by Request: Loveless Knives - Now More Pictures

[grangerknives]

from Gizmo: Clearly a much respected guy. How about showing us some pics of his designs given that not all of us are familiar with Bob's history?









































R.W. 'Bob' Loveless, maker of exquisitely crafted sporting knives, dies at 81

R.W. Loveless once groused that his knives had become collector's items. "I make 'em to be used," he said.

By Valerie J. Nelson
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

R.W. "Bob" Loveless, who made some of the world's most coveted sporting cutlery by refining knife design to high art, died Sept. 2 of lung cancer at his home in Riverside, Calif. He was 81.

To many hunters, collectors and fellow bladesmen, Mr. Loveless crafted the best handmade knives in the modern world. He was known for fixed-blade knives with unsurpassed workmanship.

"He is pretty much the Picasso of the knife world and the father of 20th century knifemaking," said John Denton, an authority on Loveless knives. "His design is what made him famous."

In 1953, Mr. Loveless was a seaman on furlough when he tried to buy a blade by master knifemaker W.D. "Bo" Randall at sporting outfitter Abercrombie & Fitch. Told there was a nine-month waiting list, Mr. Loveless later said he thought, "It can't be so hard," and decided to make his own.

Returning to his ship, he created his first knife from the steel spring of a 1930s Packard automobile, forging the blade on a galley stove.

He sold his first knives for $14 apiece to Abercrombie & Fitch in 1954. When Mr. Loveless died, he was selling his knives for $5,000 to $20,000, said Edmund Davidson, a Virginia knifemaker.

Mr. Loveless's most popular blade was a widely imitated drop-point hunting knife, "a modern-day classic which many consider the most attractive knife design of all time," American Handgunner magazine said in 2006.

He liked to say his knives were aimed at "the working man," but their beauty and craftsmanship made them highly collectible, Denton said. A major dealer of Loveless knives, Denton once sold one for $50,000 that resold three years later for $150,000.

"A knife is a tool, and I make 'em to be used," Mr. Loveless groused to the Los Angeles Times in 1981. "It burns me up that most of them wind up in velvet boxes and display cases, priced so high your average deer hunter or cowboy can't afford 'em."

Robert Waldorf Loveless was born Jan. 2, 1929, in Warren, Ohio. At 15, he doctored his birth certificate and joined the merchant marine during World War II. The knife fights he witnessed in foreign ports intensified his interest in the weapon, according to Sports Illustrated.

In the early 1950s, he studied at the Institute of Design in Chicago but left after a few months. One lesson from the Bauhaus movement seemed to stay with him: Form follows function.

Back in Ohio, he attended Kent State but soon dropped out to work on a tanker, where he became familiar with Randall knives.

Once Abercrombie & Fitch started buying his tools, Mr. Loveless settled in Delaware before moving to California in 1959. The next year, he began working in machine shops while making knives on the side in his garage.

By the late 1960s, he owned enough machinery to craft knives full time. He was the first to use the corrosion-resistant steel that became the industry standard, said Davidson, a board member of the Knifemakers' Guild, an industry organization Mr. Loveless helped found in 1970.

For decades, Mr. Loveless had lived in Riverside, creating knives that were so popular that a five-year wait for one was not uncommon. Since 1982, he had made knives with Jim Merritt, who will continue the Loveless line.


-- Los Angeles Times

[Tiggercub]

Great knives. Love that sub-hilt.

[bigkev]

fantastic each and every one of them....

[Gizmo]

Thanks for going to so much trouble in putting this together for me and others on the forum. They are truly beautiful works of art and I just love the designs. I have had my eye on that Beretta version for some time and might just buy one at some stage. It is sad that most people will not be able to afford one of his original knives now given the comments on what they have been selling for. I guess now they will rocket in value even further. Clearly a great guy and pioneer and I now understand why he was so highly thought of.

[Chui]

Brilliant - well done for putting this together.

A great man and a great artist.........hmm, I wonder how people would class his designs.......to me its real art, not like some of the arty-farty stuff that's around.

Wonderful timeless designs.......a quality and a practicality that will be imitated for years to come.

[grangerknives]

You are welcome. We lost a great one. I highly recommend his book and video. In the video he gets a bit philosophical. It's cool.

[nick p]

Bob Loveless was one of the greatest knife designers ever. To hold and manipulate one of his hunting knives is know he had the eye and feel of a hunter and the practical design of a genius!


Loveless stag handled semi skinner.........




Nick

[Thinker]

Knifes wed all love to own, luckily we have Mr Bailey making magnificent knifes based on his designs

[grangerknives]

Here's a nice sub-hilt

[Gizmo]

Bear in mind that I know next to nothing about knifemaking but I have just been admiring the craftmanship on this site and this guy seems to being doing Bob's work some justice:
http://www.norfleetcustomknives.com/
Must save up some pennies!

[Mick Maxen]

There is a book called, Living on the Edge by Williams and Weyer, published in "92" that documents the collection of Loveless knives of Al Williams. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Edge-...5408503&sr=1-1

The photos are taken by Weyer and the knives look to be taken on 1" ruled graph paper, so you can work out the dimensions.

Another book due out at the end of December is, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Knifemaking-...5409083&sr=1-1


Mick.

[Gizmo]

Thanks for that Mick; I have just pre-ordered the second one!

[Frase]

a few months a go I thought about ordering one of these but if you do a bit of a google you will find some reviews!

[irbailey]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Those are some seriously nice knives.

As for the books, if you like Loveless knives and especially if you make knives, they are both what I'd class as essential reading. My copies are like bibles to me!

As Mr Maxen pointed out, the photos in Living on the Edge are taken on 1" graph paper which makes life just that little bit easier..

Edit: Thought the second link was for the Barney-Loveless book

I didn't realise there was a new one ...Looks like I need to get myself over to Amazon right away...

Ian

[waldorf]

Posted this a while back, but if you have an interest in Loveless it`s an interesting read.

http://www.knifetalkforums.com/ubbth...at&Number=3091