Thorburn Trio...

rbslaughter1

rbslaughter1

Joined
Feb 15, 2006
Messages
362
Last week I saw a few comments discussing Andre Thorburn.. I know Coop mentioned him, and showed a few examples of his work, in the ECCK show thread... When I started collecting, I noticed that the work by the makers from South Africa was priced really nicely... I started to buy a few pieces from various S. A. makers, and the first knife I got by Andre, about 8 years ago, is the one in the middle of this photo.. The photo was done by Mitchell Cohen.. Thanks so much Mitchell..

When it arrived, the folder was just so smooth and highly finished I was thrilled with it.. (It reminded me of the first time I opened a folder by Stanley Fujisaka...) It was like silk, but was very sturdy..

Andre has become much better known, in large part due to his flippers, and now a lot of collectors own his work.. The knife on top and bottom are both flippers w/IKBS ... The bottom knife being a front flipper.. The top knife has interesting handle material which is carbon fiber layered with blue G-10... OAL blade lengths are from 3.5" to 3.75" Best Regards, Rich Slaughter

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Hi Rich,

They are all very nice knives, and I too have enjoyed Andre's work.

The bottom one is a little jarring to me, as it is a tactical pattern and constructed of similar materials, but the engraving screams "art knife".

What attracted you to this piece?

I always enjoy looking at the knives that you have in your collection on the forums. Hope all is well with you and we get to meet at some point.

Any chance you will be attending the AKI this year? Phil has talked me into going back.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Great collection so far. I really enjoy visiting Andre and looking at what he is working on.
 
More great knives RS. Nothing more than expected however. I love the top one but the bottom is as suggested by STeven -- art all the way.
 
Nice folders. I have yet to own one of Andre's knives but have been interested. Thanks for sharing these. I'd love to see more.
 
It's great to see another person in love with André's work! Thales and I seem to be some of the only people that regularly discuss his work here.

Here's my humble pair, I'll be adding a lot more in the near future:)
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Quality in every regard. I'll add to this thread some later.

Mitch's photos always brings a smile and makes me draw in closer.

Me? I didn't find the celtic pattern out of place. In fact: Black and white and grey...

Carbon fiber, although sturdy, is also visual and does not automatically qualify as an EDC or user.

Thanks for showing. Looking forward to more of your thoughts, Rich.

Coop
 
Thanks for the comments guys... I'm glad thales2015 saw this post and left a link to his own Thorburn post that was only a few days old.. Had I seen it, I would have posted my photo there..

Blues Bender, your knives are impressive, and are a good comparison to mine because they are much more in the "pure" tactical fold cosmetic wise.. Thanks for posting... (Before I move on, I wanted to give a thumbs up to your avatar... When the question comes up at parties of who was everybody's first concert, I can smile and say "Jimi Hendrix in Bakersfield at the Civic"... Here's a photo of Jimi from that very show... I was changed forever...)

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Martinus, MWschilling, thank you for your kind comments..

Murray, Steven, and Coop... You all have a very deep background in knife design, building, and collecting and positive comments by you are appreciated... Steven, you are right that the bolster on the bottom front flipper would be at home on an art knife... It's true.. I like the celtic style engraving because I know from talking to engravers, that while it looks fairly simple, it is difficult to do cleanly...

My "art" gene in my knife DNA has always been dominate... (10 years ago, I didn't like carbon fiber, can you imagine?) My personal favorite of the three would be my first one by him, the one in the middle... It all starts with the blade for me at this point in my collecting, and that one is sleek and very clean... Nearly perfect size to scale ratio too.. The wood scales are just naturally beautiful to me...

Thanks again all for your comments, and picture posts! Best Regards, Rich Slaughter
 
super slick work. Really like the bottom one, with that clipped blade, contrast, engraving and straightforward lines. I'm a sucker for a radiused plunge line.
the dude's knives look like they'd actually work for cutting stuff, which is a surprisingly under represented function of many of the new skool folders I've seen around.
 
Blues Bender said:
It's great to see another person in love with André's work! Thales and I seem to be some of the only people that regularly discuss his work here.

Here's my humble pair, I'll be adding a lot more in the near future:)
4D20938B-F8F7-4B48-90E5-769851032206_zpsugs4meyc.jpg
Click to expand...

I love my L51! How old is that one? I haven't seen one with a steel clip. I am hoping Andre makes me one with a Damascus blade. I can't wait to play with bunch of his knives at the Miami show at the end of the month.
 
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let me just say one more thing;
any thread in here that features a photo of Jimi Hendrix automatically guarantees my respect :)
 
I'll just post a couple. I have a bunch. These show how clean his work and grinds are!

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Compulsory Hendrix image.... :thumbup:

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Coop
 
slorenzo said:
I love my L51! How old is that one? I haven't seen one with a steel clip. I am hoping Andre makes me one with a Damascus blade. I can't wait to play with bunch of his knives at the Miami show at the end of the month.
Click to expand...

This one is of 2/24/15 construction. What I find interesting about this clip, is how it follows the same curves as the milling on the scales. It's pretty neat, and actually very comfortable in the hand for a wider-sized clip.

RBSlaughter, that's an awesome story! How I wish I could have been in that era:). It doesn't help being a guitar player either, Hendrix and Vaughan are the only reasons I picked up the guitar! The things I'd give up to see them play live:D Today's music is so dull and non-inspirational!
 
Hey Andre, what a nice surprise! Your very first post here... Please don't be a stranger, your work is obviously well liked, and collected here...

Again, thanks for signing up to Blade Forums... If you have some knives you are taking to the upcoming show that was mentioned, feel free to use this thread, or start your own, and show some photo's... I would be happy to help you learn how to link photo's... It's easy....

Have a great weekend... Best Regards, Rich :thumbup:
 
I get my custom lefty at the end of the month, and I am beyond excited.
I wanted my first custom to be from Andre. It was his amazing work that got me interested in customs in the first place. I fell in love with the L36 and just had to have one. Don't see myself going back to productions after this one lands in my mitts.
 
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