Great experience with a maker recommended on here!

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Feb 27, 2018
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Disclaimer: In terms of traditional knives, I'm walking the line on this post--however, I do feel it is within the realm of what would be appreciated here on the porch. Mods feel free to move -- I do hope you'll enjoy even if this is the wrong venue!

Kind of a long winded post/intro but I've been somewhat active on here (the porch) for 2-years this month and I wanted to share a great recent experience with a maker that links back to my first thread on here.

In March of 2019 I made a post called "Case Bose or custom?" From my beginning stages of a total shift from collecting modern frame lock folders and gravitating to the classical side of things. In this post, I mentioned how I kept breaking my fingernails and wanted a pinchable pattern.. (it's funny now looking back at it!) As usual, everyone here was extremely helpful and didn't make too much fun of my "new guy" inquiry.

Fast forward to today, I have acquired a collection of knives that I'm pretty happy with and have narrowed down what I look for..finger nails no longer brittle .. and while I still lack a true Tony Bose (RIP sir) I have amazing traditional knives from Tom Ploppert, Mike Zscherny, Ryuichi Kawamura, Aaron Wilburn and more. This is the main focus of what I like to collect.. but have also noticed the beauty of "art knives"- specifically interframes. A lot of which adhere to elements found in traditional folders

I'm sure I'm not alone with frequently checking dealers/ purveyors sites for new knives.While browsing these sites primarily for traditionals it's hard not to notice the beauty of Lake, Bennica, Sawby, Osborne, Kious, Hoel interframes ...There's many more who deserve to be added but those are the ones that come to mind and have grabbed my attention. The intrigue has continued to grow and a couple weeks ago I was ABOUT to pull the trigger on an interframe Steve Hoel that I've had bookmarked for months.

This is when I remembered my post from 2019. A knife someone posted that featured 3 inlaid dots instead of a nail nick -- in response to me saying I wanted a pinchable knife. It was made by Scott Gallagher. I remember thinking it was beautiful but had to be way out of my comfort zone price wise.
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I found the post --then went to Scott's instagram, followed him.. looked at all his knives .. reminds me of the legendary makers listed above but uniquely his own. he's a bladesmith too which is cool for someone doing interframe folders (and he's still actively making knives!).. I then sent him a DM inquiring about some of his work.

The next morning I woke up to a response thanking me for my interest and I came to find out my favorite knife he had posted was somehow still available - that he would be happy to make me a new one too because he's improved the action a lot since he made the one I showed interest in. I thought this showed integrity but also, I find that when someone is self-critical.. they're perfectionists. A great quality for a knife maker to have!

This lead to a phone call. Scott is genuinely the nicest maker I've ever had the opportunity to speak with and the fact that he was willing to take time out of his day to talk knives with me was so cool. I'm a pretty introverted person and I rarely get to talk about knives out loud. I spoke with Scott for about an hour! He loves knives too -- who would have thought!

I found out that Scott learned how to make folders from Rick Genovese and credits him entirely for getting him started in this direction.While currently an ABS Journeyman smith, he is testing for MS next month.This has been delayed because of Covid and he has had the knives ready for his test since last year.

While Scott enjoys forging and making all types of knives, he's really liking the folders and said he wants to make more of them while also doing more engraving. I'm impressed with the wide skill range he has. Engraving, stone inlays (seamless!) ,making his own damascus... Straight knives, folders... you name it.


I bought the knife from Scott after our talk.. he offered me a deal on it since he had disclosed his thoughts on the mechanics not being as smooth as he likes- I told him I mostly look for a lockback that locks up tight, is centered and has a level spring with no crazy gaps ..and though he wasn't happy with the action, I'd likely be happy with it. He responded along the lines of "oh yeah all that is fine I just figured out how to make the action smoother!"


So all that was great-- then the package went into the abyss with FedEx because of the snow in Memphis..I didn't want to be annoying and didn't send him a message about it until it was several days past the scheduled delivery date. Turns out, he had already called fedex multiple times and was actively trying to figure out where it was. Crazy cool of him to keep up with the status of the shipment and even deal with their mostly awful customer service reps. Scott made sure I knew that if it truly became lost that I wasn't SOL and he'd either refund me or build me another knife. I already knew he wouldnt be the type to be like "sorry pal!" but it was peace of mind.

The knife is now here to stay in my collection. I am so happy with it. The inlays true Edwards Black Jade which I learned is incredibly difficult to acquire.. and MOP in the center. It has a really cool lighting effect with the black jade around it. Like a portal into the sky. My girlfriend loves it too. She goes "how is this actually possible!?" When handling the knife and not feeling and seams. So rare she is actually interested in a new knife of mine haha

The action is great.. I have zero issues with it which is what I expected. Im planning to order another to see what he's talking about! The lock is easy to engage. The gold Dellana dots are a great substitute for a nail nick and work extremely well. I tried to take a good photo to show the dots as they are peened and domed. The blade to handle ratio is insane on this pattern of his! It is maxed out. Blade locks up like a vault and the sound it makes is very pleasant.

Of course I had to get the print from the great @SharpByCoop. I was happy to see the knife had been photographed by him! Trying to take my own photos of a stainless high polish interframe really makes you appreciate Jim's work. I feel sorry for trying but at least felt like I could show some of the colors in the pearl and the dots.

Anyways I am pretty happy that my first post on this forum eventually lead me to this maker! Even if it was two years later. Pretty funny how stuff works out.

Scott is actively taking orders for anyone that is interested. I would highly recommend it! Thanks to anyone who read or just looked at the pics! Sorry it's not a true traditional but I hope you understand why I wanted to post it here.
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How many times are you going to post this?
 
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Beautiful knife.
The pins protruding from the blade are not something I'd want on a knife but otherwise it's a beautiful blade that's very traditional otherwise.
 
Beautiful knife.
The pins protruding from the blade are not something I'd want on a knife but otherwise it's a beautiful blade that's very traditional otherwise.
Thank you I was worried about posting it here.
Yeah it's definitely different! Scott said he's never really been a fan of nicks so he chooses to use the dots. They work really well though and keep my acidic fingers from touching the carbon damascus. I cut up a ton of boxes today and it is a laser. All the knives I have from smiths have never failed to be sharp.
 
Thank you I was worried about posting it here.
Yeah it's definitely different! Scott said he's never really been a fan of nicks so he chooses to use the dots. They work really well though and keep my acidic fingers from touching the carbon damascus. I cut up a ton of boxes today and it is a laser. All the knives I have from smiths have never failed to be sharp.
It seems a lot of people who buy a beautiful custom like this probably wouldn't use it and that's a shame.

I can see that some fine craftsmanship went into making a really good knife, not just something made for looks.
 
the site is behaving so strange for me.
I hate when that happens...the unintentional double/triple posts, have to sign in more than once ...
Seems to occur more often when theyre doing "server maintenance".

Great looking knife, by the way.:D
 
Very unique knife, beautiful Damascus. I like the three pins as a nail nick. They’re well done and look like they would work well.
 
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