Choosing swivel knife help

[MADMAX22]

Hey guys, Ive got the tandy standard swivel knife that comes with some of there smaller kits. Im starting to get a little displeased with it, it sweaks and doesnt glide freely when Im doing circles and such.

Now the girlfriend wanted to get me one for christmas but not spend a small fortune so Im trying to figure out which one to get.

Tandy has the al stohlman brand on sale for around $80 and the AS regular ones for around $45 club price.

Ive scene the CS osbourne ones on ebay for pretty cheap but dont know if they are any good or not.

THe barry king and similer all seem to go for about $150 or so which is a little high for our price range.

What would be your guys's suggestions on what to pick up.

Thanks

[Elton Joorisity]

You'd better check out Barry's website. His knives aren't that expensive. We're talking $45 here.

[Randy Cornelius]

To take a step up from the kit knives, Tandy makes an adjustable swivel knife that is not too bad for the price, that along with a ceramic blade is a lot better than what comes with the kit. I think the AS brand are highly overrated for the price but some like them a lot. I would suggest going to one of the shows and trying them out. When you spend that kind of money take them for a test drive on some leather.

Barry King makes a nice knife for the money,check his wep site but I think around 50.00 my son uses one of his knives.

Henley makes a good quality knife for around 80.00

Chuck Smith makes a good knife but we are talking high end. 100.00+

I just bought a couple new knives from one of our members here, Paul Zalesak, I an very impressed. his blade stays sharp the longest of any knife I have ever had. Let me tell you I have had more swivel knives than anyone should. He will not tell you what the blade is made of but you will strop his knife about 1/2 the amount of anyone else's. It is higher end as far as price but it is worth every penny. I am not connected with him in any way just a satisfied customer. They come in a lot of perty colors also. I think that all good carving starts with a quality knife along with practice. I tell my students if they want to spend some money start with a good carving knife.

Buying and using a knife is very personal, what some like , others do not. Don't buy one just becasue one of us tell you to. Go try them out for yourself.

Randy

[MADMAX22]

Thanks for the input guys, Ive got some more options now to try out.

[Mike Craw]

Hey Maxx!

I just checked his site, and Barry King's swivel knife WITH BLADE is $45. I've had a few, and that's as good a knife as you'll do anywhere for the price.

Mike

[hidepounder]

In my opinion, the Henleys are by far the best bang for the buck! The machining is excellent and the yokes are mounted in good bearings. After several years of use, the yokes on all my Henleys will still spin freely for over a minute, just like my custom made Beards.

Hide crafter used to sell Henley knock offs. They look exactly like the Henley but they don't have the same quality bearings in the yokes. I have several of these because they were $30 or $40 a piece and felt exactly like the Henley. I put my less frequently used, specialty blades in them. I don't know how the bearings hold up under everyday use, but would bet they last as long or longer than any of the AS knives.

Bob Beards (Pro Series) standard knife goes for somewhere around $100, as do Chuck Smith knives, and are on an equal par with Beards and about the same price. Both are high end and excellent! I don't use Chucks because the knurling is very fine...I prefer aggresive knurling on the barrel, which allows me to roll the knife out to my fingertips and still hang on to it.

I love Barry's tools but am not a fan of his knives. I don't care for the Stohlmans either, especially with the leather barrel...way too slippery for me. I agree with Randy...highly overrated! The Osbornes are basically the same as Tandy's.

I have never used any of Pauls knives (Leather Wrangler). They are all aluminum and everyone I know who has one really likes it! I've never heard anything negative, except that they are expensive. However, round shanked blades won't fit in his barrels, nor will his blades fit in a standard barrel. That won't work for me!

The swivelknives I use everyday are Bob Beards, which I had him make for me, and Henleys. I use Beards blades because they are extremely hard and stay sharp! I have been told that the ceramic blades are very good, however, if you chip one it's history. I don't have any problem sharping my blades, so I see no advantage with the ceramic.

I highly recommend spending the money on a quality swivelknife and blade. Cutting is like the foundation of your house...not a good place to save money! Your knife cuts have more direct impact on the finished product than any other single tool you'll own. As you progress you'll find yourself needing more than one knife...and different widths for different cutting requirements. I agree with Randy, about trying the various brands out at a show, getting them in your hands, see what fits...most are adjustable...some are not, and there are a lot lengths, widths and styles to choose from.

Edited December 6, 2008 by hidepounder

[pete]

check out my offer in Want to swap

pete

[Tina]

I bought a new knife in September from Leather Wrangler and I'll never ever go back to anything else. I have the narrow barrel and the 3/16 angled blade. I can play around almost as I want to, I don't even have to changed the placement of the leather, backwords, upside down... It's possible.

I have a few ruby blades I really liked but since this one, even they has to take a step back. I know it's more than most want to pay but, for me personally it was well worth it.

Tinas 2 cents worth:-)

[freak]

I'm placing my vote on the Barry King knife. For $45 it's a great knife and comes with a great blade. You get to chose your barrel girt and length plus your blade.

[MADMAX22]

Thanks for all the info and help guys. For now I am gonna try out the Henry knife, grabbing the one from Pete. A good deal and Ill get to try out something different. I think Ill save my pennies and after the holidays try and look into getting one from Leather wranglers.

[hidepounder]

I need to let everyone know that I posted on some erroneous information. Paul has informed me that he can make his knives and blades interchangeable with those with round shanks, if desired. I was unaware of that option.

My apologies,

Bob

[tashabear]

Out of curiosity, did you hone the blade on the knife you don't like? I took a figure carving class from Jim Linnell back in September, and he took one look at my knife, which was pretty much off the rack, stopped everything, and taught us all about sharpening tools. He grabbed a whetstone and in ten or fifteen minutes my knife blade was mirror-bright and super, super sharp. It made all the difference in the world.

[Big Papa Leather]

I just recieved my Barry King swivel knife today. I did a quick little doodle design and man, I 'm loving the knife.

The blade is pretty much good to go straight from the box, but I stropped it to a mirror shine and it cut fantasticly.

I also got me a Barry King 16 oz tapered head maul. Wow. It is much better to use to tool than the Tandy hammers.

I'm gonna be up late I think...

Allen

[HarryB]

Allen, just a word of caution when switching from a mallet to a maul; I had to take the time to put a good square shoulder on ALL my stamping tools when I switched. I found that the factory rounded top will allow the maul to slip off. I thought I was losing my hand/eye coordination when I started! I had more scraped knuckles than I have fingers!