Winchester "Bullhead" a la Krein

[Blues]

I purchased a vintage 1988 carbon steel Winchester Bullhead, (equal-end, double-end) jackknife a few weeks ago because I really like the pattern and blade combination.

However, upon receiving this particular knife I was terribly disappointed to note that the spear blade didn't even have a bevel ground on one side of the blade!

The clip was slightly better but still pretty pathetic.

I broke out the stones and began sharpening and actually got enough of a bevel ground on the spear blade to where it would grab hair. (It also looked like it could use that hair to cover up the ugly scratches I had put on the blade from thinning it down.)

Then the epiphany occurred.

A few weeks ago my buddy Ford, (fewpop here on the forum) was kind enough to send me a knife that had been reground and sharpened by Tom Krein, a "neighbor" of his in NW Arkansas. Well, I was mighty impressed with Tom's mastery of the cutting edge.

So, I thought to myself, why not ship this little beauty off to Tom and get back a knife in exchange for a collector piece.

And that's just what happened. Today I received back a knife with two extremely sharp blades that will ride proudly in my pocket and not shy from any chore.

I did lose the "Winchester" etch on the blade, (boo-hoo), but have received back a knife I can truly be proud of.

Fantastic job, Tom.

Tom can be reached via his website, www.kreinknives.net
If you have a knife that's worth the "treatment", it's worth the investment imho! :thumbup:

 

[kamagong]

It looks like the Krein Knives website is no more.

Glad to hear about the transformation. I like good knives being put to use.

 

[Blues]

Kamagong, that was my error and I've fixed the bad URL.

 

[Mike Robuck]

I too have been recently enlightened in regards to the fine grinding skills of Mr. Krein. The only thing better than him regrinding a knife is getting one of his knives, I reckon.

Cool pattern.

 

[Blues]

I've gently hinted to him (okay, maybe not that gently) that he should consider slipjoints.

Tom has limited internet access but hopefully he'll be able to log in and share his thoughts with us.

 

[db]

I've handled and been able to use a few of Tom's regrinds and he sure is one heck of a grinder. A Krein slipjoint sounds great to me. Enjoy that one Blues.

 

[Blues]

Thanks, Bill. I'm lucky that Ford opened up my eyes to Tom's work as I had only heard of him in passing fashion previously.

I'd have been mighty disappointed that this knife wasn't all it could be, now that's not an issue.

 

[fewpop]

Good stuff brothermen! I've had several traditional pocketknives reground by my buddy Tom, and it is a wonderful thing, imho.

Awhile back, I had this nice stag D2 Queen whittler that I wanted to give to Tom, and so I got out my edgepro and did what I thought was a fair job on the 3 blades. Sent it off to Tom for him to keep, or give to one of his sons, and next time I talked to him, he said, "that is a pretty good whittler once I put a decent edge on it." Well there ya' go. Tom's idea of sharp edge is a different dimension of acuity. I have a bunch of his fixed blades and they are really nice. The smaller ones make great pocket edc knives.

I know I'm plugging my brother Tom here, but hey, what are brothers for?

One of my favorite regrinds that he did was on a Queen D2 Mt. Man...lost the logo (thankfully) and got a blade that could shave flea balls.

I just got a SAK Farmer from him that he sharpened, and it's likely to be the sharpest farmer in RcanSaw. I cut myself twice (never felt a thing) just shooting this photo yesterday. Nice to see green grass isn't it?

Now if, as Elliott suggests, we can just get Tom to do a traditional slipjoint...well, whoa Nellie!

 

[joebonny]

Blues, I bought two of the same type Winchesters a few years ago, I ordered them. both had the bone scales cracked in different area's. I didnt send them back, coz i got them cheap,maybe thats why? so I gave one away to some one in the Phillipines while I was there an he was very happy to have a real pocket knife, the other one is going to get torn apart an put in my pattern bin for a new pattern when I get around to making that type knife. some good things do come out of bad circumstances. Joe