These knives aren't sacred. It's his knife and even if it were sacred, he can do with it what he likes. I'm glad to see the knife get used. I have more than a few Randalls and have not used any of them. I don't do anything that requires the use of one. All of my cutting requirements are handled using a pocket folder.

Joe is obviously used to working with his hands and has ideas for knives that work for HIS tasks.

Maybe I am lazy, but I have a bunch of different "knife maker" knives and some knives work better than other knives (even ones with a Randall name on them) for a given task.

Randall Made Knives can't possibly make the perfect knife for every task or person.

So I tend to agree with Dirty Water that the Randall 'shop made' "modified" knife that suits YOUR tastes, Joe, may seem like seem like slapping ACE Hardware paint on the Mona Lisa to the shop guys. But it is your knife and you paid your money for the knife.

Like you said You 'customized' the knife to Your tastes.

Just keep posting but don't be surprised if some do not agree with the mods you have made to your knife.

Tom Vaught

I don't believe anyone is arguing whether or not Joe has the right to alter any of his knives...Joe put this out there for comments...did he not?..do I not have the right to comment?

And that's all I did. Comment how ugly the knife is now...

and since I don't do quotes and I am off of work and CAN comment freely my own opinion, let Joe figure out where these answers belong...

"take it as well as I dish it out...? Where did I ride you PERSONALLY Joe...You wanted comments and I gave you mine, ABOUT the ugly knife....and suggested that you stick to what you know and leave the knifemaking to the "experts"...because you are not very good...IMO

1/8"?, full tang?, 6-9 grind?...try the 10-5...

as for offering so many options...if half of the 150-160 knives we produce a week asked for as many different grinds, forgings, S curved hilts, double hilts on 24's...etc. etc. etc...how's a 10 year wait sound?!?

Joe, I call BS on your statement that you were seeing whether "I could take it as well..." I think it was meant to be a jab at me personally, and I think u missed your calling funny man...

---DW---

Scott,...I won't even touch on the several times you've been outright insulting over several posts (and again in the above quote), yet you seem "personally" offended by some benign comments mixed with humor.

But come on, really? Asking for options such as leaving OFF thumb notches, or substituting 01 tool steel instead of stainless, etc,..........is going to double your time to delivery by another 5 years???

You already charge MORE for stainless,...so it either costs more as a material, or is tougher to work and finish! (I can attest to that last part!) It's probably a combination of higher costs of material and finish time.

So substitute 01 carbon steel and charge the same on models where it's not the norm. You win financially,...and make a loyal customer happy who has agreed to wait 5 years.

It's not always about the money,......a happy customer who gets what he REALLY wants without all the BS excuses will talk far and wide about the experience,....and you'll receive many more free advertizing dollars than you ever expend by making a few changes.

Were I hearing such lunacy from any other company I'd be shocked. Why am I not.

GOD,...you have FIVE YEARS already to look at a set of instructions and prepare what needs to be done or parts/materials ordered for when the time slot gets closer. If you CAN do such things as adding engraving or already adding options you list (up to 5), certainly that shows you have the capability of following a list of customer's preferences.

You'd think the current FIVE YEAR wait would be sufficient to place any special instructions in the pipeline to have any reasonable requested changes handled without any snags when the knife has reached the appointed time slot.

I'm sorry,...I'll never get the logic here.

Maybe the BEST way to alter a Randall knife is to do so in a way that can be reversed!

I always wanted a Model 14 or 15 with a stainless steel guard, but Scott has told me firmly that it ain’t gonna happen, beyond the few that were made in the past. SO—I had an Astro (bought from Perry Miller) that was made some time ago, when the blade “hump” was less noticeable than the humps on more recent ones. I also happened to have a piece of G10 in the old green tenite color (from Jim at Treeman’s). With these, I was able to end up with something very close to what I wanted.

The knife looks pretty nice and feels nice in the hand; but the best part is that I can remove the slotted handle and re-turn the original Astro scales whenever desired!

Joe, on a hundred plus knives a week?!? You do for one, and you MUST do for all...

NO special forgings, (changing 01 for SS), NO special shaping, NO MEANS NO JOE...

LUNACY?!? RMK does not need your money Joe, so your reasoning doesn't apply...

NO MEANS NO, let it go dreamer...

...and quit changing your posts hours later, I keep having to go back and re-read them to see what you're commenting on...

---DW---

Steve,...that's a nice option if all you wanted was a grip better suited to your needs, but it won't cut any better or worse than it did before. And I do like the "meatier" grip you made,....the Astro always seemed a bit thin of grip to me.

It's a tough workhorse for sure,.....and that hasn't changed.

But due to it's heavy build it's not the best for fine feather sticking or intricate carving in the woods which is what i was optimizing for.

The changes I made addressed the issues I had to optimize a "user" knife with a dedicated purpose. Since a high majority of Randall's never see the outside of a safe or display case, any shortfalls for specific use will never be known.

Steve I believe you showed this alteration several years ago and I loved it then and still love it. The knife looks great.

Scott I agree with you that the knife isn't as good looking as it once was.....but that's beside the point. I don't care for the shape of the blade but I really like the guard. It functions better for Joe now. It may even look better to Joe and that's all the matters. Because in the final analysis it doesn't make a hill of beans what we care. It's Joes knife and he is happy. Can't.....cannnn.....can't we all just get along?

More insults and outright arrogance displayed,.....I guess what I heard about you is true after all,....and I'll leave it at that. "NO" seems your favorite word,... congrats. I'm sure Camillus Cutlery Company said a few too many "no's" also,......or for any number of reasons the once high flying US company is now gone.

Maybe it's the stressful job you're in,...or some long time employees have retired from RMK as I read,....so the stress might be getting to you more than usual.

But please don't insult my intelligence by claiming such nonsense. RMK DOES need the customer base,.....you can't exist without it. Or for saying "NO" for no other reason as it makes your day,....for something so simple as leaving OFF thumb notches. (LESS work)

Sure,...my few $$$ don't matter to RMK in the big picture, and for the record I have never bought a new Randall directly from Randall,....although I HAVE bought a few new ones over the years from an authorized dealer. But you insult every owner of your company's product with such lack of appreciation for the actual buyers of the knives.

The forge doesn't know what steel is being hammered. Some steps might be a bit different, but it's not going to DOUBLE the time to to get a 01 steel knife made instead of stainless.

I do edit my posts to make it a bit clearer,.....or an additional thought comes to mind before the edit time period has expired. Shows I'm thinking, and I don't feel guilty about the few moments you have to take to go back and see what else I might have added.

For what it's worth, I don't expect many, if anyone else,.... to post about any customizations personally made. I wonder why????