Hi, I was not talking "short sighted" in a general business sense. If you go back you'll see I was saying "IF" all the "no's to blade grind preference changes (with less production efforts), was because Randall does not want to create "rarities", then THAT would be a short sighted view.

Short sighted in that if it became a popular grind, and you could get a premium for the option with less labor expended to produce, .....and had real practical benefits in the field,.....then the possibility of it not being done to avoid producing a rarity would be moot!

It's not rare IF there are a LOT of them being ordered and sold! Hope you better understand what I meant.

Overall, Randall's product demand and order backlog demonstrate a great business sense.

But in one real way the building of the Randall backlog is the direct result of many buyers simply collecting various models and examples, often many multiples of the same model. (I'm partial to the 26 Pathfinder, I have 3 currently, but it's not everything I'd prefer in some respects for my tastes)

Many of those collectors never actually use even ONE example. Such a shame really, but seems to me that's the main reason for the backlog.
I don't begrudge the collector, btw, as they often become sellers when switching direction or thinning the herd and guess what,.....no 5 year wait!

That alone is worth every additional penny spent to get what you want in a few days, especially for us older enthusiasts. I'm almost 59 now,...so do I want to wait 5 years for an order? NO WAY! I could be in a wheelchair, or god forbid,..."dead on arrival" (of my order spot coming up )

As a logical thinker I find it difficult to understand a "no" to a request to leave some labor steps out, yet get paid the same (or more for). A workman gets an order for a blade,....and a note is added to "leave OFF the false edge entirely, with a Model 1 style lower grind". Seems pretty simple......

I worked most every day for 35 years in making and repairing jewelry. For 8 of those years I worked 7 days a week except the 3 days a year the Mall I worked then was closed. (Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) I took no vacation, and 65-70 hour weeks were the norm for me. Two weeks before Christmas I worked 95-100 hour weeks!

Boy is that tiring.....work 15 hours and sleep, work 15 and sleep, repeat to your next day off,....2 weeks out...... (I usually slept in at least 15 hours until mid afternoon on Dec 25th.)

Instructions were provided to add this head to a ring blank and to set that diamond, and size the ring to a certain size.

When an engagement ring order came thru to not size the ring as it fit fine, do you really think it slowed production because I had to do LESS work on the item by NOT sizing it?

Quite the opposite in fact, and Randall's backlog might even go down a month or two with the labor savings,.... not to mention less wear and tear on grinding belts. Not an insignificant amount either, as you're saving almost a THIRD of the surface area of the total current grind. So belts get an extended life by about a third on making up this model blade configuration......

I guess that's what I'll never get,.....It simply makes NO sense to say "no" sometimes. Rules should be there for a REASON, not just because you want a rule that says no.

I really don't want to beat a dead horse here, but I think I've shown that there are REAL labor AND material savings presented with what I've described. These savings to Randall's materials and labor costs should not be wholly rejected, simply because it's easier to say "no".

Someday I'll locate a suitable "broken tip" Randall blade that I can rework to my preference. A carbon steel model 1-6 or 1-7 with 1-2 inches broken off the tip might do, as I'd like to end up around 4 to 4-1/2 inches of usable blade length. I just don't have the heart to chop up a useable factory setup example.

If anyone out there has something like that in their closet,....give me a holler.