"Talkin' Story" with Mr. Sal Glesser

[Manixguy@1994]

This thread is a treasure Jeff , thank you ! Dan

[ladybug93]

i was thinking it should be a sticky. it would be a fun retreat to read through when other threads get frustrating.

[JSumm]

Talkin story:

The "Portable hand" was a challenging experiment that frankly was probably much harder to achieve that we thought. Gail and I finished working the Arizona state Fair as agents and we spent December '75 in Las Vegas. Las Vegas was the first city in America that was offering classes in Acupuncture, in which Gail and I both had interest. We have to make a choice. Study Acupuncture and work as dealers in Vegas while studying, or Start a business.

We decided to start a business. The first project was to see if we could invent a tool, patent the tool, Manufacture, market and sell the tool. The tool that we invented was ultimately called the Portable Hand. We were able to get most of the parts. like clips, threaded rod, etc. off of the shelf, but we needed to find some type of metal to make the "joints" to test out the theory.

There was "Freeway Entrance" at the front of the Freeway ramp in Downtown Redding, that was badly damaged; bullet holes, etc.We thought that would work and because it was badly damaged, and it needed to be replaced anyway. The downside is that is was outside of the Redding Police department.

We felt that to just steal the sign was tacky, so we made a new sign out of framed cardboard that was the same size and color of the original sign. The new sign read; "This Freeway has been stolen, please refer to the other sign on the other side of the ramp". Now we had to figure out how to remove the old sign and replace it with the new sign. Gail and I pretended to he hitch-hiking at the freeway entrance, while a friend, driving in Mercury low rider was circling back to pick us up. We unbolted the old sign and replaced it with the new sign and drove off with our "take". Some journalist saw the new sign we made and it made the local newspaper.

We purchased Oxy-Acetylene tanks. We built the prototype, which I still have, proved the concept, tooled up for the pressed parts, patented the idea and went into production. We had to weld the ball bearings onto the threaded rod, which was a learning curve, and we built the tools in campgrounds and hotels across the country. We built a booth to display the product and sold them in our first show, the Boston Home show in 1976. All while living in and traveling in a 1955 International Step van with our 2 year old daughter. We towed a yellow VW "Bug" which housed our tools and equipment.

We made them for several years, but by then we were also manufacturing the Sharpmaker, which was selling faster and we didn't have time to build both, so the "Hand" was discoed.

Just some history to share.

sal

[JSumm]

Talkin' Story,

On the Chaparral, the plan was to showcase different handles with a gent's Back-lock. I designed the model to be a smaller Sage. The first model designed was the Titanium "Stealth", which Peter and I worked on for a long time to get the multi-level planes right. (.007 difference in the depth of the planes) It is still my favorite. It was taking a longer time than planned to get it right, so we decided to put the Carbon version ahead of it so we could get the model into production.

When the Carbon version was ready, Carpenter's XHP wasn't yet ready for production. (FYI, we helped Carpenter refine their XHP ), which the Chaparral was to showcase. The XHP was taking longer to get into production than we had hoped, so we made the first model in S30V. Following models were XHP.

We had requests to make an FRN version of the Chaparral so the model could get different steels and colors. that's why we have the FRN version, which is a popular EDC.

sal

[JSumm]

Talkin' Story:

I invented the Triangle Sharpmaker in 1978. I invented the Golden Stone/Webfoot (Duckfoot) at the same time. The technology wasn't there to make the design so it sat for many years. We made the "Pro-File" stones as a fill while technology was growing. Patented the Golden Stone concept some 20 odd years later.

When we were finally able to make the concept in a real product, it was the Duckfoot. We built a steel embryo and plated diamonds on to the Embryo. When the technology was there to make the Golden Stone, we made it. While it is quite expensive to make, it is a very unique concept. Then we added the Webfoot to compliment the fine grit stone, and we used CBN instead of diamonds. We finally made a fixture to hold both pieces at 30 degrees inclusive (15 per side).

Now, 45 years later, we are finally able to bring the concept to a production piece available to you. Persistence is King.

sal

[JSumm]

Discussing the Byrd Line.

Talkin' Story;

We knew we wanted to begin a line of economy models and we knew we'd have to make them in China to be able to get the price down. The artificial Yuan value, while, in my opinion, is not a level playing field, seemed like the best way to make less expensive Spyderco's as we could see the writing on the wall with costs rising. The quality of the Chinese made knives was improving and we felt we could get acceptable quality for an economy line. I must admit that the beginning was challenging and stressful, but we were eventually able to get it going.

We didn't have a name for the line. I was having a conversation on our forum about long range history and I said; "The dinosaurs that survived are called lizards". Some of our forumites, always a bright group, corrected me and said; "no, the dinosaurs that survived were called birds".

