Vintage knives vs. customs

[kamagong]

One day I hope to someday own a Bose knife. I'm not sure of the pattern, but I do know that I want to get a knife by two of the giants in the custom slip joint field.

I visited the Bose site recently, and I was intrigued by this quote of Tony's - "I don't design knives, I bring old knives back from the grave." This begs the question, just how does Tony and Reese's knives compare to the great old stuff from Sheffield and Pennsylvania? You know the knives I'm talking about, they are the types in smiling-knife's and waynorth's collections.

I don't have much experience with either. My oldest knife is an Imperial cattleman. I've picked up three custom slip joints this year so I know a little about that subject. From what I can see, the customs are in every way superior to their modern production counterparts. But how do they compare to the best that the old-time cutlers had to offer?

 

[DennisStrickland]

custom fit is usually better than old timers. the alloys are mostly way superior in customs.as to finish i've yet to see any modern knife compare with the old crocus polish.sometimes referred to as the black polish.in sheffield times[1830 to 1920] this was a 7 yr. apprentship.far beyond a mirror polish , the only way i can describe it is like standing over a large mirror.sometimes called the iron oxide finish.some american knives had this until the 40s.good examples of this are hen & rooster,remington, bruckmanns, & henckels prior to1950.if levine comments on this he will give a better chat on the subject.the finish was so fine it was intended to close the pores in the surface so as to help prevent rust.look at an early joseph rogers where the metal is unworn. in the old hi-standard pistol factory the highest paid workers were the polishers.