DoubleW- thank you, for the compliment. Behring also "listened" to what I wanted, AND stayed in contact with me throughout the re-handle....

I buy way too many knives, though...

A little late for Stag Saturday but had to rediscover my photo.

That’s a good looker, too!
Walker

Did he mark the knife in some fashion to designate he worked on it?

There is sooo much of this going on Joe, this is almost a mute subject at this point.
Behring is not the only one doing the alterations, and their work is very impressive.
I spoke with a gentleman at Blade that's doing some of the rehandles on this exact subject, and he stated he doesn't see any reason why he should have to "mark" his work as such.
It'll make things very interesting in the coming years. They can truly make that Randall a "one of a kind"!!

I know it is going on, and I see it as a problem in some respects. I have told this story numerous times, but will repeat it here. This is referencing Behring. There was an "agreement" with the Randall Shop that he would mark his knives in some fashion. Maybe an "understanding" is a better term.

I have seen some with a medallion in the butt, but not much else.

Now here is what I see as the problem. I am looking to increase the interest and collector base of the hobby. A surefire way to run a new guy out of town is for him to get burned. More than a few guys have sent me re-handles for authentication and a couple have gotten irate when I tell them it was not made like this in the shop but altered by another party.

I think many secondary sellers of these knives don't have a clue either, so I don't necessarily believe it is all nefarious guys intentionally taking advantage of someone, but it happens nonetheless.

Of course guys are free to do as they please with their knives, but I think that folks doing so should mark them in some fashion. Tom Leschorn marked his pieces, so I don't think it should be a problem for people doing major modifications to do the same. In fact, I would think they would want to do so to generate more business, but what do I know.

Your statements highlighted in red are profound, and exactly why I think guys doing these atlerations should mark their work. To add, I do not believe a re-handled Randall can be "one of a kind", it is simply an altered one. My $.02

I know and see your point Joe..."BUT"...I was close, personal friends with Tom & Mary Leschorn (Even bought their old house) and Tom did "not" mark all of his work. GCTOM has a splendid example to prove so and I've seen a dozen more.
Gail White also had un-marked custom RMKs as well. My point, simply being, it ain't something new.
Stay Sharp, Capt. Chris

Chris -

There are quite a few "unmarked" Tom Leschorn knives that are in fact, not Tom Leschorn knives. IF he didn't mark any, it is a minimum. With discussion at the shop, the vast majority of TL's work was embellishment. He didn't assemble knives that basically look like they came from the shop, probably because they did come from the shop,

A lot of guys mistakenly think a grey and white spacer arrangement meant TL put the knife together, but the shop used that same arrangement on more than a few pieces. Gail White used red and white spacers, so did the shop. Some guys think a beveled and/or pinned butt cap means TL. Not true. Steve Johnson did so at the shop.

Gail White as you know didn't embellish knives, he basically put handles on. That was not TL's thing. Did he do any? Perhaps, but I would have to see one with some type of provenance.

You didn't mention that TL and GW were friends of Bo and "approved" if you will. None of these guys altering knives today have that card in their back pocket.

There is a grey area here, and in my opinion, more than a few pieces that are/were attributed to TL actually are shop made. GW on the other hand, didn't really do anything extraordinary, so not as big of a deal.

Now Tommy Bish? That is another story.

I would like to see GCTOM's knife you describe.

Joe and Cap,

No TWL markings anywhere.

Tom Flynn

Tom -

you think it could have been buffed out some time in the past, or he simply didn't mark it? No doubt it is his work, and there is the catcher. He embellished knives, and AFAIK didn't make "standard" knives like what the shop put out.

If it was originally unmarked, I would say it is highly unusual. Leschorn was proud of his stuff. I don't recall as I sit here seeing a knife that was obviously his work and not signed. I mean it probably took him all of about 2 minutes to put TL on the hilt.

Curious, have you looked at the inlay thru a loop for a "hidden" TL?