Did I order a handmade or a production Dozier?

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ukknifer

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Jan 30, 2010
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Just ordered a Bob Dozier Ks3 Professional Guides Knife from steel addiction

Got it for 275 $

After I ordered it I read that there are two types of Dozier. Hand made by Bob himself and production. Whitch one is the one I ordered?
 
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Honestly? I've no idea.

However, I picked up almost precisely the same knife from Mr. Dozier's own hands at Blade 2010. I'm quite happy with it ... it's a wonderful knife, great performer.

But I never thought to ask him if he ground it himself.:)
 
:rolleyes::)Thank you. I certainly shall.

Mr. Dozier also had a handful of exquisite fixed blades with beautiful handles, natural materials. Considerably more expensive, of course. One would imagine those were hand-made Doziers. I would have been proud to own one, but feared the Mrs. would dis-own me.:(

The edge of my regular Dozier is literally laser-like; I doubt the hand-made Doziers would slice any better.;)




[Truth in Advertising: of course, I'm saving up a bit at a time for one of those Doziers with stag handles. They were exquisite!]
 
I am pretty sure that all Doziers are hand ground. Someone let me know if I'm wrong.
 
It is the production version. They are all hand ground but not all done by Bob. The ones done by Bob usually have a mirror finish, tapered tang, and cost around $1200 and come with a leather sheath.
 
If they come out of Bob's shop, they are hand made knives. Bob has folks that work for him, so he personally may not have made it, but I understand he oversees all the work. If you request that he make the knife himself, then it is more expensive now. The ones you see else where called Dozier this or that are production knives made in a factory.

I assume this is your knife. Price varies with the handle material. http://www.dozierknives.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82&Itemid=54
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
It is the production version. They are all hand ground but not all done by Bob. The ones done by Bob usually have a mirror finish, tapered tang, and cost around $1200 and come with a leather sheath.
Click to expand...

Very logical. This matches the 'special' Doziers with the wonderful handles ... in character and in price.:thumbup:
 
I remember reading somewhere that the blade stamp also indicates whether Bob does the whole knife himself or whether it's a "Dozier Shop" knife. For example, the differences in these two stamps.

Bob's stamp
DKLV-09DPMI.jpg



Shop stamp
DK-PESCR.jpg


Pictures are copywrite of A.G. Russsell Knives

Can anyone confirm whether that is true? The prices of the two types of knives seems to support the difference.

- Mark
 
My new (excellent) Dozier only cost around $300 and bears the second stamp (the one you tentatively identify as the shop stamp).

Hope that helps.:)
 
If it says Arkansas Made on the blade it is one of the lower priced line of knives. Those Bob finishes have a tapered tang and mirror finished blade.



Johnny
 
Dozier at one time had some blanks made elsewhere, then finished in his shop.

I think all(or most) were made for AG Russell, and had a flat grind. They had a slightly differant stamp, but I can't remember it exactly. It was almost the same stamp.

Its been a few years since they did that, and I think they only did those for a few years.

ALL Doziers are now made 100% in house. Dan Crotts does alot of the grinding, along with Bob and a few other very skilled craftsman.
I asked Dan about it a couple of years ago at Blade, and he could pick up a knife and tell if he or Bob had ground it. I tried, but there was no way I could tell the differance in any of them.



BTW... Jamie, sounds like your loving the KS-3:thumbup: Its also one of my favorites.
I have another ks-3 on order with green canvas that should be ready soon.
 
Ken44 said:
Dozier at one time had some blanks made elsewhere, then finished in his shop.

I think all(or most) were made for AG Russell, and had a flat grind. They had a slightly differant stamp, but I can't remember it exactly. It was almost the same stamp.

Its been a few years since they did that, and I think they only did those for a few years.

ALL Doziers are now made 100% in house. Dan Crotts does alot of the grinding, along with Bob and a few other very skilled craftsman.
I asked Dan about it a couple of years ago at Blade, and he could pick up a knife and tell if he or Bob had ground it. I tried, but there was no way I could tell the differance in any of them.



BTW... Jamie, sounds like your loving the KS-3:thumbup: Its also one of my favorites.
I have another ks-3 on order with green canvas that should be ready soon.
Click to expand...

