Will there be a 2017 forum knife?

[liamstrain]

I'm happy to volunteer label design services again, if needed.

 

[rockgolfer]

Won't say the dealer as I am not sure they are a paying member or not. These 2 houndstooth micarta's are just 2 samplings of what is already being made and available. I will reach out to the company if the powers that be wish?

 

[AlwaysTomboy]

Agreed. We should vote between these two patterns:

<snip for brevity>

I was picturing a nice neutral oatmeal or heather gray, but as a knitter, I'd break my no pink/purple rule for a wooly tweed micarta knife of any color.

I suspect it's not practical or economical enough for this undertaking, although I have no experience with any of this. I'm just assuming that something unusual and custom would be more expensive than something that can be bought off the shelf, like regular canvas micarta, so to speak. I still love the idea.

I have always imagined tweed as the greeny moss coloured tartanny looking old bloke jacket that my grandfather wore with leather elbow patches .

Dude, I'd be all OVER mossy green. It would match the flat cap I got in Ireland a couple of years ago & wear all the time (including today).

 

[meako]

Those look really good.
The examples of what is in production .Wow.:thumbup:

 

[Mossyhorn]

I started collecting back when traditional knives were king. I'd like to see one
for 2017 because I was more into other knives at the time and missed the others.

 

[GermanyChris]

This gentleman has some interesting micarta.

http://rolandlannier.com/en/couteaux/punk/

 

[Sandmage]

I'm sure I'll buy whatever comes to fruition, but I'd love a bone/natural canvas micarta with a long pull TC. Would REALLY love a micarta/sawcut TC Beerlow too Thanks Charlie for all of your hard work!

 

[Will Power]

I'm sure I'll buy whatever comes to fruition, but I'd really love a bone/natural canvas micarta with a long pull in spear point TC. Would REALLY love a micarta/sawcut TC Beerlow too Thanks Charlie for all of your hard work!

OK, but the proposal is for a single Sheepfoot with nail nick and Micarta.

 

[Sandmage]

OK, but the proposal is for a single Sheepfoot with nail nick and Micarta.

Edited to reflect that fact. Still would like a micarta spear TC though... was a crescent nick decided upon? Like I said, I'm sure I'll buy whatever comes down the pipe!

 

[Will Power]

Well enthusiasm is always good!

Thanks, Will

 

[JSutter]

OK I'm in. With only one Barlow, a good Stew's Choice, I have need of another. In micarta, those pics of something tweedy look appropriate. Smooth ivory bone would work as well.

 

[Will Power]

Actually, Smooth Ivory Bone works well on all knives, it has great ageing potential.:thumbup:

It also keeps costs down, no jigging or dyeing and uniformity in a large production batch of 500.

Sourcing special Micarta from Burlap or Tweeds is a very attractive idea but it could be very expensive to get done I suspect.

 

[pmew]

Just so that nobody thinks this a definite, we're still throwing ideas about and hypothesising at this stage ...

Sourcing special Micarta from Burlap or Tweeds is a very attractive idea but it could be very expensive to get done I suspect.

Will, I honestly have no idea. I'm not on Lewis at the minute, I'm on the main land in the borough of Englandshire to visit family but when I return home in a couple of weeks I can visit some of the mills and get a quote or two if Charlie wishes.

I have no idea how much we would need to make micarta for 500 pairs of slabs but Harris tweed is woven to a width of 1.5m (about 4'11") and then sold by the meter. The last tweed I bought was about 2 years ago and cost me £16 a metre - but that was for a short 5m stretch of crimson and ivory herringbone. A plain weave would generally cost less depending on the dye and the cost would lower as the size of the order increased. Shipping it stateside and thereafter the marrying with resin are other factors that must be considered too.

Also, when Evan made my tweed sodbuster, the tweed turned from a bright yellow to a far darker rustier colour;





so with this in mind, people might not be happy with the end result if they had the original weave colour in mind with their hearts set on it...

... but, the resin Evan used was evidently not a totally transparent resin and I have no idea about whether a clear one is available.

Paul

 

[screened porch]

Tweed may be what John Cleese was talking about when he described Oxford grads as "Those people you meet at parties wearing awful, sort of hairy jackets." Cleese being a Cambridge man of course.
Real Harris Tweed would be great, but those already extant woolies look good too.

 

[wintermute]

Charlie Waynorth should be deemed the patron saint of the Bladeforums knife. I was part of the "management" process one year, and it was probably the most disorganized year for the knife. Charlie and Barry have made this a much more pleasant process for all involved (in my opinion), and I think that comes in no small part from wrangling the cats straight out of the gate. Looking forward to this year's knife, as all the years prior. It's not exactly what I want, but that's half the fun - it gets me to look outside the box.

That being said, I didn't know tweed herringbone micarta was a thing! That's so friggin' cool! Regardless if we can get tweed or not, since a barlow is meant to be hard-working and not fancy, I say any sort of coarse-grained micarta, like canvas, would be great on this knife.

Thank you for saving this year's knife Charlie!

 

[judco]

I would love to buy a BF TC with sheepfoot blade. I've been wanting a TC for a while but cant ever be quick enough to get one either from a dealer or secondary (unless its one for $250 or so). BTW I love a sheepfoot blade for cutting the strings off of a round bale of hay.

 

[btb01]

I thought I'd put together a visual based on what Charlie's suggesting (and we're discussing) here: a TC Barlow with light colored Micarta scales (these are the Bone Micarta from Mike's #77 Barlow) and a nail nick sheepsfoot (from a #15 Crown Lifter). You'll have to forgive the black streaks in the Micarta -- my #77 just came that way -- and the Crown Lifter etch, which obviously wouldn't be on the BF knife, but hopefully it might gives you an idea of what we're talking about. I'd buy one!

I like the idea of a Harris Tweed Micarta, although I think having the Micarta specially made (rather than sourcing an existing Micarta) might bring the price up.

 

[ea42]

Won't say the dealer as I am not sure they are a paying member or not. These 2 houndstooth micarta's are just 2 samplings of what is already being made and available. I will reach out to the company if the powers that be wish?

Those covers look amazing! I tend to lean toward micarta that has some variation in texture and color. The linen and paper micarta just seems a bit drab to me, especially in ivory or bone. You've also go to beware of the very light micartas because the threads or paper sometimes absorb the dark buffing compounds and it's impossible to get it out. This seems to happen a lot less on the darker or colored micartas. I'm definitely in no matter what, missed out last year and won't let that happen again.

Eric

 

[tstaut]

Maybe I'm a party pooper (wouldn't be the first time) but a lot can go wrong/change with an untested micarta (and then complaints, drama, etc). Whereas natural, muslin, and many others have been fairly consistent from GEC. Burlap has been done twice with improving results.

One more suggestion.... the black micarta on the SFO 14s was amazing and I have been dying to see it on a grown-up-sized barlow ever since.

 

[tomsch]

Little did I know that when I opened this thread back on 3/28 that it would turn out so amazing! Thanks for stepping up and defining a great way to make this successful this year Charlie!