Tom Ferry - 007 Folder

Alpha Knife Supply

Alpha Knife Supply

Always Innovating
Dealer / Materials Provider
Joined
Oct 14, 1998
Messages
2,155
Tom brought this folder by our house a few days ago. I think it is one of the best knives he has ever made.

The knife was commissioned by a collector and is part of Tom's "Pin-Up Girl" series of knives. The scales are zirconium with and 410 stainless inlay for engraving. The engraving is two of the famous James Bond actresses Ursula Andrees and Halle Berry. Both women have bikinis inlaid with 24K gold and knives on their belts.

The folder has a floating backspacer and engraved pivot. The edges of the zirc scales are beveled. The liners are gold anodized titanium. The blade is N360 nitrogen stainless with a satin finish on the flats and mirror polished tip. If flips very well.

Unfortunately the photos do not adequately show the knife.

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Chuck
 
I saw the WIP on this one, Tom has some serious talent!
 
Very cool knife, very cool maker.

I like just about everything about it except for the spine jimping.....it detracts from the appearance imo.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I love it! I've read almost all the books and needless to say, I haven't missed a movie yet that I know of. Halle Berry is as hot as they come!
 
I followed the WIP on this knife avidly...and the end result is stunning.

Aside from the spectacular "Ursula" and "Halle" work, the Bond "iris" on the pivot is one of those little details that just puts it over the top:thumbup:

Apropos of the recent ABS Expo thread, a knife like this exemplifies how a talented maker and ABS Mastersmith can "branch out" into other areas if he/she wishes.

The key, IMHO, is maintaining a high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail, whether the knife is a forged Bowie or a flipper folder. Of course, it helps if the maker clearly loves what he/she is doing - which is pretty clear in this case :cool:

Chuck, thanks for posting this here!

Bill Flynn
 
Tom does amazing work and can transition from a forged Bowie to an engraved folder, such as this, and virtually anything in between....outstanding! :cool:
 
Absolutely gorgeous knives! Awesome blades and cool design, the engraving and inlays are excellent.
 
One of the best makers out there. This is just another reason why.

Halle's all right. But Ursula...:eek::thumbup::thumbup::eek: Yowza!
 
I agree -

Ursula the "first" and archetypal Bond Girl :cool::thumbup:

with Sean Connery the archetypal Bond....though I'm glad the ladies got the larger treatment on Tom's knife !!

Bill Flynn
 
Kohai999 said:
Very cool knife, very cool maker.

I like just about everything about it except for the spine jimping.....it detracts from the appearance imo.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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Is that bulino? I thought that you did not like bulino.

To me . . . that looks like a tactical knife with 410 stainless inlays kluged into the zirconium scales for no real "knife reason" but just so they could be engraved. Seems like the ultimate embodiment of a "canvas for engraving" which you have stated in the past that you do not like. Have you come around on that?

IMO, the engraving is "OK" but just so, and certainly IMO not up to the standards of many engraved knives we have seen posted here which were engraved by some of the great Italian engravers such as Fracassi.

Anyway, I don't get it. Which goes to show that I still have a lot to learn! And that's one reason why I love this place.
 
The Virginian said:
Is that bulino? I thought that you did not like bulino.

To me . . . that looks like a tactical knife with 410 stainless inlays kluged into the zirconium scales for no real "knife reason" but just so they could be engraved. Seems like the ultimate embodiment of a "canvas for engraving" which you have stated in the past that you do not like. Have you come around on that?

IMO, the engraving is "OK" but just so, and certainly IMO not up to the standards of many engraved knives we have seen posted here which were engraved by some of the great Italian engravers such as Fracassi.

Anyway, I don't get it. Which goes to show that I still have a lot to learn! And that's one reason why I love this place.
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It looks stronger and deeper than bulino to me, but wouldn't be able to know for sure without handling it.

I disagree about the intent on this piece....It is a strong knife that was created with a place for engraving....it would be nice with or without the engraving, and does not look like 100 other pieces that are similar....this one is unique....if if resonates or not, that is up to the individual to decide.

Tom is not Firmo Fracassi....but Fracassi does not make knives....I'm considerably more interested in makers like Ferry, Fisk or Bradshaw who make up the whole enchilada than makers who purchase the damascus for their knives and farm out the engraving.

Like you said Ken, there are many reasons to love BFC, and discussions like this can certainly be part of those reasons to love.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
It looks stronger and deeper than bulino to me, but wouldn't be able to know for sure without handling it.
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The engraving is bulino. However, Tom developed a new engraving process while working on this knife. I like the look of his new process. I think the new engraving has more depth and definition. The downside of the process is it takes much more time than traditional bulino engraving.

