Who is your favorite traditional maker?

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Ajack60 said:
T.A. Davison
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Jack Black said:
In terms of the knives though, of the customs I have, I think the knife, which is most perfectly made is this Sheepsfoot by Todd Davison. It also means a lot, as it was a gift from my friend Old & In The Way :)
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Soooooooooo many favorites, as in, can there be only one? I will say Todd.

I believe the fellow below is in North Carolina, and might rank among the favorites if he were more well known.

Javan Christian Rhyne Dempsey (maker's knife pictured)

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Tony Bose by a large margin. Erickson and Halfrich made wonderful knives in their day, own a few from both, but neither take orders or have made a knife in years. When Ken quit making knives he had a trapper partially finished (mammoth scales cut) but never finished the knife and it took me years to get my mammoth returned (thanks Blues Blues for the help). Reece Bose makes a great knife but took me over 5 years pestering to get him to make one for me. Pena makes a superior peened knife _if_ you can get him to make one ... made some for me but those days are long gone, too famous now. "Sure, I'll make you a knife" ... followed by crickets. Same with Oeser. Dowell and Menefee not taking orders. If you find a slipjoint on the secondary market by one of those makers that you like, grab it! But if you want a slipjoint made to your specs, find a maker who is actually taking orders. To the best of my knowledge the maker who is actually the best and taking orders is Craig Brewer. Next on my short list would be Jim Dunlap. Best single blade slipjoint for the money would be Charlie Bell. TA Davidson makes a consistently excellent slipjoint to order. Mike Zscherny is another outstanding maker but don't know if he is taking orders currently.
 
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Blues said:
Fortunately, I have enough knives from Erickson, Halfrich, Oeser, Dowell, Zscherny, Pena, Ruple, Preston, Chamblin, et al to last a lifetime.

I sold off my Bose knives, as well as Rogers...so others are now feeling that particular joy. Share the wealth.
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Thanks again, Blues, for facilitating my purchase from Ken Ericson, these many years ago!
 
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My short list. Led by the man himself but in no particular order after that:

Tony Bose
Jason Tabor
Rhidian Gatrill
Brett Dowell
Mike Moran
Tom Ploppert
Reese Bose
Don Hansen
Rick Menefee
Tim Robertson

I will add I handled a lot of knives at the recent Badger show. Many from quite a few of the makers listed above. The best overall that I handled was from Jason Tabor. His f&f and his action was impeccable!
 
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I don't know that I've seen enough or spent enough with my limited resources to decide who my favorite is. But years ago, I did accumulate several knives made by Ray Cover. He had a very elegant lockback design that was pretty classicly basic on the one hand, and yet beautifully refined for fit & finish with his own precise touch. Once I'd purchased the first one, I had to have more. The one below is a large folder that I keep within reach most times, just so I can pick it up and admire it. The wood handles are, I believe, spalted maple. He did use that in some of his knives and the wood feels great in the hand, to be rubbed in worry-stone fashion. He produced essentially the same pattern in a somewhat smaller version, of which I have a few in jigged bone, another in spalted maple and one or two in pearl. I still need to get around to taking some pics of those.
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I am just now starting to dip my toes into the custom slipjoint pond and I have to say, it's been a pretty frustrating experience. I think John ( Chief Chief ) summed it up pretty well with regards to the difficulty one can have in finding a maker whose books you might be able to get your name on.

For me, when I look to getting a custom knife made, there is a relationship to develop and foster, a balance to be achieved between your desires as a knife user and owner and the artistry of the maker you are collaborating with. I've found great success in achieving this with a number of fixed blade makers but have yet to be able to do so with a slipjoint maker. Most of the time, I hear crickets or the maker I am interested in has adopted a knife lottery system that I have zero interest in being a part of.

Frankly, I can venture forth and get a knife that was made by Lloyd, or Ruple, or Bell, or even the man himself, Bose - especially if money were not an object. But for me, it comes down to this: those available knives were someone else's idea (whether the maker's or the one who commissioned the work) - and it feels odd to me to possess someone else's custom knife.

I think I've managed to get myself on Rhidian's books - though I have been told it is a very long list so who knows what that will entail. Still, I love his work and I certainly hope the wait results in something very special.

NOT my picture, it is the maker's and it isn't representative of what I hope to have made - though I wouldn't turn my nose up at it (the WT has become a fast favorite of mine).

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