Randall Made Knives

[mootw]

So, I recently went on a golf trip with a bunch of buddies to Orlando, FL. While we were there, I insisted on taking a trip to Randall Made Knives to visit the shop and museum. Wow!! Totally impressed. Of course, I have always been a fan of these knives but it was really nice to visit the place. The museum was awesome. Thousands of knives on display...including Bill Scagel knives. For those who know the story, it was a Scagel knife that started Bo Randall on the trek to build the best possible knife. There are letters from Ronald Reagan during WWII thanking Bo for the knife sent to him. I was in awe.

While there, they were pulling out some knives for sale to the general public. Evidently, they have situations where the original orderer of the knife is no longer available to receive delivery (eg., died, moved, etc.) Considering it takes Randall Made nearly 5 years to deliver a knife, this isn't surprising. Needless to say, I bought a couple.

 

 

Randall Made Sign:

 

 

Randall Made (I think this was Bo's home):

 

 

The Museum:

 

 

Trailblazer with copper bolster:

 

 

Hunter Model:

 

 

[hipower]

Very Nice!!

[Grand Torino]

Absolutely beautiful blades.....the sheaths aren't nothing to sneeze at either. Congratulations on your purchases. :up:

[willis68]

Yes they are, I am on my 3rd year wait for my Confederate Bowie knife and I know it will be worth it :cool:

[Monkeyman2500]

Lucky dog! What great timing to pick those up. Love the Randall knives.

[peejman]

Cool. I'll try to remember that for the next time I'm near there.

[seax]

Visit there every time I'm in Orlando. Always forth the visit. Even dropped off a couple of knives for referb and modifications once.

[musicman]

Wow. Absolutely beautiful! I especially like that Trailblazer!

Sheesh... can't believe I didn't know about that place... I was just down there last week!

[Trekbike]

I am not knowledgeable on this so I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but why a 5 year wait? Does he have that much business or does he just work on making them on a limited basis?

[mootw]

I am not knowledgeable on this so I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but why a 5 year wait? Does he have that much business or does he just work on making them on a limited basis?

 

Excellent question.  Short answer:  demand exceeds capacity.  Each knife is individually hand-crafted.  This takes quite awhile and they just don't take any shortcuts in their knifemaking process. The old man, Bo Randall, was a fanatic about quality and I truly believe that same spirit remains in their operation today. 

 

I think they have an interesting history. Randall Made has always been a small, family-owned business.  They really began to be noticed during WWII and the demand for their blades from soldiers, sailors/marines, airmen just took off.  So....over the years demand has just grown to point where today it takes them 4 to 5 years to fulfill a custom order.  The line to get one of these knives is simply that long.

Edited June 6, 2015 by mootw