Woodlore Question?

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myakka

Tenderfoot
Sep 12, 2004
56
0
55
Colorado
www.freewebs.com
Will Ray Mears be making a Woodlore knife again to be sold on his website? If so will Allan Wood be making it, or will someone else? Does anyone have the inside scoop?
 

-Switch-

Settler
Jan 16, 2006
845
4
43
Still stuck in Nothingtown...
As far as I know Alan Wood is still making the Woodlore Knives for Ray but there's a bit of a waiting list for them. There are quite a few knocking about second hand at the moment if you look on auction sites etc but you can expect to pay well over the odds for one.
 

Shing

Nomad
Jan 23, 2004
268
4
57
Derbyshire
I think most on the waiting list are collectors since there are plenty of well regarded makers of the same style of knife that are selling at half or less of the price of a Woodlore.
 

Aliwren

Nomad
Jan 2, 2006
429
2
46
Bedford
I imagine that there are also alot of people on the list purely hoping to make some money given the price Woodlore sell them for and the amount they can sell for on Ebay. This could result in more sellers than buyers as there must be a finite number of collectors - pure economics would suggest prices coming down at that stage.
 

Nightwalker

Native
Sep 18, 2006
1,206
2
38
Cornwall, UK.
www.naturalbushcraft.co.uk
I dont want to buy one, but why on earth dosent woodlore get another knife maker to produce the same knife? Have two or three knife makers that have a high standard to produce the same knife.

Now I've heard a Alan Wood's name again and again, but im not sure how legendary his products are but surely it seems obvious to get a couple of makers on the go if the demand is there?
 

Aliwren

Nomad
Jan 2, 2006
429
2
46
Bedford
I think originally that was the idea. Alan Wood did the handmade 'Woodlores' (cost about £195 originally) and Wilkinson Sword did mass production Woodlores which cost about £95.

When Wilkinson Sword stopped making knives/swords the value of the cheaper knives shot up and became collectors items as they will never be available again. Now all are hand made by one bladesmith (Alan Wood) and cost £250 from Woodlore.
 

Squidders

Full Member
Aug 3, 2004
3,853
15
48
Harrow, Middlesex
Nightwalker, that's like asking Morgan to get Mercedes to make some cars for them to clear the backlog... both are nice cars sure... but it's important to know what you're getting and where it's from.

Alan Wood is one of the UKs best known knife maker who has a reputation built on quality and craftsmanship... outsourcing would kill that overnight.

What would be handy though, is another Factory, £95 Woodlore like the old WS one.
 

spamel

Banned
Feb 15, 2005
6,833
21
48
Silkstone, Blighty!
And there are plnty of manufacturers out there that could make a mass produced version. Spyderco or Cold Steel, BRKT or Boker, or any other number of makers. They have their own take on knives but if asked to make to an exact specification, then the same style of knife could easily be made.

Imagine how much money Woodlore are losing by virtue of the fact that many people don't want to wait for 3 years and/or pay 200 quid for a knife!

Let's hope Ray sees this whilst online, browsing this fine forum!
 

Squidders

Full Member
Aug 3, 2004
3,853
15
48
Harrow, Middlesex
true spamel... be nice to keep it british though, it's a british design based on input from a british knife maker and british bushcrafter.

WS fitted the bill perfectly... who do we have now?

i'm not the flag waving type, it just seems that it's another thing that may be extinct from the UK sadly.
 
S

steveg

Guest
waiting list is just over two years @ £250 at the moment im sure it will rise in time (was £230 6 months ago )
 

alco141

Member
May 15, 2006
12
0
71
indiana
seems like there are a pile of knife makers in the usa that could turn out a woodslore knife in less time in the blade grind angle, steel, and handle of your choosing, and for less than the "woodslore" in both cash and waiting time. is it important that it be made and have the woodslore stamp? why dont you folks do a group buy with a knife maker? if you want to keep it british then get a british bladesmith.

alex
 

Jedadiah

Native
Jan 29, 2007
1,349
1
Northern Doghouse
There are PLENTY of British knife makers out there who are capable of making such a tool. Many offer Woodlore 'Inspired' knives and knife kit's, probably for this reason and definately at a more resonable price. I think the clamour for Alan Wood Woodlore's is mainly due to collectability and exclusivity. If i could use a guitar analogy; there are lots of guitars out there that emulate Gibson Les Paul's or Fender Stratocasters. These guitars are well built, sound great, in fact they do everything that the aforementioned 'Classics' do. However, if you are of a certain mind, you could get a copy that is, to all intents and purposes, an exact replica of, lets say a 1958 Gibson Les Paul Standard with tigerstriped bookmatched maple top, finished in brown sunburst, with all the sonic capabilities that the original had, but if it did not have THAT name on the headstock you could be thinking 'yeah, this feels good and sounds good, but it is'nt the real deal!

That is my theory anyway. I would say that if you want a Woodlore inspired knife, then there are lot's of British makers who would make one almost identical (without the AW/RM markings) and i have no doubt that it would be it's equal in usage terms and probably in asthetic terms. If you want the 'Real Deal', be prepared to pay for it!:D
 

Squidders

Full Member
Aug 3, 2004
3,853
15
48
Harrow, Middlesex
Jed, I wasn't talking about a maker... if a maker suddenly got an order for 500 knives there would be an instant and very long wating list. I was talking about a factory to mass produce quality knives similar to the WS ones.

I'm well aware that there are many many makers producing woodlore clones but these are in small numbers and are themselves, often expensive.

What I was asking is if anyone knows of a british Helle... a company who mass produces quality knives in the UK?
 

Jedadiah

Native
Jan 29, 2007
1,349
1
Northern Doghouse
Oop's, sorry mate!:eek: Wrong end of the stick, i've not been well see, there's this 24hr thing going around. Flu like symptoms, feel awful. The only cure is Lemsip Max strength to be taken on a high horse! Well, that'll be me cured then!

No offence meant, just got the wrong end of the thread. Looks like humble pie for brunch!
 

TheGreenMan

Native
Feb 17, 2006
1,000
8
beyond the pale
Will Ray Mears be making a Woodlore knife again to be sold on his website? If so will Allan Wood be making it, or will someone else? Does anyone have the inside scoop?

It shows on the Web site as 'out of stock', but if you order one anyway, you might find that you have been added to the back list of orders. Try it and find out!...and then let us know what happened :)

Best regards,
Paul.
 

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