Wilkenson sword woodlore knife!
- Thread starter tomtom
- Start date
tomtom said:
I understand your caution.
But, imagine you are one man with a workshop and half a dozen blokes working for you. Now if you have a few hundred thousand pounds to throw away, you could take a year, make a 100 knives in every concievable handle material and then hope someone would like them and buy them. Then you could pay your mortgage, pay your blokes thier salaries and finally put some food on the table.
Or if you are less finacially flush and a little more sensible, you could ask what people want and make them to order.
800 knives at an avearge of £100 each is £80,000 woth of sticking your neck out. We are not talking about Wilkinson Sword here, but about a small company making knives that are very nearly to customers specs. It isn't perfect, but it's all you're gonna get. If it freaks you out, buy something else - it's your money bud.
isn't the point of bushcraft slowing down working within natural cycles. i kind of like the idea of waiting for my knife to be made. its sort of organic.
Although i waiting to get myself a North star sometime in the future.
Although i waiting to get myself a North star sometime in the future.
ok thank you everone for sharing you knolage and experience.. i have one other question..
for YOU is it a knife with a Bevel or a knife with out.. (and if you have more than one, then which if you prefered... )
for YOU is it a knife with a Bevel or a knife with out.. (and if you have more than one, then which if you prefered...
)Full convex with no bevel for ultimate performance.
Flat ground with a single bevel otherwise.
This is based upon what I use a knife for YMMV
Flat ground with a single bevel otherwise.
This is based upon what I use a knife for YMMV
think the one on the right is what Wayne is referring to as full convex ... and the single bevel flat grind is like you would grind a plane iron , just one flat bevelled surface with no second angle
more about convex grinds here
http://www.mhcable.com/~yocraft/sosak/convex.htm
Wayne said:
So who, do you suppose, makes 'factory' knives? Chimpanzees? I'm darned sure that many factory knifemakers are very fine craftsmen.
Let's be very clear about one thing: the Ray Mears/Alan Wood 'Woodlore' knife is an excellent design for its intended purpose. It isn't the best skinner in the world; it isn't the best fine slicer in the world. It is a good, tough, straight -fairly pointy- outdoors knife that will perform a range of 'bushcraft' tasks well or adequately. Its particular strengths lie in the sort of whittling and green wood working required for bushcraft/survival purposes. I own one and I like it a lot.
Let's be very clear about another thing: the 'Woodlore' knife is a simple knife. It is made of a simple relatively inexpensive and well-understood tool steel; it has a simple, single-bevel grind (no swedges; fullers, etc., etc.). It has a simple, untapered full-tang. The handle is simple, comprising timber scales (a relatively inexpensive and easily worked timber, at that). The knife does not involve file work; bolsters; pommels; engraving, or any of the other fancy stuff that adds work time and/or tests the workmanship of the maker. In short, a knife as simple as the 'Woodlore' should be easily within the capability of any halfway competent journeyman stock removal knifemaker ...or commercial cutlery factory worth its salt.
All things being equal, the price should reflect these things.
Burnt Ash
Yes, I won't dispute that it's a good knife that does a good job at outdoor tasks ... however, for the price and compared to the price of the handcrafted knife that it is based on, I'd expect better and/or cheaper. See, in my mind the price is a trade-off - if there was only a one week waiting list on the Alan Wood Woodlore, ask yourself yould you be happy with paying £30 less for the WS knife or would you pay the £30 extra and get the AW Woodlore if the waiting time was a week? What about a month? Six months? See, the WS Woodlore is priced such that it can scoop in all bar £30 quid less than the asking price of an AW Woodlore simply because it is available quickly. And add to that you get a sheath that is less versatile and no firesteel ...Jake Rollnick said:
Can you make a cheap, high quality knife cheaply? Well, I've not seen it yet but the BRK&T North Star looks like it is.
So, why is the WS Woodlore the price it is ... ? Partly availability but mostly paying for a name.
Hmmm, i suppose so. It was the AW woodlore that came out before the WS Woodlores. I think the knife i got was a great one, the problem could be the inconsistency within the knives produced (like my first one that i sent back).
i just dont see how the maple can cost £70 more, am i over looking something major in the manufacture?
i am sure most of us have but for anyone who hasnt this is interesting http://www.bushcraftuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=666
i am sure most of us have but for anyone who hasnt this is interesting http://www.bushcraftuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=666
tomtom said:
The maple handled ws is handmade but the micarta is machine made. I think that is the £70 difference you mean?
Some people would say £95 is a lot for a machine made knife but then Dave and Jake (amongst others) have said how pleased they are with their micarta ones and it is half the price of the custom knife of exactly the same design. For the less expert knife owners amongst us (I count myself) then can you really tell the difference between a micarta and a maple ws woodlore? I'm talking IN USE not cosmetically but when you've had it a few years and it's a bit worn in will the different maunfacture still be obviuos? I don't include alan's woodlore in the comparison because a handmade custom knife is a different kettle of fish.
Why do WS not put the makers initials on the maple hadled blades like they do at Gransfors? You are a lot less inclined the send out a blade which is not perfect if it has your name on it for all to see.
Bill
tenbears10 said:
Having seen both, I can't see a difference between the micarta or maple handled knives - apart from the handle! The fit and finish of both now seems identical. Even the sheaths are, to my eye, identical.
Apart from the weight, there is no difference.
Excellent idea!
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