Knife recommendations

[Grant.N]

I have a stainless damasteel knife made for me by Alan Wood.
The steel is something else, it cuts really well and does not Mark.

 

[tikka3006]

I wouldnt accept that eggy , if they state that, then it should be. As regards to Damascus ( correct named patterned steel) check with them where it came from as I am told there was a 'hoo haa' with Pakistani steel being sold as genuine Alabama steel. The pakistani stuff is rubbish and wont harden, unless you get a good billet. A good Alabama billet will cost an arm and a leg. Hence sites that sell knives cheap just arent the genuine article im afraid.

If you want to know more about james noble knives do a search on bushcraft uk or british blades, he used to use the name timbo. to cut a longf story short it appears his knives are made in some 3rd world sweat shop.
I've made and sold a lot of knives over the years and can tell you, you cannot buy the raw materials for what he sells his blades for, one damascus knife he advertised on british blades which was supposed to be made of alabama damascus was less than a third of the price of an uncut blank and of a pattern they didn't produce.
he had a damascus blade that interested me on his stand at the cla for under £50, for me to make that knife and sheath without including my labour costs would be.
Alabama damascus approx £120
swedish Damasteel approx £150 - 165
AE Indian damascus approx £100.
there are some professional knife makers here in the UK and abroad, that may on acccasions sell billets and blanks, but you still wont make a quality knife from damascus pattern welded steel for james noble prices.

regards

Ian

 

[WhiteHeart]

Some interesting points here. Not sure it is all 100% true though IMHO. I think you can get good hand made knives for under £100. There are loads of US makers that sell for $100-150 on Blade Forums. I've got a few in my collection. Also, I bought a really nice Damascus deer knife at the CLA from James Noble for £75 and a Damascus hatchet for £45. They are razor sharp. The hatchet is sharper than most knives I own. I can completely dress a rabbit with it. I also got them to make me a custom tanto, about a month ago, which cost a bit more - £250 - to my own design. It is amazing. I actually went to their workshop near to Mill Hill on the A1. It was amazing. They have all the kit. So it its not true they don't make it in the UK - I've seen it first hand. They reckon the reason they can do them cheaper is that they make them in batches of 10 at a time. I saw them doing this on some bushcraft knives. The knives I bought off them aren't as good as my Alan Wood that I bought for £500 but they are good for the money. I suppose if you buy from them at a show, like I did, you can judge the quality for yourself. Anyway just thought I'd just add my two cents worth here as I had bought some of their stuff. I can see why other UK makers don't much like them as they are just cheaper. I wouldn't dismiss their stuff without handling some of their stuff first hand then make up your own mind with all the facts to hand.