Recently Made Bead Blasted CQC6's

R

Ronald Reagan

Joined
Dec 18, 1998
Messages
417
I just saw a bunch of these at the NYC Custom Knife Show and they looked a little strange...the blades shared many resemblences with the production Emersons. The bead blast looks unimpressive and the blade has a secondary bevel. But it is quite a large secondary bevel, unlike the production models.

Also, all of the blades were marked CQC7 although the knives were certified CQC6's. By "certified" I mean Ernie and his wife verified this for me. They kind of laughed when I pointed it out to them...it was a little funny. Who knows, maybe these knives will go up in collector value because of the blemish. They will be known as the NYC CQC6/7!
smile.gif


I showed Ernie my 6 and he dated it to around '94-'95. When I compared mine with the new ones at the show, it was apparent that the newer model had less character. But I must say he had two absolutely beautiful damascus CQC6's for sale at $2000 each. I actually won the raffle for one of these, but there was no way in hell.....

He also had some neck knives available...different than the ones he had at the NYC Show two years ago. They are a bit shorter, different handle design, different black finish, and a secondary bevel in the edge with no false hamon. Ernie's wife told me these were very limited, Ernie made them himself, and she wasn't sure when they would next be available. Again, this batch of neck knives had a more "mass produced" feel to it. Also, my neck knife from 2 years ago is much nicer than the new ones.

Well, these were my observations they are open for interpretation.
 
I saw the new CQC6's at the knife show also. The blade is very thin (not stock but width) and it has '99, Emerson Specwar knives and CQC7 on the blade. I guess Emerson is just interchanging blades. I liked the filework on the bolsters however, it looked great. The thumbstud is black instead of silver. The blade lookes a lot thinner and the edge is very large, ground deeply like on the production CQC7's not on other Emerson handmades where it was really thin.

I did not know that he would be raffling off customs so I didn't get there early but I got to see the dressed up CQC6's. I liked the one with the ivory or mother of pearl handle slabs.

The neck knife was cool too. It looked like a CQC6 or CQC7 blade with a skeletonized handle- all black-T.

Jason Yang
 
I don't know about u guys but if Les is asking $900 for the CQC6 marked 7 then it should have been mark 6.
 
Isn't anyone a little concerned about this issue? The factory blade is bead blasted and marked CQC 7, and it has a secondary bevel; now custom 6s show up bead blasted, secondary bevels, and marked CQC 7. How exactly does that happen to a knife that is hand made by one person? What does it mean for someone who has spent $525 for the knife (if they bought it directly from Emerson), or the guy who pays a dealer $850 for one on the secondary market? I'd like to hear from some of the guys out there who feel they have some Emerson expertise about this.
 
It's funny that you guys made these observations. -Blade ground with secondary bevel (like the production blades), black thumb stud (like the black T production blades - are satin finish blades even still available?), blades for the CQC6 that are the same size/shape as the CQC7 (production blade). And I was dismissed when I suggested that most of the "custom" knives are probably being produced in the production facility using the same compatible parts, machines,blade blanks, etc..
If I were Mr. Emerson, I would still offer "custom" knives, but instead of spending my time grinding and making these blades, I would have the shop make them and I would check them before shipping. In essence, they would still be "custom" That way I could catch up on some of those back orders, while utilizing my new production facility to the fullest extent.
Maybe just another arguement to stick to his production blades. By the way, what were the prices of these CQC6's that had the CQC7 blades, black production thumb studs, and secondary bevel ground in the blade?
 
I am just wondering if this could be another case of a cult knifemaker slipping away from what made him his big name and getting too comercial. I have become a fan of Newt Livesay lately and sure he has help in his shop but then he doesn't pretend with these knives that they are anything but what they are, and at his prices I can get alot of truely great toys, that do the job they were intended to.
 
JimP,

The regular CQC6's were $525. The dress versions (which were undoubtedly handmade and beautiful) were $2000.
 
Ancient Sul,

First, those Emerson '67's are owned by my LDC Partner Bob Neal. The price is $1,000.00 not $900.00.

After all, these are sure to be a rarity! They should cost $1,500.00. Ok, you caught me, Im smiling.

Five of these CQC 67's made it to New York. I was told that it was a "mistake"...no ****!

Guys, I don't really see any reason to be-labor the point on this one. You are intelligent knife collectors, I think the conclusion's you and others at the show were drawing are correct.

How could these knives been put together by Emerson with such a blatant error? Ok, 1 maybe, but 5????

The line between factory and custom seems to be coming closer and closer.

For those of you who are curious, there will be a picture of one on my site later this week.

For those of you who still have 2-5 years to wait, we can only wonder what your knife will look like and have printed on the blade.


Les
 
Yup

This don't look good. I wish I could have been there to see them. Had it all planned out but couldn't make it at the last minute.

I'm real dissappointed in what I'm hearing. Can't wait to see the pics Les.

No not happy at all
Ross T.
 
Les,
Well said. I have been biting my tongue here as I followed this thread. But many of us have seen this coming and it is only the culmination of events which started when Ernie first collaborated with Timberline, back in like '97. As far as I'm concerned, anything made since is worthless.

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Al


 
Wow! I'm having a hard time believing what I'm reading here. Anything Ernie made since '97 worthless? We must be talking strictly on a handmade, custom basis, because I for one can vouch for his production stuff. And while I can definately understand what this thread is representing, and what it implies, I still find it hard to believe that a man who lives and breathes blades like Ernie would let something like this get out of hand. I'm worried. And reading what Les wrote makes me worry even more. C'mon, Mr. Emerson, don't let a good thing die.
 
Hi Les,

I talked to Bob Neal at the show about the CQC6-7. He was the one who told me they were selling for $900. I also asked him about the markings and he said he didn't know. "maybe they will be worth more someday" I am not so sure about that. I think many people are trully concern about the custom orders they placed and they have a right to be. thanks

Ancient
 
HI Sul,

Well they are Bob's Knives so he would know.

Since as the Emerson's told customer's over and over again at the show, that the marking was a mistake. Im sure those who purchased or will purchase could send them back to Emerson and he would finish out the blade correctly and mark it correctly.

While the blade on the Q67's may be a custom blade, however, the markings would suggest that they were finished out by someone besides Emerson. I cannot belive for one minute that any custom knife maker would mis-mark 5 knives, then pack them up (knowing they were wrong) and then put them on the table and sell them.

It's not this knife that should bother you. It is what this knife represents, or more accurately possibly misrepresents about the custom knives from Emerson.

Another interesting thing I noticed was the fact that while the folders were gone in a matter of moments. Emerson brought 15 custom neck knives. These took till Sunday to sell out. These knives even had the correct logo on the blade.
 
This has to make one curious about who has been making some of Emerson's recent handmades that have been seen.

Some of the Emerson's I saw at the Blade show, which were recently made, were not quite up to what he had pu out in the past. Fit was not as good, grind lines were off...

Les has done the math on the time Emerson would need to put in to fill orders. Since Emerson has a very busy schedule, would it be un reasonable to consider the possibilty that maybe he is having most of the work on his customs done by someone else? Taking into account the mistakes that have been seen on recent knives and Emerson's schedule, I don't think it can be ruled out. If that is the case and I did say IF, than I hope he would say so publicly or turn over all of his customs to the production side and be done with it. As popular as his knives are, I would be willing to bet that many of the people who have orders in would be willing to pay full price for a custom designe made in the production shop.

OOPS! Past my lunch break.

------------------
Paranoia is only smart thinking
when everyone is out to get you.


 
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