to the integral lock. The lockup is superb. There is no up-and-down or side-to-side play. When gripping the knife, the lockup only gets more secure a great feature of the integral lock. You'd never know that this was his first shot at this type of lock.
The knife is SHARP! With a 3/32 blade, its certainly not a knife you want to pry with. But for my needs opening mail and packages, cutting out newspaper articles, cutting up the occasional box or two, etc - its perfect. The blade has a nice belly on it, and a fantastic dropped point that works great for fine work. The edge bevels are consistent, both along the edge and from one side to the other. Its held its edge well, and I havent had to resharpen it yet. The blade is satin finished to match the bolsters. The hollow grind was done on a large wheel. It goes all the way to the spine and is very thin at the edge just like I asked for. The grind is very well done on both sides. One of the plunges could be a tad bit cleaner, but thats really being nitpicky. The logo etching is very well done clean and crisp.
When holding the knife, the dual cutouts for the thumbstuds provides a natural place for your forefinger to rest. It also works as a built-in finger guard to keep your hand from sliding forward onto the cutting edge. Combined with the traction grooves on the spine, it makes for a really secure grip. I took my Dremel to bolster corner thats exposed when the lock slides onto the tang. It was a little sharp, but it only took a few seconds to round that off.
The overall fit and finish is very good. The knife feels very solid and precise, despite the low weight and thinness. Ray did a great job of bringing my desire to life. He was a pleasure to work with, and kept me informed of the progress throughout the project. He sent me pictures once the knife was complete, and he made sure I was completely satisfied with the whole experience. The knife came securely packaged, and wrapped in a piece of tan leather hide. My experience with Ray could not have been smoother. We already have another project on the back burner for sometime down the road. Id highly recommend him.
See more of his work at www.rayrogers.com .
Oh yeah The cost? How about less than the cost of a small Sebenza.
------------------
Kelly
My Custom Knife Collection
Member NCCKG, SCAK, and AKTI
Deo Vindice
[This message has been edited by Senator (edited 02-17-2001).]
I was in the market for a new every day carry folder, and really liked his Companion folder, but wanted to make a few modifications. After many e-mails back and forth, and Ray actually sending me his daily carry Companion to check out in person (how many makers will do that?!?!) I finally decided on the following configuration a drop point blade with a full hollow grind, tan G-10 handles, integral bolsters, and a 3 3/8" BG-42 blade. I was basically looking for a pocket scalpel, so he started with 1/8 stock and surface ground it down to 3/32 for me. I also wanted dual thumb studs and an integral lock. Since he had never done an integral lock before, I sent him pictures of several integrals a Sebenza, Carson Model 4, an Elishewitz, and a BM Pinnacle for him to get the idea, then sent one of my personal knives for him to inspect in person.
Here was the end result:
<CENTER>
Ray Rogers Integral Companion
<A HREF="http://home.carolina.rr.com/senator/images/Ray_Rogers_Companion.jpg"> <IMG SRC="http://home.carolina.rr.com/senator/images/Ray_Rogers_Companion_small.jpg"border="3"> </A>
</CENTER>
See more pics here.
The knife has been my daily carry for several weeks now. Here are some initial observations
The first thing you notice is the tan G-10. Its terrific looking. You dont see it on every other knife, and its more people-friendly than most black tactical-looking pieces. There are a couple of grooves milled into the handles for extra traction, and to provide a nice aesthetic touch. The titanium bolsters have a brushed satin finish on them that will be easy to refinish myself when I feel the need. A really nice feature is the fact that the bolsters are of integral construction. The bolsters and liner are one piece with space milled out for the handle material of choice. The bolsters are also slanted, another nice touch. Ray mills out a recess in G-10 at the butt-end of the knife, so that the titanium pocket clip sits flush where it attaches with two torx screws to the handle. The clip holds the knife securely in place in your pocket. There is a black (G-10?) half-length backspacer, which provides overall strength and rigidity.
Upon picking it up, you notice how thin and light it is. Its only 3/8 thick, and light enough not to be noticed when its clipped to your pocket. The ball detent is the best Ive ever seen. Being a tip-up carry, I want a strong detent. This one is not only strong, but extremely crisp as well. It really grabs the blade and snaps it closed. The blade is perfectly centered between the liners when closed. There are grooves on each side of the handle/bolsters to allow easier access to the thumb studs. It took a day or two to get used to the strong detent, but opening it is second nature now. Id like to see some sort of texturing on the studs to aid in traction, and may try my hand at that before long. The blade rides on some type of precision bearing, which provides a very smooth action. The blade locks into place with a nice solid thunk thanks to the integral lock. The lockup is superb. There is no up-and-down or side-to-side play. When gripping the knife, the lockup only gets more secure a great feature of the integral lock. You'd never know that this was his first shot at this type of lock.
The knife is SHARP! With a 3/32 blade, its certainly not a knife you want to pry with. But for my needs opening mail and packages, cutting out newspaper articles, cutting up the occasional box or two, etc - its perfect. The blade has a nice belly on it, and a fantastic dropped point that works great for fine work. The edge bevels are consistent, both along the edge and from one side to the other. Its held its edge well, and I havent had to resharpen it yet. The blade is satin finished to match the bolsters. The hollow grind was done on a large wheel. It goes all the way to the spine and is very thin at the edge just like I asked for. The grind is very well done on both sides. One of the plunges could be a tad bit cleaner, but thats really being nitpicky. The logo etching is very well done clean and crisp.
When holding the knife, the dual cutouts for the thumbstuds provides a natural place for your forefinger to rest. It also works as a built-in finger guard to keep your hand from sliding forward onto the cutting edge. Combined with the traction grooves on the spine, it makes for a really secure grip. I took my Dremel to bolster corner thats exposed when the lock slides onto the tang. It was a little sharp, but it only took a few seconds to round that off.
The overall fit and finish is very good. The knife feels very solid and precise, despite the low weight and thinness. Ray did a great job of bringing my desire to life. He was a pleasure to work with, and kept me informed of the progress throughout the project. He sent me pictures once the knife was complete, and he made sure I was completely satisfied with the whole experience. The knife came securely packaged, and wrapped in a piece of tan leather hide. My experience with Ray could not have been smoother. We already have another project on the back burner for sometime down the road. Id highly recommend him.
See more of his work at www.rayrogers.com .
Oh yeah The cost? How about less than the cost of a small Sebenza.
------------------
Kelly
My Custom Knife Collection
Member NCCKG, SCAK, and AKTI
Deo Vindice
[This message has been edited by Senator (edited 02-17-2001).]
