I have an early Tim Hancock blade with quite a story. A friend of mine worked with Mr. Hancock back in the day when he was an iron worker at a nuclear power plant in California. He had just started making blades. My friend had him build two for us, #109 and 110. They were totally custom. He made the sheaths out of a combination of rattlesnake skin hides we tanned ourselves, and had inlaid in the handles some Chumash indian beads we found. The steel for the blades actually came from cable from a crane. Now I will tell you all right off the bat that I do not know diddly squat about blades. This knife has been sitting in a drawer out in my garage for maybe 25 years. Ok, this is going to really make all you blade collectors cringe. I made the mistake of storing the blade in its sheath, so on one side of the blade there is some light "pitting". This blade has never been used, sharpened, oiled, etc. It has just sat in a drawer all these years.
What is really rare about these particular blades, is Mr Hancock allowed my friend to video tape the entire process of making them, from starting with the the raw steel cable, all the way through to making the handles and sheaths, to sharpening the blades. The video shows Mr. Hancock working in his original shop in California. There are some priceless scenes in the video, including him chopping through a 2X4 with the blade, and then shaving the hair off his arm with it. It shows him actually stamping his name in this very blade. The video is an old VHS tape. I just had Costco make me two digital copies. They came out ok, other than a small approx. 10 second section in the very beginning. The original VHS tape is perfect, so you could probably have it re-digitized.
The blade and sheath are both stamped 110. The blade appears to be in excellent condition except for the following: 1) slight pitting on one side, 2) one of the inlaid beads is cracked, 3) the tip of the shell fish hook is cracked, 4) some epoxy (?) bleeding between the handle and guard on the fish hook side of the blade. Again, I am not an expert on blades, so if you are interested, please ask a lot of questions.
Why am I trading it? Well, golly, I am not a collector of blades. Otherwise, it would not have sat in a drawer in my garage all these years. I do not have any interest in collecting blades, although I do appreciate the craftsmanship and skill that goes into making one. It really needs a good home. I love the ocean, so my collecting trends towards antique nautical items. Because my present status with this forum does not allow me to post blades for sale, I am offering this one for trade. I am wondering if anyone has a nice AUTHENTIC numbers matching Mark V U.S. Navy dive helmet they would consider trading for the blade. Included with the blade are the original VHS video and the two digital copies.
Length of blade is approx. 12 and 5/8ths inches. Handle is made of black African walnut.
Pictures of blade can be seen at: http://s673.photobucket.com/user/Deepfins/library/Tim Hancock Blade?sort=3&page=1
Cheers,
John
What is really rare about these particular blades, is Mr Hancock allowed my friend to video tape the entire process of making them, from starting with the the raw steel cable, all the way through to making the handles and sheaths, to sharpening the blades. The video shows Mr. Hancock working in his original shop in California. There are some priceless scenes in the video, including him chopping through a 2X4 with the blade, and then shaving the hair off his arm with it. It shows him actually stamping his name in this very blade. The video is an old VHS tape. I just had Costco make me two digital copies. They came out ok, other than a small approx. 10 second section in the very beginning. The original VHS tape is perfect, so you could probably have it re-digitized.
The blade and sheath are both stamped 110. The blade appears to be in excellent condition except for the following: 1) slight pitting on one side, 2) one of the inlaid beads is cracked, 3) the tip of the shell fish hook is cracked, 4) some epoxy (?) bleeding between the handle and guard on the fish hook side of the blade. Again, I am not an expert on blades, so if you are interested, please ask a lot of questions.
Why am I trading it? Well, golly, I am not a collector of blades. Otherwise, it would not have sat in a drawer in my garage all these years. I do not have any interest in collecting blades, although I do appreciate the craftsmanship and skill that goes into making one. It really needs a good home. I love the ocean, so my collecting trends towards antique nautical items. Because my present status with this forum does not allow me to post blades for sale, I am offering this one for trade. I am wondering if anyone has a nice AUTHENTIC numbers matching Mark V U.S. Navy dive helmet they would consider trading for the blade. Included with the blade are the original VHS video and the two digital copies.
Length of blade is approx. 12 and 5/8ths inches. Handle is made of black African walnut.
Pictures of blade can be seen at: http://s673.photobucket.com/user/Deepfins/library/Tim Hancock Blade?sort=3&page=1
Cheers,
John