It's early, but I think it's a keeper.

I'm completely happy with the quality of this knife. It is not over-priced ... could even be under-priced. We'll see how it survives with time.
 
Ken44 said:
Dozier at one time had some blanks made elsewhere, then finished in his shop.
I think all(or most) were made for AG Russell, and had a flat grind. They had a slightly differant stamp, but I can't remember it exactly. It was almost the same stamp.

Its been a few years since they did that, and I think they only did those for a few years.

ALL Doziers are now made 100% in house. Dan Crotts does alot of the grinding, along with Bob and a few other very skilled craftsman.
I asked Dan about it a couple of years ago at Blade, and he could pick up a knife and tell if he or Bob had ground it. I tried, but there was no way I could tell the differance in any of them.



BTW... Jamie, sounds like your loving the KS-3:thumbup: Its also one of my favorites.
I have another ks-3 on order with green canvas that should be ready soon.
Click to expand...

I have one of the knives you referred to. It's a Modified personal from A.G. Russell. Here's the original text from the A.G. Russell website listing:

An A. G. Russell™ Exclusive
Bob Dozier's flat ground knives which are marked "Arkansas Knives" rather than "Arkansas Made" include a fair amount of outsourced work. The blades are laser cut, double disk ground and then flat ground by outside sources instead of being bandsawed, surface ground then hollow ground in his own shop. Bob insists on doing the heat treat himself to assure the quality of heat treat that he feels D2 must have. After the flat grinding, the blade is finish ground and the knife is constructed in Bob's shop here in Northwest Arkansas. You only save a few dollars over the knives he makes completely by hand, BUT you seldom have to wait for delivery.
DSC01743-1.jpg
 
I will confirm that all the knives are 100% made in the shop. The AG Russell mid-tech line was disc a couple of years ago.

Dan does most all the grinding on the basic line these days. Bob does 100% of the work on his own high end knives and his Folders.

Congrats to the OP on the purchase. You're joining the ranks of thousands of other owners who are thrilled to own a Dozier knife. :thumbup:
 
Hillbillenigma said:
I will confirm that all the knives are 100% made in the shop. The AG Russell mid-tech line was disc a couple of years ago.

Dan does most all the grinding on the basic line these days. Bob does 100% of the work on his own high end knives and his Folders.

Congrats to the OP on the purchase. You're joining the ranks of thousands of other owners who are thrilled to own a Dozier knife. :thumbup:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification.:thumbup:

Knew I'd be thrilled. Mr. Dozier is a "known known," as we odd government types say. Very little risk involved in buying any knife with his name on it.:)
 
FlaMtnBkr said:
It is the production version. They are all hand ground but not all done by Bob. The ones done by Bob usually have a mirror finish, tapered tang, and cost around $1200 and come with a leather sheath.
Click to expand...

Sorry, you are mistaken. Bob and his step son, Daniel Crotts have both been grinding all of the Arkansas Made Dozier knives for years and I do not know anyone who can tell the deference. It is true that Bob is lately focusing on the mirror polished knives and his Folders.

The production knives come from people like Ka-Bar, Boker and A. G. Russell and usually say "Dozier Design"
 
A. G. Russell said:
Sorry, you are mistaken. Bob and his step son, Daniel Crotts have both been grinding all of the Arkansas Made Dozier knives for years and I do not know anyone who can tell the deference. It is true that Bob is lately focusing on the mirror polished knives and his Folders.

The production knives come from people like Ka-Bar, Boker and A. G. Russell and usually say "Dozier Design"
Click to expand...


Not to sound like a jerk, but what exactly am I wrong about? I said that the cheaper one, was not hand ground by Bob Dozier himself, that someone else in the shop did the work. I then said that the ones Bob personally does usually have a mirror finish, tapered tang, and a leather sheath along with a price tag around $1200. I guess we are getting confused over my wording of 'production'. I meant that as the higher volume line that comes out of his shop. And like I said they are all hand ground (like you said many by Dan Crotts), but the one he bought was not done by Mr Dozier like he asked in the first post.
 
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