Thanks to all that have posted thus far.

From Randall Made Knives: The History of the Man and the Blades by Robert L.Gaddis pg.109

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All Purpose Carving Knife
The final new postwar knife wasn't really new at all, as Bo had been turning out some hand-forged carving knives from the beginning in 1937. What he did now was arrive at a 9-inch All-Purpose blade shape. Throughout the intervening years he had used numerous blade styles, both hand-forged and factory manufactured. From these emerged his own concept of the best all around table carving knife. Also carried in the line was his shorter 7-inch version of this knife, but it wasn't very popular and was soon dropped. Bo decided at the time to offer this "All-Purpose Carving Knife,'' as he named it, with only a stag handle.

Bo made nine prototypes with leather washer handles in early September, but he gave all of these as presents to close friends, except for one that he kept. This 9-inch blade design and stag handle combination has been retained to the present with only a few minor changes. The earliest postwar carvers had very small, sterling silver hilts, which were shortly changed to nickel silver and enlarged slightly. It wasn't until some years later that a factory made fork, with a Randall-attached stag handle, was offered as an accompaniment to the carver.

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From the current catalog, p. 18

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Model 6 All Purpose Carving Set - ...Designed to meet every requirement as the ideal table knife, it is rustproof and will resist staining as ordinary blades do when used in carving meat. ...Complete set includes a high-quality stag-handled Sharpening Steel and Fork. Supplied with a three-compartment lined felt case.

Model 6 steak knife: 4 1/2" blade of 3/16" stainless steel stock. 4 1/2" - 4 5/8" handle of stag. Fitted with nickel silver hilt. Compartmentalized lined felt included.

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As always, I'd like to thank Mr. Gaddis for his excellent source of information on Randall knives.

I personally think the number 6 grind is a very interesting blade. I think it would also be nice to see some number 6 grinds on other knives. I believe it is available on the model 7 and model 26 as well as some others. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

Being the week before Thanksgiving, I'm sure a lot of you are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to use your number 6 carving sets. Hopefully you'll share those with us this week. Thank you.

Lady and gentleman, may we please see some model 6s.
Kevin

Dubie's brother Jere was nice enough to submit these Model 6 All Purpose Carving sets for our viewing. The two boxes are sets yet to be opened one box has been opened but still wrapped and the last set (which Dubie gave as a present). (What a great brother you are Dubie.) Thank you Jere for getting us started. And it's pretty obvious what you will be carving with on Thanksgiving.

Kevin: Glad to help the team.
Jere Baxter RKS#541

Not only is the carving set a joy to view and hold but it makes a special gift. I just gave my son a set for the coming Thanksgiving. He is cooking and bringing over the turkey which will allow me to see them in use.

My wife jokes that she knows I will be bravely restraining myself from offering
my large Sasquatch for the task

In addition to his forged blades, Bo handled some factory blades sourced from W.R. Case & Sons, Northampton Cutlery and J.A. Henckels between 1938 and 1942 (Gaddis). Most of the Henckels were carvers:

This is Edna’s Model #6-9, as shown on page #182 of our new Randall Knives reference book, and like many of our Randall knives it comes with a story. In this case, going back a few years now, we purchased an odd assortment of Randall knives (including some Tenite and brown Micarta versions) in an old, musty shoebox. Also in the shoebox were a half-dozen knives made by Juneau, Alaska maker Merle Sequine. Mid 1960’s vintage and most still in new, unused condition – we remembered that a friend of ours collected ‘Sequine’ knives...so we called and a deal was struck.

Initially, our friend thought we were pulling his leg, because in a good year he’ll find maybe one Sequine knife, and even then it’s normally in ‘well-used’ condition. We asked him for a purchase offer, and then a second...then we really buggered with him by saying that he was offering too much, and then again, too much...that he was going in the wrong direction initially, and that if he didn’t offer us less, then we weren’t gonna sell him the knives...eventually catching on, he did and we did.

We were set up at the OKCA show the following year – five display cases of Randall knives for public viewing, with another thirty knives or so for sale. We had three tables set up and folks were viewing, buying, and trading that day. Up walks our friend, pulls out this stellar Model #6-9, and asks if we wanted to buy it...’Hell yeah, how much?’ we said. “Make an offer” was the reply, so we did. “Too much” said our friend, so we offered less, then less again...and soon the knife was ours – much to the shock of those around the table, people that were having a real hard time making sense what they’d just seen...

So, that’s the story behind how Edna picked up this little beauty; and why this knife, not only highly optioned and gorgeous, is so special to us (thanks Jack!)...

Here’s a Model 6, sort of…







OK, it’s a #7-5/6 but it looks just like a #6, in fact, it looks more like a #6, really, than a #7. Of course, it’s a bit longer at just over 5” and has a full NS single hilt and thumb notches.

It’s a great user, makes a great fishing/ camping knife, and handles filleting chores as well as a #10-5, to my mind.

Gary

Great post Gary.
In Mr Gaddis' book he states on page 261 that "This is the little Model 6 Steak knife, described as: 4 1/4" blade of 3/16" stainless steel stock. 4 1/2" handle of genuine stag. Fitted with nickel silver hilt. Bo started making these knives back in the early 1950s, using ivory for the handles at that time. They were, and still are, made from Model 7 Fisherman-Hunter blades that have been ground similarly to the big carving knives."
Kevin

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OK, it’s a #7-5/6 but it looks just like a #6, in fact, it looks more like a #6, really, than a #7. Of course, it’s a bit longer at just over 5” and has a full NS single hilt and thumb notches.

It’s a great user, makes a great fishing/ camping knife, and handles filleting chores as well as a #10-5, to my mind.
Gary

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Gary,
That's a great little model 7. I have one also that has the #6 grind on it. The 'Good Capt', and GTR both explained to me that the #6 grind does an exceptional (and unbeatable) job on fish just as you stated. I looked for about a year for one and finally found the one that I liked...here's a pic. I posted this one when I first got it, and it will likely be on here again next week for the model 7's, but I'll put it on anyway just cause it's fun to show the different models. The back side of the blade is left thick rather than with the grind line on the standard 7's. This one's at Sullivan's at the moment, being fitted to a black sheath (so I can have one of each color).

I'll take some pics of the carving set we use and post later in the week.
~dale


P.S. This one has 1 Canada Goose, and 2 squirrels under it's belt since receiving it late summer. I'll know how it does on fish as soon as the lake freezes over.

Kevin and Dale, those are fine looking knives, Bob