Who actually uses their customs---Mr. Mayo?

S

Stiletto Raggio

Joined
Jan 29, 2000
Messages
546
If the title of the thread seems a little harsh or hostile, I assure you it is not intended to. I just needed to get my basic idea out in the space provided.

As I visited the Mayo website (which is incredible for any who have not seen it), I was forced to ask myself this question: Who has the heart to use these knives to their potential, at the risk of damaging such a fine work of art and craftsmanship. I doubt I would be able to even use one of his filet knives, because that would be like getting fish guts all over a fine statue.

I won't even think about prying pieces of firewood apart with one of his elegant field knives.

The question remains: do the people who buy these knives generally do so with the intent of serious and heavy use, or are they more like finely engraved pistols in that you know that they will work if they have to, but you would rather not risk damaging them?
 
have 8 from tom, all talonite. carry 2 of them on a daily basis, use another two when i'm outdoors, for trekking etc.

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Ray
MesserForum.net
 
All my fixed blade knives are custom made. When I get my Mayo knife, it will be a regular carry piece for sure. As long as the knife is not made of such precious and fragile materials as Damascus and fossilized Mastadon Ivory, there really isn't any reason not to use it, unless you are hoping to get some value appreciation from it.
 
I would guess that MOST of my customers use the knives they get from me.....my knives are NOT high end....I make hunters for $250. Try get a Loveless or a Schneider or a Johnson for under $800-they are collector items. I make knives to be used....NICE knives to be used...out of the best stuff on the planet....and although some people tell me they dont have the heart...as described above....most of my customers get them to use them.......they take care of them and most of the people that live near me bring them back to get sharpened. For some this might be too much money to spend on a knife. for many, as I have seen...its not nearly enough and I get passed over for the true collector knives.....I have found the place where I want to be in the knife market...I could spend twice as long on every knife and charge a lot more...I choose not to...A perfect knife like the ones Steve Johnson makes are true works of art...If I had one I would NEVER even think of using it...
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My opinion....obviously

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
tom,
you told me last year that you strive to make every knife as perfect as you can, now what i read out of your post, does this mean you COULD if you WANT, make your knives BETTER then they already are?

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Ray
MesserForum.net
 
I will add a short note.....Steve is getting a knife from 420V of his own design...something like this is not available in any store. I have been collecting guns for almost 30 years...and if it is a standard stocking item in a store.. I am just not interested....my interests have gotten very sophisticated thru the years. I have an AR-15 from Frank White, who builds guns that shoot under 1/2" all day long....and the TOP alone costs $1150... you can get a knife with a BG42 blade from a few factories now....but NOT one heat treated by Paul Bos too.....a certain company makes 440V blades...but how many do they stick in their oven at a time....Paul does my knives in small batches...very carefully...and I am just as careful about every single knife that I make.....Its all about what you want in life and what is important enough for you to spend your hard earned dollars on... I NEVER sell a knife at the skeet range... where half of my fellow shooters have shotguns that cost well over 10K...but they wont spend $300 on a knife...but on the rifle side...where guys go out and actually cut animals up/I do very well over there. also gotta say...getting a knife out of premium steel exactly the way you want it made for $250 is NOT expensive. Keep smilin'....
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http://www.mayoknives.com




[This message has been edited by tom mayo (edited 07-30-2000).]
 
The guy I work for uses his Mayo all the time. He opens boxes with it, cuts cardboard, etc. Why not? He also wears a $5000 Rolex.

I wear an old $5 Casio (Which keeps better time) and use a Wegner Jr. It's just a matter of taste.

By the way, I have seen Loveless and Moran knives that look like they have been sharpened on the sidewalk. To us they are valuable collectors items. To the owners, they are just tools.
 
to answer Ray....I try to make every knife perfect..but I look at Steve Johnsons knives and they are, in my opinion... PERFECT> Do I think I could make them like Steve....well...maybe....but I would have to put in a lot more time on each one, and then charge a whole bunch more....which I feel would have a lot of both positive and negative effects....first....no one would buy my knives to use any more...and I would be competing with Steve...which I dont know if I could really stand the pressure. I try to make very good knives at a reasonable price.....and without compromising quality, I have time limits on every model I make in order to keep the prices where they are. I know guys that use CNCs and have machinists that make their guards and pommels...and still charge thousands of dollars for their knives....that is not me...I make every knife by myself one at a time and to the best of my ability.....but I also have to make a living.....I cannot spend two days on a $250 knife.....I would go broke...
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one more postscript....with every knife comes over 18 years of experience...that counts for a lot in this world...
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uffda...i thought hans gave you one of my folders??? Final conclusion: I dont put a knife in the mail unless I am happy with it>

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http://www.mayoknives.com


[This message has been edited by tom mayo (edited 07-30-2000).]

[This message has been edited by tom mayo (edited 07-30-2000).]

[This message has been edited by tom mayo (edited 07-30-2000).]
 
