RoseCraft Knives

osoverride

osoverride

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Dec 11, 2022
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The Porch needs a thread about RoseCraft knives.

Their new Beaver Creek Barlow (coming soon) is very enticing:
RCT006_A-Main.jpg


And their Appalachian Jack is an interesting pattern that I have never seen before. Anyone ever see a pry bar on the butt of a traditional jack knife before?
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I've not heard of these. That orangish swayback is pretty tempting.

Anyone have one from this company? What's the quality like? Looks pretty good.
 
sf fanatic said:
Question, is that a pry bar or screw diver or both?
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It's a pry bar.
PoleMonkey13 said:
I’ve never seen these before, where are they made?
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For now they are made in China (I think), but the company is based out of Tennessee and are looking to move production to the US.
Hickory n steel said:
Meh!
They don't know how to make a sheeps foot blade.
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The designer is from SMKW, I believe. I think that it looks pretty interesting and will likely end up buying one to try out.
RickHuf said:
I've not heard of these. That orangish swayback is pretty tempting.

Anyone have one from this company? What's the quality like? Looks pretty good.
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Not yet, but I ordered one tonight!
 
They have some rather appealing designs. I give them much credit for trying to establishing themselves in the knife business; times are hard.

What irks me a little bit is their reluctance to just say their knives are made in China but insinuate "American this, American that". In my world transparency sells. I digress.

I will follow this companies progress 🍻
 
RickHuf said:
I've not heard of these. That orangish swayback is pretty tempting.

Anyone have one from this company? What's the quality like? Looks pretty good.
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I have two. The Appalachian Jack and the Holston River Doctors knife (don't quote me on the name). They're both good as working knives, less so as collector pieces. Both have good W&T with the doctors pattern being significantly lighter, but in a knife of it's relatively delicate size I'm ok with it. My Appalachian Jack has an absolutely wicked tip. maybe too wicked for some applications. it has a slight upsweep, which, if you aren't paying attention makes closing one handed against your leg a dicey proposition. Neither have any gaps that I've noticed (and I usually notice), but it's obvious that not as much attention was paid to internal finishing as external, that said, they both operate smoothly and have satisfying actions -- the doctor slightly less so with it's lighter pull. No play in the blades in any directions in my examples - Nice and solid. My biggest concern with recommending Chinese-made knives comes down to consistency. Not having seen any other examples, it's possible I just got lucky but hopefully not. For FnF, I'd rate my examples above a recent CV Amber bone Case large stockman I've acquired, it had no gaps but the main clip has some side to side wobble. But be under no illusions, these are not GEC quality. They also aren't priced like GEC, and you can buy them like a regular person: leisurely and comfortably with no scurrying, cursing, or other unbecoming behaviors. For the price, as a functional and nicely finished tool, I'd buy them all over again. no regrets.

My biggest gripe is the use of D2 steel. For me, a traditional knife developing a patina is at least half the fun and these just don't. I'm being completely honest when I say it's a major reason they don't see more use.

Because threads are useless without pics, I present the only picture I've got of my Appalachian Jack paired with a GEC Beerlow in Osage Orange.

https://imgur.com/a/FWurLwp
 
osoverride said:
The designer is from SMKW, I believe. I think that it looks pretty interesting and will likely end up buying one to try out.
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Overall it's a fairly standard knife / pattern that was executed pretty well, it's just the blade that I believe they absolutely got wrong.
Maybe it's just me, but I view bellied sheeps foot blades as a carnal sin in the traditional knife world because a straight edge is one of it's defigning characteristics.

I see this and think you might as well be putting a pen blade on the other end of a Barlow, or or all 3 blades of a stockman on the same end.
 
I have an Awanata. Its a little cutting machine. Strong pull and half-stop. F&F and W&T are solid. Very comfortable D-2 2" blade. Green scales show nice striations in hand. Photo not so much. Great buy for me. Nail nick end on blade tip side is a bit sharp. Only con I found.
 
I have no input on these knives and hope to keep an open mind. I do wish companies would just state that they make their knives, in China or wherever, what's wrong with that? I don't like the fantasy or evasion that one day they'll set up in the US, that's arrant nonsense if you bother to spend a moment or two thinking about it.

Are they better than RR though? Because they make an inexpensive and extensive catalogue of knives already so that area is largely covered.

Offering D2 is an interesting choice but I have to disagree with birdsbeaks birdsbeaks here, it's a common idea that D2 doesn't patina, it certainly will in time-maybe not as heavily as carbon but full stainless it is not, here's one of my Queen Bonestag knives getting grey with use.

fpR44fz.jpg
 
Will Power Will Power - Absolutely correct, what I was attempting to convey was that if a person were accustomed to seeing the appearance of their 1095 blade change after performing tasks such as cutting up a steak or slicing pickles, they should not expect to experience such immediate or dramatic results with D2.

Thank you for the clarification and gorgeous pic!

Here's a pic of the Rosecraft Holston River Surgeon's Knife (correct name this time) alongside the most similar Rough Ryder offering in my possession:

https://imgur.com/a/aL3hqIp
 
Locutus D'Borg said:
'FYI, Swaggs, one of Rosecraft's knife designers, is on Instagram @sharp_and_pointy_swaggs if anyone wants to ask her questions. We follow each other there. I don't know if she is on any of the other Social media.
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Thanks for the info!

Just to clarify, both Rosecraft's Appalachian Jack and Holston River Surgeon's Knife seem to have been designed by one Andy Armstrong -- a designer with whom I was unfamiliar before stumbling across these particular knives.
 
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