I did a bunch of research and found that theory to be current and loved the idea. I've always been into birds, so the concept seemed good to me. There is even theory now that thinks the dinosaurs were warm blooded. (Probably due to "Global warming" at the time, which made the plants big which made the dinosaurs big).

I decided to call the line "byrd" using the "Y" in byrd like the "Y" in Spyderco. The original artist was a relative of an employee and we commissioned him to create the original art. We'v added a lot since then, as there is much info on that concept now. We even made lapel pins of dinosaurs with feathers and teeth. Today, when I look at a bird, I see a miniature dinosaur.

I'm working on a "T" shirt, with one of our crew, Chappy, which will incorporate the original bird/dinosaur art. It's still off in the future.

sal

[sal]

From the UK forum "Edge Matters"

Hey Eee, Talkin' Story;

When we first introduced CPM-440V (S60V), it was the result of a trip to Crucible foundry back in the '90'S. I contacted them and told them we wanted to use their powdered metal in our knives and we'll be there on Wednesday. We just showed up, about 4 of us and had a long chat about steel. Their original reaction was, "who are you and you want to do what?"

We ended up selecting 440V and in the beginning, we ran it hard, about 60Rc and it turned out to be far too brittle. We ended up dropping the Rc to 55 to get some real overall performance, but it was a "mutha" to sharpen. Also a really difficult steel to grind. We've come a long way since then.

I agree with Joe, that any modern steel used as a sword would have to be tested in "Real World Testing". Actual "in use" testing often surprises us with what actually happens.

Particle metallurgy gave us more than better distribution of the alloys, it also gives us the opportunity to add more of particular alloys without migration on cooling. If you put more than 1.6% carbon in an ingot steel, the carbon migrates during cooling and you end up with clumps of carbon in the finished product. With powder, we can put as much of anything as we want. There is so much carbon and vanadium in some steels that we had to "invent" our own grinding wheels to be able to grind them.

sal

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"Continual improvement is our evolutionary obligation to humankind".

[electro-static]

From the UK forum "Edge Matters"

Hey Eee, Talkin' Story;

When we first introduced CPM-440V (S60V), it was the result of a trip to Crucible foundry back in the '90'S. I contacted them and told them we wanted to use their powdered metal in our knives and we'll be there on Wednesday. We just showed up, about 4 of us and had a long chat about steel. Their original reaction was, "who are you and you want to do what?"

We ended up selecting 440V and in the beginning, we ran it hard, about 60Rc and it turned out to be far too brittle. We ended up dropping the Rc to 55 to get some real overall performance, but it was a "mutha" to sharpen. Also a really difficult steel to grind. We've come a long way since then.

I agree with Joe, that any modern steel used as a sword would have to be tested in "Real World Testing". Actual "in use" testing often surprises us with what actually happens.

Particle metallurgy gave us more than better distribution of the alloys, it also gives us the opportunity to add more of particular alloys without migration on cooling. If you put more than 1.6% carbon in an ingot steel, the carbon migrates during cooling and you end up with clumps of carbon in the finished product. With powder, we can put as much of anything as we want. There is so much carbon and vanadium in some steels that we had to "invent" our own grinding wheels to be able to grind them.

sal

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"Continual improvement is our evolutionary obligation to humankind".

I was wondering why spyderco is one of the only production knife companies to offer A11 class steels run hard in their pocket knives, and why most other company’s S90V is run soft.

[JSumm]

Talkin' Story:

All of the great scientists from all countries got together and created a super computer. All of the knowledge accumulated throughout all of human history. It was so large that it had to be put into orbit. When it was finally finished programmed and turned on, the excited scientists asked it the first question; "Is there a God"? The AI "moon" clicked twice and said, "There is now"!

sal

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Life without humor is no fun".

Talkin story joke form.

[electro-static]

Talkin' Story:

All of the great scientists from all countries got together and created a super computer. All of the knowledge accumulated throughout all of human history. It was so large that it had to be put into orbit. When it was finally finished programmed and turned on, the excited scientists asked it the first question; "Is there a God"? The AI "moon" clicked twice and said, "There is now"!

sal

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Life without humor is no fun".

Talkin story joke form.

They could find no being greater than themselves so they made one.

[Bill1170]

I just found this gem over on the beyond01micron forum that carries on the Cliff Stamp legacy. That post by Sal was exactly one year ago today!

Just Talkin' Story:

couple of decades ago, our Seki trading partner told me that one of the Masahiro brothers made a Sashimi style knife out of AUS-8W (Tungsten added). He said that you could lay a folded piece of rice paper on the edge at the heel, blow on the paper and the knife will cut the paper in half before it reaches the tip. Naturally I said Bullsh*t.