I think I can reinforce what Tom's saying. All of my hunters, except maybe the ivory handled jobs with engraving, are made to be used. And they are used, some by people who do dozens of animals every year. At the same time, like Tom, with every knife I make I set out to make it perfect. I'll never get there of course, but I keep improving, getting closer...

I also agree with Tom about the knives of Steve Johnson. They are simply as close to perfect as knives can get. It's humbling just to look at them.

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Jerry Hossom
www.hossom.com
The Tom & Jerry Show
 
I use many of my customs. I carry a Hartsfield every day and a Fowler Bowie for hiking. I use them for whatever has to be done and get great pleasure from the fine job they do. I love watching people's eyes at work open wide when my Hartsfield pops a thick piece of string from a package like it was a thread. I also have knives (including Scagels, Lovelesses, and Morans) that are like fine paintings and I wouldn't use. Before I could afford these fine knives, I carried a Schrade pocketknife for many years and loved that too. The Schrade is still a treasured part of my collection. (and yes I do wear my Rolex while camping; I've worn it almost every day for the last 25 years.) I think each of us should enjoy what we have, share what we can with others, and appreciate when others share with us.
 
Tom , Jerry, Its a pleasur to know you guys, and an honor to call you friends. Its great to see the humble and serious sides about your knife makeing skilles, you both are great makers, and good people. Your both right Steve Johnson is a great knife maker, and a nice man, evin though I dont do his heat treating any moore. Paul.
 
Okay, I think I am getting the picture here. Actually, what made it click is the firearm/watch examples.

A person who makes use of a knife often enough to truly appreciate the care and craftsmanship put into a custom will use a custom if he can afford it. Most of us joe schmoe types think of a custom as being something that is too expensive for us to use and not worry.

Just like a target shooter who will spend thousands perfecting his rifle, not to let is sit in the safe or hang on the wall, but to use for his purposes.

Or the guy who buys a 5 pound custom hunter will not have a problem using it on a mountain hunt, even though it will likely get scratched or otherwise worn.

The man who appreciates the quality of a handmade watch, and who can afford it, will wear a nice watch.

I am glad that I asked, because in the future, after I can 1) afford and 2) appreciate a custom, I will certainly purchase at least a couple fixed blades.

I don't see a lot of you guys gold plating or embedding jewels in your knives, but they are very much beautiful regardless of material cost.
 
Like Bob Loveless said: "All that engraving on that knife doesn't make it cut any better" I have never sent a knife to an engraver...but that is going to change. One thing I thought of while reading thru all of these posts, was that my "not so perfect" knives now are as good or better than the "perfect" ones 10 years ago...and Steve Johnson was an accomplished knifemaker before a lot of us were born....and it took me a long time to get to the place where I felt I really had to have a Frank White gun.

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http://www.mayoknives.com


 
I carry a $700 custom folder regularly and a $500 custom fixed blade regularly that I alternate with my cheaper( a very relative term) knives. Some knives I buy to collect others I buy to use. It's all relative.

Once the money is paid out it's gone and can't be replaced, so you might as well use the knife.
 
I rarely use or carry anything BUT a custom. For me, using is a big part of the pleasure of owning custom knifes.
 
I'll have to confess that many of my custom knives are safe sitters. (who needs to carry around daggers, bowies and art knives), but my every day carries are customs the vast majority of the time.

They include work by Darrel Ralph, Ralph Turnbull, Mel Pardue, Rob Simonich, Bob Dozier, Bub Worrel, and Randy Gilbreth.

Some of the knives are not as expensive as a nice factory knife. (Been known to carry factory stuff too).



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" I am continually reminded of the rewards of dealing with custom knife makers and the custom knife community." Jeff J.
 
I have a Ed Fowler Proghorn and use it all the time. I even sharpen it on a DMT benchstone. Knives are for cutt'n not strutt'n.
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~Greg Mete~
Kodiak Alaska
 
Hmm..., interesting. I think it's all relative. Once, I couldn't imagine people actually buying those handmade works of art and actually using them. Then it started. I began talking to the custom makers, and I realised that all the effort that goes into a custom knife (other than art knives) is wasted if it sits around. By September, I should be regularly carrying up to $1400 in custom steel (that would be four separate knives, not one $1400 knife). These aren't my first customs, but are the first ones I bought with a true intention of using them, so they belong in a different class from the others. Hey, I could buy another car for that much, but I'll get much more enjoyment from the knives. If you'd have sent this back in time to me two years ago, I would have just stared, but now I realise that life really is too short to carry a cheap knife (sorry, I don't remember who's signature that is). The point is, we all start small, thinking that buying anything more expensive than a SAK is crazy, but once you've got the bug, you're doomed for life. I think the only thing that will take precedence over the knives is when I get ready to build my first 'custom' house (there's nothing like living in a house you designed and (mostly; some things need a license) built yourself).

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com

[This message has been edited by e_utopia (edited 07-31-2000).]
 
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