W1 Stag Bowie

Karl B. Andersen

Karl B. Andersen

Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Messages
5,667
Forged W1 Blade mated with Hot-Blued Steel fittings in a Take-Down configuration.
Really nice specimen of Premium Sambar Stag.
Not easily seen in this photo is that the face of the guard is mirror polished. The back of the guard is satin finished. Corners are relieved and polished.
Outside edge of guard and ferrule are finish-sanded horizontally to 1200.
Butt cap mirror polished!
Overall 13.5 inches with an 8.0 inch blade.
stagbowie0-3-1.jpg
 
Karl,

I have been looking at your knives for months, and they have great lines, and the work shows that you strive for excellence and are very creative.

That said, it is my strong opinion that the line of your choil is very odd, and the work would very well served if you would study the way the Kevin Cashen, Burt Foster or Tim Hancock do their choils, and incorporate some of those elements into your style.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Very nice looking. I like the line of your choil and do some the same way myself. It helps to align the bottom of blade with the handle and to me gives it good flow. Having good stag helps also.
 
hawesforge1 said:
Very nice looking. I like the line of your choil and do some the same way myself. It helps to align the bottom of blade with the handle and to me gives it good flow. Having good stag helps also.
Click to expand...

Chuck, am unfamiliar with your work, so cannot comment on it.

I do buy knives, and there are two that Karl has posted that are still available on his website that I would have purchased if the choil was different. Got a PM from another buyer who agreed with my statement.

Just food for thought, if all the maker gets is "looks great" but their knives are not selling quickly, well, there might be a reason for that.

Cashen, Foster and Hancock are all MS smiths that sell out at a show in about 15 minutes or less, buyers being present at that show, of course.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
Chuck, am unfamiliar with your work, so cannot comment on it.

I do buy knives, and there are two that Karl has posted that are still available on his website that I would have purchased if the choil was different. Got a PM from another buyer who agreed with my statement.

Just food for thought, if all the maker gets is "looks great" but their knives are not selling quickly, well, there might be a reason for that.

Cashen, Foster and Hancock are all MS smiths that sell out at a show in about 15 minutes or less, buyers being present at that show, of course.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

Sorry, I haven't updated my site lately.
This knife I just posted sold at 8:00 tonight.
Not sure about that "if all the maker gets.........." statement??
I just got back from the Novi Michigan, WKCC show where I sold 7 knives. Two to one buyer and one to Murray White! The first one he bought at the show!
All had the same choil.
When people like Don Hansonand Kevin Jones compliment me on my work, I take it as quite a compliment.
 
kbaknife said:
Sorry, I haven't updated my site lately.
This knife I just posted sold at 8:00 tonight.
Not sure about that "if all the maker gets.........." statement??
I just got back from the Novi Michigan, WKCC show where I sold 7 knives. Two to one buyer and one to Murray White! The first one he bought at the show!
All had the same choil.
When people like Don Hansonand Kevin Jones compliment me on my work, I take it as quite a compliment.
Click to expand...

1. The "all the maker gets" comment means that constructive comments will be MUCH more helpful than "great job" and that's it.

2. Have Don Hanson or Kevin Jones purchased a knife from you lately?

What can I tell you, Karl?

I noticed something, and commented on it. If you want to take that comment in the helpful spirit that it was offered in, great, if not, keep doing what you are doing, I'm sure that it is just fine.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I did not intend to offend anyone.Just stating that I like his style and and think it gives flow to the knife. The great thing about making knifes is that you can make them as you like them.Hopefully other people will like them also.I don't know if Karl takes custom orders but I will change the choil if the person wants something different. I like working in my style but will change it to make a customer happy.I just got a web site up if you would like to see some of my knifes go to www.hawesforge.com . If everyone liked the same thing we as custom makers would be out of a job.
 
Bout time you got a web site, Chuck :)

STeven is right, we all need constructive criticism, more than just positive comments. I like my style of choil best, that's why I do it. But I recognize Karl's as his style.
 
If every maker made every knife the same way, and every collector's tastes were the same, what a dull knife world this would be. :yawn: :(

Different taste and philosophies by makers and collectors and communicating such in a positive way promotes a healthy knife industry.

STeven and I have very different taste in knives and we actually prefer it that way, as we are not always competing for the same knives and we both gain from each other's knowledge and opinions.
 
