Northwoods Knives/Dave Shirley Era

Here is an interesting Scagel Repro mod!!! A rehandled blade delete, with buttery Gabon Ebony handles, and a hammered silver shield!! Quite an improvement I'd say!!Ebony Oupa mod 1.jpgEbony Oupa mod 2.jpg
Made by Queen for Northwoods, and modded by a guy called Oupa in Australia,
when it was a lot cheaper, quicker and easier to mail knives back and forth to Canada!!
 
waynorth said:
Here is an interesting Scagel Repro mod!!! A rehandled blade delete, with buttery Gabon Ebony handles, and a hammered silver shield!! Quite an improvement I'd say!!View attachment 2695454View attachment 2695455
Made by Queen for Northwoods, and modded by a guy called Oupa in Australia,
when it was a lot cheaper, quicker and easier to mail knives back and forth to Canada!!
Click to expand...
Was hoping you'd post some of your Scagel repros, Charlie. You've got some rare beauties, and this certainly is one of them! Absolutely love the vibe of the hammered silver shield! 😍 👍
 
JW225 said:
Was hoping you'd post some of your Scagel repros, Charlie. You've got some rare beauties, and this certainly is one of them! Absolutely love the vibe of the hammered silver shield! 😍 👍
Click to expand...
Thanks Jim!! I don't have all those Scagels anymore - just a few!! But I'll post the pics I've kept!!Scagel Kitchen 1.jpgScagel Stag 3 3 8ths A.jpgScagel8Stag.jpgScagelArray.jpgScagelGroup1.jpgScagels3.jpg
Most of these have moved on to Scagel lovers!! Sold to buy Schrades back then, I'll wager!! 😁
These go back to when Ivory was legal to sell/trade!!😲
 
waynorth said:
Here is an interesting Scagel Repro mod!!! A rehandled blade delete, with buttery Gabon Ebony handles, and a hammered silver shield!! Quite an improvement I'd say!!View attachment 2695454View attachment 2695455
Made by Queen for Northwoods, and modded by a guy called Oupa in Australia,
when it was a lot cheaper, quicker and easier to mail knives back and forth to Canada!!
Click to expand...
BTW, this knife is 4" long (closed of course!!)!!
 
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A while back, I came across an interesting Northwoods fixed blade that I had never seen before. It seemed to have the characteristics of a modern bushcraft/utility knife, but wasn't identified as any particular model. Over time, I was able to connect the dots -- it was a repro of Marble's "Special Hunting Knife" -- a model that was originally produced by Marble's from 1904-1914. As it turns out, Dave Shirley provided the Special Hunting Knife featured on the cover of Dunathan's "Encyclopedia of Marble's Knives and Sporting Collectibles." During the Lauerman-era Marble's revival, Marble's actually offered a re-issue of the Special Hunting Knife. After that time, Northwoods followed suit, although to what extent I'm not sure. The convex grind on these blades leads me to believe that Mike Stewart had a hand in their creation (and the mosaic pins definitely have a Bark River vibe).

Here is the knife provided by Dave Shirley for the Marble's Encyclopedia...

6Us93Gl.jpg


Pictured below: Marble's 2001 re-issue in Stag (top); Northwoods 2003 version in faux ivory (middle); and Northwoods 2003 version in Bone Stag (bottom) -- all of these identified as "Custom" on the back of the ricasso...

eDKXirp.jpg
 
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JW225 JW225 The knife that D.Shirley donated for that cover shot is sensational, a large imposing blade but a really svelte Stag handle . The later reproductions are bulkier in appearance which I think is a bit of a missed opprtunity. The Bone Stag is good looking and is very much like a Bark River I have in the same material. Always something new to learn about knives when one bothers to take the time :thumbsup:

Thanks, Will
 
Agreed, Will.

In light of your observation, I thought it might be interesting to show a comparison shot of the Marble's repro handle vs. the Northwoods handle. The Marble's handle is certainly bulkier -- while the Northwoods handle is more contoured, and more in keeping with the sleeker handle of Dave Shirley's original Marble's prototype...

ASz13Nw.jpg
 
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Here is a small stag lockback. My hunch is that this one is a very early Northwoods, as it incorporates an oval shield similar to the shields on the MSA slipjoints offered by Dave Shirley/Marbles in the early 2000's -- so, perhaps this one was produced during the transition from MSA to Dave Shirley's own Northwoods brand. Despite its small stature, this is a very handy knife, and the design of the handle makes for a very comfortable grip. I have only ever seen a couple of these -- I know that Will Power Will Power has a similar Queen version of this knife, so it would appear that Queen had a hand in its production...

LSpYhkS.jpg
 
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The first Indian River Jack made its appearance in 2008 -- the only IRJ to be produced under Dave Shirley. Subsequent IRJ models, starting in 2011, were all produced for Derrick Bohn/KSF by Queen and GEC, respectively. This first model had ebony covers, and featured a Scagel-style blade. It is remarkably slender, and just about disappears in the pocket...

Q8yAgWc.jpg
 
This is a Moose pattern made by GEC on its 54 frame that was dubbed the "Gladiator." It was released in 2010, and may have been the last Northwoods model produced for Dave Shirley. Roughly 100 of these were made, all in stag covers. And, in a move likely never to be repeated, GEC actually made these Scagel-style blades in a super steel -- S60V. Three prototypes were done in Buffalo Bone, although no covers other than stag ever went into production. I am told that this particular knife was on display in Dave Shirley's office. Whether that is actually true or not, I have no way of knowing -- but, I like to think so. :) If anyone out there has a stag version of the Gladiator, please share! 👍

YLVuSTm.jpg
 
JW225 said:
The first Indian River Jack made its appearance in 2008 -- the only IRJ to be produced under Dave Shirley. Subsequent IRJ models, starting in 2011, were all produced for Derrick Bohn/KSF by Queen and GEC, respectively. This first model had ebony covers, and featured a Scagel-style blade. It is remarkably slender, and just about disappears in the pocket...

Q8yAgWc.jpg
Click to expand...
Wow, really love those covers!!
 
JW225 said:
This is a Moose pattern made by GEC on its 54 frame that was dubbed the "Gladiator." It was released in 2010, and may have been the last Northwoods model produced for Dave Shirley. Roughly 100 of these were made, all in stag covers. And, in a move likely never to be repeated, GEC actually made these Scagel-style blades in a super steel -- S60V. Three prototypes were done in Buffalo Bone, although no covers other than stag ever went into production. I am told that this particular knife was on display in Dave Shirley's office. Whether that is actually true or not, I have no way of knowing -- but, I like to think so. :) If anyone out there has a stag version of the Gladiator, please share! 👍

YLVuSTm.jpg
Click to expand...
Very interesting background to that one and exceptional scales too, impressive example :cool: Not seen sight of these before.

Thanks, Will
 
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