Wood, maple or micarta

[JakeR]

I need help with a descision.........

1. Woodlore Alan wood knife OR
2. Wilkinson Sword Maple OR
3. Wilkinson Sword Micarta

I am going to buy one, and i will leave the descision (or at least some of it) up to you! is worth the cost and wait for the alan wood? Is it worth price of the maple, when the micarta will perform just as well?

Just say either 1, 2 or 3.

Thank you very much for your help, all of you.

Jake :?:

 

[Hoodoo]

I plead ignorance as I only have the micarta model.

 

[Tony]

This is one for Martyn or one of the other BB guys that have got different types. I would wait for the Allan Wood one as the price is not a lot different than the WS Maple. Get the micarta if you want a serviceable tool and you don't mind putting some time into the blade to get it up to scratch. Again Martyn knows a lot more about this then I do as I have just stuck with my Allan Wood and had no disappointments!

 

[johnboy]

Hi,

The pros and cons of the woodlore knives have been mentioned numerous times in this forum and a quick trawl through will give you lots of opinions on these knifes in their various forms.

I have a Micarta It was fine 'straight out of the box' . Tough and serviceable, and it's the cheapest option. I'd go for that.

John

 

[JakeR]

Cheers mate,

I realise there is already alot of info, but i found it difficult to decipher which is best , thanks for the advice, i think i will go for the micarta, unless someone can give good reason not to......


Thanks,

 

[Martyn]

just get them all.

Seriously, it depends what you want. If you want a hard worker, you want it soon and cost is an issue, go for the WS micarta.

If you want a nicer knife and you want it soon, go for WS maple.

If you want a nicer knife and dont mind the wait, go for the AW woodlore.

The answer to your question - it depends!

I'm waiting on a replacement for the maple woodlore from WS (I think everyone who has one at the moment is getting thiers replaced), and am not absolutely happy about recommending it untill I've had a good chance to play with the replacement. The original was flawed, I'm told they've rectified the issues - but will hold off with a recommendation untill I see the results for myself. Should be in the next week or so.

Shortly after, I'll put the review together (which would have been out by now except for the hiccup with the maple WS).

 

[Martyn]

Also, remember these knives have a good resale value. So, you could get one of the WS models now, then order the AW model. When the AW model arrives in a years time, either keep that and sell your WS, or keep the WS and sell the AW. I doubt you'd be much out of pocket either way.

 

[JakeR]

Hi Martyn,
I couldnt bear the wait for the alan wood. But the cost difference between the micarta and the maple astounds me, is it purely aesthetic?

I think the micarta is for me, as £95 isn't exactly going to break the bank!

Thanks,



P.S Where could i sell a micarta WS? and if it was, say, a year old and in good nick, how much for?

 

[Adi007]

In good nick I'm sure you could sell it here for at least 60 - 70% of what you paid for it easy :-D . Unused prolly more.

If they stop making them between now and then then the price would be higher still.

I've seen the original Alan Wood Woodlore go for more second hand than new (it was unused but even so!!! :-D )

 

[Martyn]

You could sell it easily on these forums, on britishblades forums or on ebay UK, if you were happy selling oveerseas, there are dozens more websites you could try - but you wouldn't need to, it wouldn't last that long.

 

[Andrew Middleton]

I think Jake makes an interesting point, which I have never seen addressed elsewhere: Does a small piece of maple really cost £70 more than micarta? I struggle to grasp this, but I may be missing something about the rarity value and workmanship required for maple.

Looking at the question from another angle, I have an Alan Wood knife on order and if I can't get on with the neck sheath I was considering ordering a belt sheath. However, at £45 for a bit of leather, I may as well spend another £50 and get the micarta knife plus the sheath.

When you break it down, someone is make some serious profit per item.

 

[johnboy]

Hi,

It's not just the grip on the WS Maple it also comes with a hand stitched belt sheath and there is a degree of hand finishing on the blade I believe. It's much more hand crafted than the micarta knife and as time=money in UK based manufacturing that would explain the differance in cost.

Is it worth the extra £70.00 over the Micarta. If you just want a functional tool then I would say obviously not.

cheers

John

 

[JakeR]

I think that Woodlore have their mathematics messed up. If a hand made woodlore knife comes with a handstiched leather sheath (£45) and you take that off the £195, the woodlore knife costs less than the maple!

