Brand New Tandy Ruby Blade

[King's X]

I received this Ruby blade from a dear friend. It is brand new with the yellow cap still on. It has never seen a swivel knife. What is this worth? I am thinking it is time to find another home for it. I've seen prices come and go on eBay, but you cannot really trust this site for evaluating value.

appreciate it.

[billymac814]

I'd estimate the value to be approximately 5.00. I'll buy it off you, do you take paypal?

Actually I have no idea, good find though I'm sure. I say that only because ruby sounds expensive not because I have any knowledge of them.

[gtwister09]

KingsX,

There are new ones for sale from Lefflers.

Here's the link.

Leffler Ruby Blade

Regards,

Ben

[Randy Cornelius]

I have bid on a few of these on ebay from time to time, just thought It would be neat for my collection, but I have refused to pay over 40.00 and they always go for more than that.

[King's X]

I'd estimate the value to be approximately 5.00. I'll buy it off you, do you take paypal?

Actually I have no idea, good find though I'm sure. I say that only because ruby sounds expensive not because I have any knowledge of them.

BillyM

You've got the shipping and handling cover.....now how much for the knife tip? LOL

I have bid on a few of these on ebay from time to time, just thought It would be neat for my collection, but I have refused to pay over 40.00 and they always go for more than that.

Randy

there is one brand new starting at this price you mentioned. A couple of others are starting at just over half of that. That is why I figured I ask here.

KingsX,

There are new ones for sale from Lefflers.

Here's the link.

Leffler Ruby Blade

Regards,

Ben

Ben

That is not bad for $18 bucks US......unfortunately the shipping will be about half from Australia. I do appreciate the link. I never heard about this supplier before....I have bookmarked it.

Thanks again

[gtwister09]

KingsX,

You are quite welcome.

Not sure what it costs for S&H but even doubled it would be less than $40 for a brand new one. There's your answer.

I used one of them for several years until it came loose. A couple of years later I found a small chip on it even though I had not been using it. In fact it was the first "upgrade" that I made with tools. Unfortunately Tandy DID NOT stand behind the lifetime warranty on them. Needless to say my love affair with the product and the company waned at the time. When I went to work for a defense contractor, one of the guys that worked in the optics fixed it for me. I later gave that blade in a Henley knife to one of my nephews who is in the service.

I likewise gave 3 of the blades that I had traded for or purchased in bulk deals away earlier this year as well . They are certainly better than the starter blades that they were constantly stropping and working on so these guys were certainly happy with the gift.

Regards,

Ben

[billymac814]

I doubt the 5.00 would even cover shipping anymore. How old is it? Maybe that makes a difference in the prices on ebay. If it's really old I would think it would be hard to compare the price of a new one, I would guess the old one would be worth more if it's unused.

[whinewine]

I have 2 of them that I use fairly frequently. They work better in some leathers & not as well in others, so I'll generally try them first. I only use the angle blades. What they're worth is what people are willing to pay. There're a lot on ebay that are in bad shape- chipped, cracked, etc, so it pays to look very closely. If someone has a friend who cuts gems or who uses diamond powder a lot, a chipped blade could be re-ground fairly easily. Normal red rouge won't work in stropping, diamond will (ruby/sapphire is the 2nd hardest natural substance, diamond, the hardest). If properly sharpened, they don't need to be stropped frequently, if ever (contrary to what Charlie Davenport says in Tandy's blog).

russ

[mugwump]

does leffler's ship to the U.S.? i must be tired, because i couldnt find the info... the blade seemed 'cheap' enough to try out...

eric

p.s. does anyone reading this have an extra plastic/nylon bevelling blade they might want to part with? thanks...

[King's X]

does leffler's ship to the U.S.? i must be tired, because i couldnt find the info... the blade seemed 'cheap' enough to try out...

eric

p.s. does anyone reading this have an extra plastic/nylon bevelling blade they might want to part with? thanks...

