Who owns a STR folder?

I'mGatMan! said:
Hey Steve...I think he was joshin' ya. We know you disdain the chisel grind. ;)

They are great-looking knives, though. Any particular reason you go with the wharnie? Do you ever do drop points? I'd love to see a drop point Ouperator with a damascus blade.

I'm gonna look around and see if I can find pricing info. Tight work, Steve. :thumbup:
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Before I started making folders I looked for a Wharncliffe in combination with a frame lock and felt they were among the harder to find ones out there and the ones I did find never quite did it for me. I had several like the lockback Centefonte from Spyderco, didn't like it. Got several Leeks, and the handle is a bit small for me on that model. I've owned very few of what I'd call great ones so it seemed I could find a niche there.

When I started making these it was before Obenauf made his, before some of the other guys also and even now I feel to find a good frame lock Wharny is hard so I wanted to fill a void so to speak. I came up with the size also trying to find a knife in a frame lock that fit right in between the large and small Sebenza to fill a bit of what I percieved to be a void also.

Finally I've never considered myself to be all that great of a grinder until I came up with a block to help with that. Now its a complete relearning since my old grinder with that stuff special fit to it is all dead and buried (so to speak). I now have my KMG and while much better than my old set homemade set up with better speed control and belt size without my block/helper to aid me its been like starting over in a lot of ways. I have Reese Weiland making me up an aluminum block to replace the one I had and should be getting that just in time to have some experimental testing time before I run completely out of these old blade I did when I had my old set up.

Once I get that I may play around with some other shapes. We'll have to see. Right now I'm still mainly focused on my first love which is working over the production folders and my pocket clips. I always have considered the custom from scratch folders just to be a kind of side play thing and not what I really rely on to pay my mastercard or for this forum and stuff like that. I only make between 10 and 14 of those a year compared to the huge number of productions that I turn out so I stay where I like more than this. Thats the other reason I only stick with my one blade shape. Its just easier for me that way.

STR
 
I hear ya. I've thought about sending you my CQC-8 a few times. Not quite sure I wanna void the warranty though.

On another note though--and I'm only asking because you mentioned it in your XM-18 thread--what do you think of Greg Lightfoot's knives? I am interested in his Nighthawk, but I'm kinda surprised his knives are all liner-locks, and not framelocks. Care to share an opinion? Thanks

Jason
 
Buttery smooth. His locks seem to hold fast but as is typical of many new knives they don't move in very far until they break in good. I get a lot of owners of his knives writing me and sending me his knives for new low rider clips and a surprising number have asked me to see if I can make the lock move in further while its here. Most of them I advise that they should talk to him about that but I guess he is not USA based or something so they want me to do it. Greg makes a darn fine folder though and uses top materials. I have seen several of them over the last two years and as I recall all of them were carbon fiber models. I'm not sure if he makes a frame lock. Most of the liners I see seem to hover around .050 thickness if that but they seem to have very good contacts with no play and the angles seem right on to me. I have not checked them to see what he uses but it looks like he does them similar to others with a 10" wheel between 7 and 9 degrees.

STR
 
Thanks very much for the info, Steve. I may end up getting one of these when there's more knife-money to play with. And FYI...Greg is in Canada.
 
I am fairly easy to reach. Lastly for the record in case Greg ever reads this. I don't modify his knives to install low riders. Its always done using the existing holes he already did. I just simply unscrew his and adapt my own to fit two of the three holes there. :thumbup:

STR
 
Keep it in a blue velvet sheath.

Took some good pics too but found out I can not post them without a ten dollar charge. Well it is a humdinger of a lockback folder and you just have to imagine the ivory micarta slabs and a super three inch Bos heat treat blade.
 
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