So if the cost of the knife reflected the quality, not only would the maple be better, but buying the maple with a hand-stiched leather sheath would save alot of time and would only cost £10 more.

Perhaps they should review the prices ,


Jake

 

[Martyn]

The sheaths are all the same, regardless of micarta or maple. The difference in cost has nothing to do with the sheath. The difference in price comes from the degree of finishing the knife has. The micarta knife has a churned out factory finish, it's functional, but that's it. The maple knife has hand carved maple handle slabs and is hand finished to a much higher level. The bevels on the primary edge grind are stone ground and hand finished. It doesnt make much functional difference, but there is a lot more man-hours that go into the maple version, as well as perhaps a slightly higher material cost. The maple version is marginally cheaper than the Alan Wood version, but they are finished to the same level (in theory). The sheath that comes with the Wilkinson Sword knives (regardless of version) is the belt sheath, the sheath that comes with the Alan Wood knife is the neck sheath. The cost, quality and finish is the same for both kneck and belt sheaths.

Functionally, all the knives are (or should be) pretty much the same. The micarta knife is cheaper, because they kick it out the door with a lower standard of finish. Five hours work at £15 per hour is £75, it's not difficult to see where the extra cost comes from for the higher level of finish on the maple knives.

You pay your money you take your choice.

 

[JakeR]

Hi Martyn,

I was just confused about the fact that they say that the woodlore knife has a handmade leather sheath, but the maple has a machine stiched one. :-?


Cheers

Jake

 

[Martyn]

Hi Martyn,

I was just confused about the fact that they say that the woodlore knife has a handmade leather sheath, but the maple has a machine stiched one. :-?


Cheers

Jake

Alan wood contracts the sheaths out for the woodlore, and it may well be hand stitched. Wilkinson Sword either do their own or have their own contractors and as far as I can tell, the WS sheaths (both types) are machine stitched (at least they look it to me). But it makes little difference, as the WS sheaths are a carbon copy of the woodlore sheaths. Honestly, the sheath doesnt factor at all.

 

[Adi007]

as the WS sheaths are a carbon copy of the woodlore sheaths. Honestly, the sheath doesnt factor at all.

Apart from not having a firesteel holder. Or was that just the old style.

 

[johnboy]

Hi,

The sheath should factor as it quite clearly states on the product discription on the woodlore website as follows


"Designed by Ray Mears and made by Wilkinson Sword.
This knife is handmade and hand-finished by one of the Wilkinson Sword craftsmen. It comes in a hand-stitched leather belt sheath (neck sheath with fire stick holder available to order separately) and is exactly the same design as the original Woodlore knife but produced in larger quantities. Ray has worked with Wilkinson Sword over many years and they agreed to produce the knife for us.

We are delighted with the superb quality and standard of this knife and hope you will enjoy using it as much as us."

as opposed to the discription for the micarta handled knife which is as follows.

"The Woodlore/Wilkinson Sword Micarta Knife is designed by Ray Mears and made by Wilkinson Sword.
This knife is manufactured in production quantities and has a black Micarta® handle (which looks like ebony and is truly beautiful). It is exactly the same design as the Bird's Eye Maple handle Woodlore/ Wilkinson Sword knife but is more affordable as it is not hand-crafted. It comes in a machine-stitched leather belt sheath. (If you would like a hand-made leather neck sheath with fire stick holder this is available to order separately for £45 - sorry we cannot swap a machine-made sheath for a hand-made one)."

So presumebly if you recieve a machine stitched sheath with a maple WS woodlore you will have some redress with them.

Therefore the sheath should factor into the price as well as the handfinishing on the knife.

Cheers

John

 

[bushwacker bob]

the WS micarta would be my choice. Machine stitching can be stronger and often neater than hand stitching.I checked with my brother hes a trained cordwainer(saddler)

 

[Adi007]

Martyn ...

Johnboy's post above reminds me of why I asked you a few days ago if there was any difference in the sheaths for the two knives ... you said there wasn't and I went away thinking I must have imagines the whole thing!!!! (kinda normal for me!).

However, it does look like the sheaths should be different!