All American Lockback *new kit*

[KNAdmin]

Guy,

I realize this announcement is just a teaser, but most of you "do not" know that Darrel and I have been secretly developing a new lockback that will be released sometime later this coming week , or early on the following week. This design is a single blade lockback model that will be 100% USA made. We kept this launch quiet as we did not want to dilute the major launch of the new DDR3 series. This new design will also be a very affordable kit, retailing at under $25 dollars. It will be within the same quality standard that we currently produce, but because of the design and the smaller number of components needed, it was less expensive to develop. We will offer this model in single and dual bolster versions, and the blade will come with a ultra-mirror finish from the get-go. Once you see the design, you'll understand why. This knife kit will have most of our standard machined handle options available (composites and woods) but will also extend all the way to pearl scales in the exotic range.

I'll post an image of the prototype later this week. This is a very cool kit. I've been dying to let the cat out of the bag on this one. I'll have some images later this week to post in here and one the site.

Hope you enjoy ...

Alex

[SharpByCoop]

Hubba-hubba !!!!

Boy, there is nothing like the feel of a nice lockback. I'm *really* glad you guys got this goin' on!

I'm witcha'!

Coop

[ExamonLyf]

Very cool Alex .....incredible idea.., and it'll be fun to try something "Classic".....

[NedFig]

Do I need to pre-reserve one?

[KNAdmin]

Here you are guys, the new "All-American LockBack" kit.

This is the single bolster model which will be released first. The kit will consist of all parts necessary to build the below, minus the scales. The price for this model will be $16.95 for the single bolster design parts kit. We'll offer this one with available cocobolo, macawood, curupay, teak and the latest addition to our wood line, purpleheart. You'll also be able to get some special order pearl, if you need it pre-machined for you.

I asked Darrel not to have any filework done on the proto, but the design was oversized on the backspine to allow you plenty of fileworking canvas. All that was done is some basic sanding to shape on the one in the image below. The blade will come mirror finished and I estimate the difficulty rating to be 3-4, as this one is a pin-together construction design. This model is gent's sized at 5 1/2 OAL and 2 1/4 on the blade. It's a dynamite little knife and a perfect way to learn about lockbacks and as a cool gift project at this price. This design is 100% USA made.

I'll have them up on the site in a couple of days, if you're interested in trying one out.

Let us know what you think ...

[Sylvester]

I`m not a kit builder but, just may have to get
one or two . Nice job boys. Now when are the
slip joints comin

[Roger Gregory]

Very nice. I might just have to try one or two.

I'll second the slipjoint idea, that could be very popular this side of the Pond given some of our odd laws.

Roger

[SharpByCoop]

This is especially nice. And the price is unreal! I'm looking and VERY pleased that the square edge of the tang is buried (not protruding) in the closed position. This is a rarity in lockbacks, unless you do some fancy designing...

Count me in!

Coop

[Jeb]

What steel is used ?

[Darrel Ralph]

Jeb,
The steel is 420 HC.
The rc is 56 rockwell.
The blades come semi mirrored.
You can put hand rubbed grain in this blade in 5 mins or go to the buffer for 20 seconds and have a fully finished mirror finish.

[Jette Bybjerg]

Veeery cute! Maybe I should try a folder kit or two...

Jette Bybjerg

[GANNMADE]

very clean little knife

[gandalf23]

Looks very nice. I'll have to order two or three. I think my dad would like one (he's limited to a knife blade of under 2 3/4 at the office).

[KNAdmin]

Hey Gandalf,

That's interesting you should bring this up. I know that many offices have anti-weapon policies that make it where employees can not have any type of knife on their person at work. But, I wonder what the standards of length and type are in most workplaces where they are permitted, but length or something like that is defined?

Alex

[gandalf23]

Alex,

At my office it's no problem. Heck, I have a SKS and a .22 about 3 feet from my desk and whenever the boss is away we have little .22 competitions where we shoot the junk out back. When I go overseas on business I regularly ship back to the office knoves and such that I'v epurchased. For a while there was quite the cutlery shop on my desk (I kinda went crazy when I was stuck in Dubai for 2 months and bought a bunch of huge Pakastani cleavers. These things are almost half an inch thick at the spine and weigh about 15 pounds each. They just look at a deer and it quarters itself I also bought 30 or so cheap (under $0.50 each) stainless steel cleavers to practice knive making on)

My dad works in the federal building downtown and ever since 9/11 they've had metal detectors at all the entrances and have limited the size of pocketknives to under 2 3/4 blades. Prior to that there was a rule about no guns, but it was broken frequently as several of his co-workers are FFLs and would deliver stuff to the office.

My sister works for a publishing company, they publish books for and by accountants. They don't have a policy on pocketknives, but no guns are allowed.

I used to work at Blockbuster Video and they had a policy against "weapons". I called the main office about it as it was very vague and could be anti-pocketknife. They said it just meant no guns. I asked them to re-issue the policy stating that in clearer language, but they never did, at least while I worked there. Even though the company policy was no guns, my manager and I both carried handguns when we opened the store (the opener has to take the previous day's deposit to the bank, some days that's about 10 grand in cash plus checks and credit cards recipts). We were not shy about letting people (other than the district manager) know it. As a concequence, while the stores on either side of us got robbed twice a week (on average) we never had an armed robbery (we had tons of shrinkage [theft] but no cash was ever stolen).

A place I worked at in Dallas originaly had no policy and folks had swords in their cubes. After hours or when I worked the graveyard shift we'd have laser tag wars and nerf wars. Then a moron broke a video camera so they cracked down on everything. No nerf, no squirt guns, no swords, no guns (which I never saw previously), and for a while no pocketknives. I knew the manager who wrote the policy, so I talked to her quite a bit about it. She was concerned that if there was not a policy then an employee could bring a gun or sword to work and kill everyone. I said, if someone is planning to come to work and kill everyone do you think a policy will stop him? Isn't it better to have legally armed employees here to stop him? She agreed in theory but was too concerned about getting sued if there was no policy. She did relent on pocket knives (up to 4 inch blade)and I know at least three guys who carried concealed after that in violation of policy. They hired one security guard (for 700+ employees!) per shift and they just hung out in a shack in the parking lot. I know _I_ felt safe knowing there was an unarmed guard about 5 minutes running time away. I suggested a policy that said it was not allowed to do bodily harm to another employee. That would cover killing folks with guns or swords or spoons, cover the company's arse legally, and still allow employees to carry or decorate their cubes with whatever.

Sorry this was so long.

-Gandalf23