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Comment by Howard P Reynolds on July 29, 2015 at 13:09

Wow!  Got a tour of A.G. Russell's shop?  Great!

Comment by Alexander Noot on July 29, 2015 at 12:48

Yeah I like those too. In fact I love the look of most of A.G. Russell's shopmade line. Even more since I've had a tour of the shop and met Perry (whom I assume is) the current knifemaker in the A.G. Russell shop.

Comment by Howard P Reynolds on July 29, 2015 at 12:02

Anyone have one of A.G. Russell's Shopmade California Bowies?  Been looking at them longingly for some time now, and the more I look at them, the more I like them.  I do like 154CM steel.

Comment by Howard P Reynolds on July 29, 2015 at 11:46

I'm a bit late on this Jeremy, but I was recently given an old (1967-1972) Buck 120.  I think in those years, the 120 was made from 440C.  I read that Buck switched to 425 in the '80s, and 420HC in the '90s. This one has seen some use, but is still in great shape.  I haven't used it yet, myself,

Comment by James Cole on July 28, 2015 at 16:05

Tom,  Alexander covered every area except one.  The knives are all the same pattern.  That makes blanking and rough handle preparation a whole lot easier.  It is also very likely that the blades are machine ground. Jim

Comment by Alexander Noot on July 28, 2015 at 3:35

Tom I completely agree with everything you've said. But keep in mind, these are production blades. Which means that they're probably water jetted/laser cut/bandsaw cut to profile. Which takes only seconds per blade. The steel cost (1095 is cheap) is negligable as is the heat treat when you do it in large batches.

Drilling holes for handles can be automated quite cheaply at any big machinepark and can be done very quickly.

Most time consuming is the grind (assuming that they do that by hand) and making the scales.

Sheathmaking also takes a LOT less time when you have all your leather machincut and stitched on a machine.

Seriously....with all those resources...I bet I could make a bunch of knives and spend less than 1 hour on each of them.

You'd have to do it in large batches though to spread out the cost of using expensive machinery but when done in that way I bet the actual cost per knife is <$30 in machines and material leaving a nice margin to make a profit.

If I were to make knives like this with a sheath it would cost me around 4-7 hours (very rough estimate) a piece. Depending on how many  I'd have to make in a batch and depending on whether I'd have to include sheaths. Which means I'd make roughly $10 an hour........which is...ok. I guess....but not great like you said.

Advantage on what I'd make would probably be in: A nicer blade finish...(I can do a nice hand-satin finish in that time) a slightly better heat treat (I don't have to worry about 500 blades going wrong in one heat treat cycle so I can take more risk in my heat treat) and a thinner grind (Same argument as the heat treat.)

Comment by Tom Peterson on July 27, 2015 at 16:09

I see...Well you are right, Greg did a great job!!! Looks like they will be great users, EDC's or collector's. But at that price you might as well use the heck out of it and save the wear and tear on your more expensive pieces. I want one now! But my knife making list still has a bunch of stuff on it - kydex sheath making setup and some stencils for my etching machine. Plus I've got about 30 knife blanks that need to go to heat treat if I can ever get them finalized! I'll have to tell Santa about these/add them to my Christmas list!

Comment by Jan Carter on July 27, 2015 at 15:52

They are stock removals Tom, made right here in the USA.  The firesteel is an add on (still under 100).  Greg went about this knife in a way to keep the cost low. He found his own woods, had them stabilized, cut the scales to size himself and shipped out to the maker. He truly wanted these knives to hit at under 100 and be quality.  He did well !!

Comment by Tom Peterson on July 27, 2015 at 15:45

Aint that the truth! I hope (as a maker speaking) that the firesteel doesn't come with it too?! Unless these knives are made in Asia somewhere I don't see how they can come close to making a profit off of them, but they seem to be a great deal for buyers! Their economy must be in mass production. I just can't figure out how they do it though. It would take me an hour or three to make the sheath and at least 4-6 hours to make the knife at a minimum. My grinds wouldn't be anywhere near as good as theirs though. Throw in etching the blades, sharpening them, stamping the leather sheaths, etc....Are these knives hand forged or done by stock removal? Whatever the case they are excellent buys!!! I'll get off my soapbox now! Hahaha!

Comment by Jan Carter on July 27, 2015 at 15:29

Tom,

Boy do I understand that!!  It just kills Donnie when I start wanting to buy a fixed blade LOL!  I have waited for these to come out because of the uniqueness of them and because of the costs.  You just cannot beat it.

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