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A point of interest. Stacked components or Side by Side. Everybody loved the original Hoss 45. Everybody. I'm honored. That was the first Side by side I had seen. And it's not really a true Side by side. It's an asymmetrical triangle. You don't just have the reservoir and spring/hammer/trigger stacked with the barrel hanging "over there".
The Hoss is A LOT of work. A LOT of machining. MORE components. More COMPLEX components. That all adds up to .... not just a little more time and skill ... but a LOT more time and skill. Then, Hoss was Etched. It had a grip tang spine which was carved and had filed Liners. It had a case of dovetailed 200 year old wood. With tools. "Yeah, yeah, yeah .... we like tools and cases ... do that!" Ha. Right. Well, that's why the cost adds up.
Whenever I talk big Pistols and big Carbines, we are going to tribute Hoss. But that can't be the only story. Or else ... you know what happens? The New York Custom Knife Show, Kansas City, Anaheim, Dallas, Knoxville, Baltimore, Rhode Island, happens. I stand smiling at my table, with examples of excellent high class craftsmanship... many times I won Best of Show and Best Knife! But .... for outspoken, using, showing, friendly, Hi Gary!, numbers of people .... you had to look across the isles. The guys who .... for their reasons .... "chose" not to make the engraved, Carved, inlaid, exotic mechanical, theme, Damascus folding knives. Yes. I sold mine .... often to "representatives of the actual buyers". They sold theirs to the guys who immediately took them to the lounge, and started telling anybody who would listen how amazing young Billy was, who made this 3 1/2" drop point hunter. Mine got quietly slipped into a brief case .... .... with a stern look from the representative .... as if to say ......"we shall not speak of this again."
If I'd get sick of the witness protection version of doing business ... I'd make a couple simplier knives. Lay them on the table ...and watch dust settle around them. People would come buy and write dates in the dust with their finger. 1976, 1979 ..... and then a "Representative" in dark Aviators would catch my attention. The glint from his mirrored lenses must have flashed in my eye. He would not approach ... but I would detect a faint flick of the lenses toward the dusty knife with 1982 smeared over the 1979 below. The set jaw and failure to approach said it all. "WHAT is that. It shall be reported." The "representative" would move on. Thru the hootenanny that has formed at Billy's table. And at first, I wondered. "WTH". Well ... actually it was well before capital letters .... . But, I wondered. And then, an ancient 4' green man with large hairy ears appeared it front of my table as the hall was being torn down. The show was over. I was packing up. I looked into the large sad eyes ... he glanced at the lump of dust completely obscuring an object on the table .... "make these, you do NOT - hummmm." It was a statement, and he was gone. As he stepped behind a hearty group of men hoisting Billy on their shoulders .... I wondered at what had just happened. And I began to consider the strange statement .... "make these, you do not." Clearly, I had. Hummmm.
I almost forgot to pack the two small simple knives I'd made for quick sales. But I bumped the table with my thigh. A tower of dust crumbled and collapsed. There was one of the knives. "Oh yeah ....". On the train home, I puzzled over the small man and his riddle. Clearly ... I HAD made those two knives. They weren't like my others but I certainly ha..... I stared into the darkness. An occasional light flashed by. And then, the mirrored image of the small green man .... wearing .... mirrored Aviators??? And he quietly repeated ... "make these, you do NOT!" OMG .... that's it! I've been condemned to obscurity by winning all those awards!!! Billy's friends would never come to my table. I'll have to roll my knives in a Wall Street Journal, and swap them with stern "representatives" on the Subway. Rent a Lexus, and leave my knife under the seat. It's all clear now .....
And so; yes, I decided to Stack the components to make the Hawg Leg about half the price of the Hoss design. Maybe get somebody with a Carbine, up a tree in November. Maybe get somebody talk about one they own. Maybe have fun with it. Because we already know I can make the Hoss. And what I made before, I can make again. So there's the logic. I'm fond of the designs I've proven. I appreciate interest in them. I really want to make sure though, that I don't get pegged as "only" wanting to make the few Classics. Because I don't want people walking away if a Hoss isn't in the budget but a Hawg Leg might be.
Is this clear? Did ya already know this? Was my story writing pen wasted trying to bring s bit of humor to the tale? Does this thing work? Tap tap .... hello .... I have to go get another battery ....
Gary
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2017 11:23PM by barnespneumatic.