Smallshop
KNIFE MAKER
A friend of mine (an old boss that taught me MANY things) loves knives and has the income to indulge....lol.
He sent me a pic of a recent acquisition by a very well known maker (His work is as high grade as J. Doyle's though different design style) that most of you would know. This maker is one of the kindest gents you'll ever meet. He's also getting up in years. When I lived in So. Calif I would visit him at the Solvang show or the Pasadena show every year or so...he loved talking knives....any-hoo...
The pics my buddy sent showed the usual extreme quality of blade and handle....BUT...the sheath seemed a bit off...noticibly...the edge dye lapping up on to the main sheath surface...not a lot but not on par with this fellow's work. (I don't know if this ol' gent is still making his own sheaths to his defense.) I didn't point it out to my friend because he is the one who POUNDED attention to detail into me as a young machinist. I know he already knows.....I also know that I would have bought this knife/sheath combo with this small visible transgression in a heartbeat because of who this maker is and what he represents to anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting with him.
I looked at the sheath pic and said in my usual exasperated-with-the-world tone..." Daubers.....!" (for Ted...necessity is NOT the mother of invention...a unique blend of laziness and irritation is.)
I am not at the dropping off area of my "game" yet...but...there are things new to me that I think, "If this is tradition...tradition needs to change...." leather work is new to me...and I scratch my head at the methods often...
And daubers for dye application to sheath edges would be one of them....sooooo.....with that in mind here's where I'm going...
Think tiny paint roller here....don't know if it will work but I'm giving it a whirl...I'll do something very crude to prove it out before making the custom Gillette version...lol. (or as usually happens...I'll keep using the crude model till it breaks and I'm forced to make the nice one...)
You can buy 200 "dye rollers" for under $5...whadija pay for 20 daubers last time....(don't get me wrong...I LOVE daubers for dying leather...I think they're the best there is for the sheath surfaces....NOT for the edges...)
Over N out....
He sent me a pic of a recent acquisition by a very well known maker (His work is as high grade as J. Doyle's though different design style) that most of you would know. This maker is one of the kindest gents you'll ever meet. He's also getting up in years. When I lived in So. Calif I would visit him at the Solvang show or the Pasadena show every year or so...he loved talking knives....any-hoo...
The pics my buddy sent showed the usual extreme quality of blade and handle....BUT...the sheath seemed a bit off...noticibly...the edge dye lapping up on to the main sheath surface...not a lot but not on par with this fellow's work. (I don't know if this ol' gent is still making his own sheaths to his defense.) I didn't point it out to my friend because he is the one who POUNDED attention to detail into me as a young machinist. I know he already knows.....I also know that I would have bought this knife/sheath combo with this small visible transgression in a heartbeat because of who this maker is and what he represents to anyone who has had the pleasure of visiting with him.
I looked at the sheath pic and said in my usual exasperated-with-the-world tone..." Daubers.....!" (for Ted...necessity is NOT the mother of invention...a unique blend of laziness and irritation is.)
I am not at the dropping off area of my "game" yet...but...there are things new to me that I think, "If this is tradition...tradition needs to change...." leather work is new to me...and I scratch my head at the methods often...
And daubers for dye application to sheath edges would be one of them....sooooo.....with that in mind here's where I'm going...
Think tiny paint roller here....don't know if it will work but I'm giving it a whirl...I'll do something very crude to prove it out before making the custom Gillette version...lol. (or as usually happens...I'll keep using the crude model till it breaks and I'm forced to make the nice one...)
You can buy 200 "dye rollers" for under $5...whadija pay for 20 daubers last time....(don't get me wrong...I LOVE daubers for dying leather...I think they're the best there is for the sheath surfaces....NOT for the edges...)
Over N out....
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