"Ping", "Ping", Ping". The craftman's hammer falls, driving the pin and setting the blade.
He straightens himself from his bench and works the newly set blade against it's spring. A smooth action and a solid "click" proves that the blade is set well and the lock up is tight. This is just another step before a finished product, one that may end up spending his life in the silk purse of a rich man, or in the pocket of the dirt poor farmer down the road, either way, it's prepared only with the Craftman's full attention. Stag, bone and ivory are just standards in this Craftman's arsenal of materials, but only for their strength and beauty are they chosen to serve as a knife's handle. Another knife complete and just in time to start yet, another.....

An ode, to a John Lloyd pocket knife.

As you can probably tell, I received my knife today. I wanted one of John's knives for a long time, but I knew they would be too much for someone like me. I spend a good bit of money on knives, but with the money it would take for one of his knives, I could get three, maybe four GEC knives. But, thats if you look at it like I had been.

That has changed for me and in a big way, I as stammered at price point and quality. As far as custom knives go, John is very affordable, which means he isn't as good as the others, right, right? Wrong, his quality is top notch and deserving of maybe even a higher price point, but I'm not pushing for that. I still want to get a great deal when getting one of his knives. I've only been able to see other knife maker's work from Gun shows and you never know what has happened to one of their knives once is is being sold again, so it may not be fair to compare them like that.