I have a used one that is in great shape that came in the packet with the Ruby Blade. Both of them gotta be old since the cap on the swivel knife was once clear and now yellow? Send me a pm with an offer for the beveling tip and we will see what we can work up. I am easy, but don't tell the wife since I like to play hard to get! I've got a few more tools up for sale like western type edgers, but I have a fellow LW stewing over the purchase. Since he buys from me, I kinda give him first chance.

I got a pair of Sampson manufacturing 8" adjustable wing dividers (used), but in great shape especially after I cleaned them up!

I will see what else I can dig up....anyone interested send me your email address via PM (personal message) and I will email my list.

Thanks to all that answer the burning question...........what is a Ruby blade worth!

[King's X]

I doubt the 5.00 would even cover shipping anymore. How old is it? Maybe that makes a difference in the prices on ebay. If it's really old I would think it would be hard to compare the price of a new one, I would guess the old one would be worth more if it's unused.

$4.95 Priority mail to ship anything under 4"x8". It is a very old blade probably going back to when they came out. It cuts nice, but I am into thin blades. I have been reworking my stamping area and clearing stuff out that I do not use, which the exception of some collection tools that I have.

I did some upgrading the last year and a half to Barry Kings, Hackbarths and others, so I am basically getting rid of my stuff that I started out with. I guess I am half decent at this leather stuff where I can have some of my tools match. lol.

Thanks

[King's X]

Thanks Ben.

Yeah, I agree anything is better than a generic blade unless you listen to Hidepounder (and I do always). I had a guy come into the local Tandy store where I was meeting with some guild members one Saturday. I try to make myself useful and answer questions for people when the MIT points me out from the register and says "that guy can help you!" Anyways, this guy was watching me carving out something, can't remember. He looked at me and pulled out a half back from his pocket and presented to me. He said how come my cuts do not look like your cuts?

I patiencely waited to answer until I could come up with an answer. Before answering, I asked the guy how long he has been carving and he said this time, 1 month, but he has experience going back to high school. He then asked to hold my swivel knife which I believe I was using my Japanese swivel knife with a reworked ceramic blade. I allowed him to cut with it and he looked amazed! He then presented me with his generic off the wall Tandy knife and I cut on a scrap of leather. Okay, I attempted to cut on the leather. I felt like the blade had donkey locked and would not allow me to do anything with it, so I looked at the blade tip as I asked the guy when was the last time he sharpened it? Taking a play out of Hidepounder's play book. He said, "you have to sharpen these?" It is okay because I thought the same thing when I first started. Our guild treasurer and Tandy manager always has a 3-way sharpener in the store, so I took it out and oiled the stones. I spend about 20 minutes working the blade and gave it back to the owner with some home work. After showing him how to properly strop (or how I do it) I told him to go home and strop this blade properly for 30 to 45 minutes slowly and patiencely until he could use it as a mirror to shave! Then he could come back the following Saturday for some cutting exercises.

The next Saturday, we worked on some practice pieces. He is learning! A tidbit of worthless information for you all. Thanks for listening!

Hidepounder is right, if you get it sharpened right, the rest will come!

[gtwister09]

KingsX,

I think that we have had all had some of those training moments. First thing I do is to teach people how to sharpen and strop a blade.

Bob is right about sharpening but a couple of those blades that I had you had to strop about every 10-12 inches to get the kind of cut that you wanted. Even if you are just starting out...who wants to spend more time sharpening and stropping than cutting. Not me! Some think that it's good for them to learn the hard ways but I am not into discouraging people with my limited time spent with them. Like you said they really get an UH-HUH moment when they have a sharp blade.

Regards,

Ben

[King's X]

Yup! He was surprised how well his knife cut the second time around!

You going to the boot and saddle show in a couple of weeks? I be there with 3-4 LW members. We are going to hold Paul up for some swivel knifes. Lol

If you do go, just look for the 'urban' cowboys......the dudes in t-shirts and shorts! Don't worry, we stand out every year just like the guys from South America that come!

Good night!

Well, that didn't last long! The blade is going to the proud new owner. I am glad it will get someone who really cares about these vintage tools! Thanks R.C.

Good evening!