Cashen, Foster and Hancock sell out in 15 minutesbecause they are........well, Cashen, Foster and Hancock:D I noticed the choils on Karl's knives too and, while it is not the way I do it. it is a matter of personal taste. Just like whether you do them like Karl either the way he does it or with the plunge cuts all the way forward at the bottom of the arc, a flat bottom ricasso with a round choil, be it convex or concave, a straight one with a slightly rounded bottom, an angled staight or slightly curved choil with a hard transition at the edge, the "butterfly", etc, etc,or all of the above,like me......mostly because I have had to "fix" the choil......lol. OR no choil at all like Ed Fowler and others. It's all good:D
 
For some reason I just felt compelled to respond to all of the above. I had decided yesterday to avoid the thread, but I just got back from setting my bank poles, (I smell like catfish bait), and have a few minutes before I head back out to the forge.
I'l just an ol' knifemaker from Illinois, I like doing what I do, and am experiencing a great deal of success in the process.
I did the Intro Class at Washington some years back to get "on the books" with the ABS and became aggravated very early in the class with bar stock. I hate it. I don't own any. All of my stuff is forged to shape down from large stock. With bar stock, it always seemed that the way to prove your knife was "forged" was to pull that edge down with your hammer to that "dropped edge", then you could say, "Look! It's forged!" (As opposed to simply grinding it away!) Whatever.
I just find very little freedom in bar stock and am not a big fan of the dropped edge "look". It's a free knife world!
But that little "thing" I have going now is not the only choil I use, have used, or will use! It's just what my next couple dozen customers have already ordered and seem content with. To respond to a comment above, yes, if a customer wants a particular look to his knife and it's something I am willing to create and have my name on it, I'll do it! This is the only thing I do for food on my table, and I get hungry a few times every day!
Maybe to a few people's chagrin here in the future, that choil is going to get MORE pronounced! Look out!
I jumped to a picture folder of mine and dug out a few different looks I've used in the past.
Some people may even call a few of my choils a "Fowler" style choil. Even though I've seen the EXACT profile on knives 200 years old! I saw one last year at the WKCC show, and if you covered the handle, it looked just like a "Pronghorn"! The owner said it was from 1790.
My point - there's all kinds of makers, users, styles, customers, fans, collectors, etc.
Today I just sent off knife #10 to a customer in Florida. As long as he likes that choil, you'll keep seein' it! (As well as many others.)
teak5-1-1.jpg

cowboy9-5-1.jpg

staghunter.jpg

stag1.jpg

sh-1.jpg

PairofHunters-1.jpg

IronwoodandIronFighter-1.jpg
 
Karl; I'm a little late in this thread and I'm not a knife maker and I don't really know "git up" form "sic 'em" about collecting or building a good knife, but I do know what I like and I buy what I like.....and I really like your knife, particularly the choil. That's about all I have to say on the subject.

It would be fun to wrap some leather around that one.

Paul
 
kbaknife said:
For some reason I just felt compelled to respond to all of the above. I had decided yesterday to avoid the thread, but I just got back from setting my bank poles, (I smell like catfish bait), and have a few minutes before I head back out to the forge.
I'l just an ol' knifemaker from Illinois, I like doing what I do, and am experiencing a great deal of success in the process.
I did the Intro Class at Washington some years back to get "on the books" with the ABS and became aggravated very early in the class with bar stock. I hate it. I don't own any. All of my stuff is forged to shape down from large stock. With bar stock, it always seemed that the way to prove your knife was "forged" was to pull that edge down with your hammer to that "dropped edge", then you could say, "Look! It's forged!" (As opposed to simply grinding it away!) Whatever.
I just find very little freedom in bar stock and am not a big fan of the dropped edge "look". It's a free knife world!
But that little "thing" I have going now is not the only choil I use, have used, or will use! It's just what my next couple dozen customers have already ordered and seem content with. To respond to a comment above, yes, if a customer wants a particular look to his knife and it's something I am willing to create and have my name on it, I'll do it! This is the only thing I do for food on my table, and I get hungry a few times every day!
Maybe to a few people's chagrin here in the future, that choil is going to get MORE pronounced! Look out!
I jumped to a picture folder of mine and dug out a few different looks I've used in the past.
Some people may even call a few of my choils a "Fowler" style choil. Even though I've seen the EXACT profile on knives 200 years old! I saw one last year at the WKCC show, and if you covered the handle, it looked just like a "Pronghorn"! The owner said it was from 1790.
My point - there's all kinds of makers, users, styles, customers, fans, collectors, etc.
Today I just sent off knife #10 to a customer in Florida. As long as he likes that choil, you'll keep seein' it! (As well as many others.)
teak5-1-1.jpg

cowboy9-5-1.jpg

staghunter.jpg

stag1.jpg

sh-1.jpg

PairofHunters-1.jpg

IronwoodandIronFighter-1.jpg
Click to expand...
And all of those knives were done in those different ways on purpose and not because you screwed up somehting? you suck!!!! lol ;) Just kidding....great work. Question for you. When you thread your tang, what diameter and thread count do you use?:thumbup: When i see your knives, I don't care about the choil. the thing I want to steal from you is that tang nut you have devised....lol
 
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