Jerry Busse
Moderator
- Joined
- Aug 20, 1999
- Messages
- 11,714
The Birth of the Zero Tolerance Series.
Where did these great blades come from? Just as bread was invented by the unintentional introduction of yeast into the dough. . . so was the Zero Tolerance line born from an unplanned incident. These Ergo models were actually part of the first group of Ergos that were made. At the same time that we were getting ready to introduce the Ergo models, we were also running a batch of Lean Mean Streets for a rather large team order. While at the grinding facility where our Blanchard grinding was being done, the directive on the Ergos was to do a simple clean up of the flats and bring them to .250 (1/4 inch). The directive on the Mean Streets was to grind them down to .187 (3/16ths of an inch). Well, needless to say, when we went to pick up the Mean Streets, we discovered that the company that was doing the grinding was in the process of grinding the Ergos down to .187 (3/16ths). They claimed to have not received the second page of the work order and were under the impression that ALL of the blades were to be ground down to .187 . Our man stopped the grinding and brought all of the blades back to the shop. Not only did they screw up more than 1,200 Ergo blades but none of them were at the same thickness! We were in an immediate scramble to fix the problem and proceeded to finish out the remainder of the first batch that had yet to be Blanchard ground. We boxed up the half-ground blades and put them in our steel stock room where they have remained out of sight and out of mind for the past year and a half.
I recently ran across them again and to be honest with you, I had almost forgotten that they were in there. . . .almost. In group discussions to decide the fate of these blades, several of our team members suggested that we put out a limited edition lean version of these very popular Ergo models. We could then offer these Lean LEs at a premium price due to their limited number and recoup some of our original loss. Jennifer, who handles all of our marketing, suggested that with the opening of our new website, and our record breaking sales, that it might be nice to offer these knives as a customer appreciation piece. She suggested that we grind them differently from the regular models and offer them at greatly reduced prices with special pricing for on-line ordering. Her idea sounded great and the Zero Tolerance line was born. We sent the blades to a different Blanchard grinding facility and had the thickness of all of the blades reduced to .187 (3/16). These models are only offered with tan handles and do not come with a sheath. There is an optional sheath available, which will be added to our website within the next couple of days.
There is a Zero Tolerance (tan handles, 2/3 grind with swedge grind) Satin Jack model but it is at the regular SJ thickness of approx. ¼ and is priced at $347.00 There will only be 100 of this model made.
None of the Zero Tolerance models are serial numbered.
These knives are much lighter than the regular models by approximately 30 - 35% (6 oz.)
They have a satin finish and zero edge geometry. These knives should be priced much, much, higher than they are.. . . . and I am sure that they will quickly rise in value in the years to come. We can NEVER afford to offer them at this price again. There will only be 400 of each model (BM, SH, NO) made and this offer will only be available until the end of July. Personally, I would buy at least three sets. Use one set and put the other two away for investment purposes.. . . Of course, thats just me. . . . and Im objective. . . . I am!
At the rate that they are selling, we dont expect them to last for long.
Click here for more information and ordering details.
http://www.bussecombat.com/catalog/zt_series.html
Yours in nuclear deals o da day,
Jerry Busse
Where did these great blades come from? Just as bread was invented by the unintentional introduction of yeast into the dough. . . so was the Zero Tolerance line born from an unplanned incident. These Ergo models were actually part of the first group of Ergos that were made. At the same time that we were getting ready to introduce the Ergo models, we were also running a batch of Lean Mean Streets for a rather large team order. While at the grinding facility where our Blanchard grinding was being done, the directive on the Ergos was to do a simple clean up of the flats and bring them to .250 (1/4 inch). The directive on the Mean Streets was to grind them down to .187 (3/16ths of an inch). Well, needless to say, when we went to pick up the Mean Streets, we discovered that the company that was doing the grinding was in the process of grinding the Ergos down to .187 (3/16ths). They claimed to have not received the second page of the work order and were under the impression that ALL of the blades were to be ground down to .187 . Our man stopped the grinding and brought all of the blades back to the shop. Not only did they screw up more than 1,200 Ergo blades but none of them were at the same thickness! We were in an immediate scramble to fix the problem and proceeded to finish out the remainder of the first batch that had yet to be Blanchard ground. We boxed up the half-ground blades and put them in our steel stock room where they have remained out of sight and out of mind for the past year and a half.
I recently ran across them again and to be honest with you, I had almost forgotten that they were in there. . . .almost. In group discussions to decide the fate of these blades, several of our team members suggested that we put out a limited edition lean version of these very popular Ergo models. We could then offer these Lean LEs at a premium price due to their limited number and recoup some of our original loss. Jennifer, who handles all of our marketing, suggested that with the opening of our new website, and our record breaking sales, that it might be nice to offer these knives as a customer appreciation piece. She suggested that we grind them differently from the regular models and offer them at greatly reduced prices with special pricing for on-line ordering. Her idea sounded great and the Zero Tolerance line was born. We sent the blades to a different Blanchard grinding facility and had the thickness of all of the blades reduced to .187 (3/16). These models are only offered with tan handles and do not come with a sheath. There is an optional sheath available, which will be added to our website within the next couple of days.
There is a Zero Tolerance (tan handles, 2/3 grind with swedge grind) Satin Jack model but it is at the regular SJ thickness of approx. ¼ and is priced at $347.00 There will only be 100 of this model made.
None of the Zero Tolerance models are serial numbered.
These knives are much lighter than the regular models by approximately 30 - 35% (6 oz.)
They have a satin finish and zero edge geometry. These knives should be priced much, much, higher than they are.. . . . and I am sure that they will quickly rise in value in the years to come. We can NEVER afford to offer them at this price again. There will only be 400 of each model (BM, SH, NO) made and this offer will only be available until the end of July. Personally, I would buy at least three sets. Use one set and put the other two away for investment purposes.. . . Of course, thats just me. . . . and Im objective. . . . I am!
At the rate that they are selling, we dont expect them to last for long.
Click here for more information and ordering details.
http://www.bussecombat.com/catalog/zt_series.html
Yours in nuclear deals o da day,
Jerry Busse