Kohai999 said:
I'm considerably more interested in makers like Ferry, Fisk or Bradshaw who make up the whole enchilada than makers who purchase the damascus for their knives and farm out the engraving.
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I agree with you. A sole authorship knife like this is worth much more to me than a knife with sub-contracted parts and embellishment.

Chuck
 
This knife is awesome.

The pivot pin and engraving set it off, but the whole knife holds the 007 motif very well.
 
I'm considerably more interested in makers like Ferry, Fisk or Bradshaw who make up the whole enchilada than makers who purchase the damascus for their knives and farm out the engraving.
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+2 on that. All of my favorites fall into that description.
 
Interesting.

I can only wonder if some of you guys might not have been too interested in Loveless knives since he "purchased the steel for his knives" rather than forging it. And even worse, some of them were engraved by guys like Steve Lindsay, taking them far, far, afield from sole authorship.

I think it is great that Tom Ferry forged the zirconium for the scales and the steel for the inserts rather than purchasing it. But by contrast, at the last AKI I cannot tell you how many of these makers - guys like Ron Lake, Michael Walker, etc. (i.e., some of the top makers in the world) were using Damascus they purchased from guys like Rob Thomas, Devin Thomas, Chad Nichols . . . . Didn't lesson the appeal of those knives for me or the folks who laid down serious money to take those knives home. DSFDF, I guess.

In keeping with an earlier comment posted here, I agree 100% that Tom Ferry is a very cool maker and he has obviously left his mark on the knife world. But to me . . . other than the totally out of place stainless inserts, this knife looks like any of a hundred other tactical knives, while in contrast many or most knives that I see from Esposito, Tore Fogarizzu, etc. look unique and are not only "nice" but actually beautiful - with or without engraving.

Are all of your engraved knives sole authorship pieces? Personally, I have some of both.

Sole authorship is fine - so long as the sole author is great at everything they are authoring.

If Fracassi made an "OK" knife and then did wonderful engraving on it, it might strike you similar to the way that this knife strikes me.

Sole authorship is just not that significant to me, because IMO most of the best and most wonderful knife makers are mediocre (or worse) engravers. I think that it is rare to find the person who excels at making knives and who also excels at engraving, because for a mere mortal, excelling at either one takes a LOT of time, practice, experience, mistakes, lessons learned, etc. There are only so many hours in the day. And I have seen too many knives suffer (IMO) subtraction by addition from a knifemaker whose engraving skills were not commensurate with their knifemaking skills.

Again, DSFDF. I guess that it is good we all have different tastes, because that way we do not all climb all over each other to get knives from only one or two makers.
 
The Virginian said:
Interesting.

I can only wonder if some of you guys might not have been too interested in Loveless knives since he "purchased the steel for his knives" rather than forging it. And even worse, some of them were engraved by guys like Steve Lindsay, taking them far, far, afield from sole authorship.
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Hi Ken,

I have knives from makers who send stuff out, and I have knives that are sole authorship. I do find sole authorship more interesting and, like you, only when it is done well. I have knives from Harvey Dean, Tom Ferry and Larry Fuegen that are all very striking knives with damascus and engraving.

The Virginian said:
In keeping with an earlier comment posted here, I agree 100% that Tom Ferry is a very cool maker and he has obviously left his mark on the knife world. But to me . . . other than the totally out of place stainless inserts, this knife looks like any of a hundred other tactical knives, while in contrast many or most knives that I see from Esposito, Tore Fogarizzu, etc. look unique and are not only "nice" but actually beautiful - with or without engraving.
Click to expand...

Tom's knife here has a very different look than most other tactical knives. I don't care for the Italian knives by and large, and have spent much time explaining why, so there is no reason to do it again.
The Virginian said:
Sole authorship is just not that significant to me, because IMO most of the best and most wonderful knife makers are mediocre (or worse) engravers. I think that it is rare to find the person who excels at making knives and who also excels at engraving, because for a mere mortal, excelling at either one takes a LOT of time, practice, experience, mistakes, lessons learned, etc. There are only so many hours in the day. And I have seen too many knives suffer (IMO) subtraction by addition from a knifemaker whose engraving skills were not commensurate with their knifemaking skills.
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There are a lot of talented sole authorship guys....Steve Dunn-masterful knifemaker, used by other makers for his engraving, look him up....I'll just start with Steve....Tom Ferry does some exquisite engraving, and many of his knives are spectacular.

The Virginian said:
Again, DSFDF. I guess that it is good we all have different tastes, because that way we do not all climb all over each other to get knives from only one or two makers.
Click to expand...

There is plenty of that around too....Todd Rexford, Michael Walker, Ron Lake, Jim Schmidt, Don Fogg, Rick Hinderer, Ernie Emerson.......if you have ever seen a lottery for Bose knives, you know what I am talking about.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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