About a week after I got home, I received a knife in the mail, a piece of rice paper and drawings showing me how to hold the knife and where to put the paper. I set the folded paper on the heel of the blade, edge up, and blew on the paper, which much to my surprize cut the paper in half before reaching the tip.

We made about 500 of them out of the AUS-8W a bit shorter than the sample, maybe 6" - 7" blade length. But it wasn't a good seller. I still use one at home.

sal

[JSumm]

Talkin' Story;

Some history. When I first designed the original ATR, (At The Ready), which actually took quite a while to refine, my plan was to present it to Glock to be used as their official Glock knife.

Probably more "hope" than actual. I was really all about myself and thought it was a great design. I figured that Glock would jump on the opportunity. Reality put my ego back in line. Although I tried many ways to try to present the knife to Glock, every path was a dead end. Crushed, I decided to offer the knife as just another Spyderco model. I was complimented on the design from some of the custom makers for which I had much respect, which restored my ego somewhat. It was just about that time that Glock came out with their "official" Glock knife. It was a fixed blade that did nothing for me, but it is it what it is.

Funny thing about design; Something that probably most designers feel at one time or another. One works on a design, refining over and over, for sometimes years. When one feels the design is complete, they give themselves a rating on how well they like their piece and how well they think it will be received. Then reality rears it's ugly head and puts the designer in their place.

Some of my designs, like the Polestar and Alcyone, which I had great hopes for, actually never moved the needle. The ATR was one of those. One of my designs that Peter, Roque and I refined for years making many prototypes before completion, was the Native Shaman. We were very proud of our achievement.

We thought it was a heavy duty hard use model, like the ATR, that was ready for anything. But the design received very little attention. We entered the design in the Blade Magazine "Knife of the Year" contest and few noticed it. Even my own staff was lukewarm about it. The model was introduced in G-10 and S30V and again, not much.

Later, the Shaman was re-introduced in Micarta and Cruwear and rang the bell. Subsequent "Exclusives" had good response and the follow up models using the Shaman pattern have yet to hit the market. The lighter performance version ("Edgerati" (TM), the Choil-less version, and the FRN version are still in-the-works, but we really won't know how you (the market) will respond until they've been out for a while. "Persistence is King", and we will continue to try.

There have been many examples that fell into the above categories of hit and miss, which has taught me, as a designer, to be humble and patient. Something I would venture to say most designers have experienced.

sal

[JSumm]

Talking Story;

Anything is possible. It's a matter of demand. I believe we, at Spyderco, have shown you that we're amenable to making what you want. First we have to make sure you want it, R&D research like this thread, (which is already lotsa pages. But in reality, it just usually takes longer than all of us would like.

There's a lot to bringing in a new model to the market, Starting with a concept, then a drawing, a hand made prototype sample, engineering, another prototype to prove out the engineering, putting it into the queue, getting material, etc. . Then manufacturing has a longer list.....now we have to let you know it's available, Marketing, inventory, catalogs, reveals, etc.etc.etc.

I carried a hand made prototype of the Manbug Leaf for almost 2 years before I could get a prototype sample from the maker. (And we already had the handle mold and handles!) Then another year before I had a production version in my pocket. I just heard that I'll be able to get a production serrated piece next week.

And this was my design and a personal favorite that I evolved into after carrying earlier blade variations. I believe it will be the best blade shape for this model and the functions that I have found it's used to perform. The Manbug Leaf has become one of my most carried models. Sure, we would prefer that it can be done more quickly, but given all that we are doing at any given time, that might compromise the high quality product you want and to which you are accustomed.

sal

[DerRock]

Sep 14, 2002
From the bladeforums.com

Talkin' Story;


I think one of the key words in Matriarch discussion is "last ditch". If you cut someone with a knife, you are more than likely going to go to jail. Whether or not you stay there is the question. Serg is offering sound advice.

The Matriarch was in fact designed to be used by women in South Africa, with training by Bruce Wentzel. He specifically designed his defensive art and tool to go together. We made them primarily for for Spyderco's South African Distributor. Once we had them in production, there were requests from U.S. law enforcement professionals to make them available here, which we have done.

sal

[JSumm]

Talkin' Story;

FYI, the Spyderco Santoku was the first Santoku on the market from a non Japanese company. I saw tthe design in Japan in the '80's and thought it to be a good compromise design, The width of a 12" Cook's knife but short enough to be in a normal kitchen. It also served as a Chinese slicer. I widened the design from the Japanese versions so one's hand wouldn't hit the cutting board with our normal plastic handled Kitchen knife handles. I decided to call it a Santoku to avoid confusion. It seems like the entire kitchen knife market now offers a Santoku.

It's been a mainstay in the line for more than 30 years. My recommendation for a kitchen, especially a small kitchen, is: a Santoku, a K04 serrated and a K09 paring knife to serve most functions with the fewest designs.

sal

[DoubleplusGood]

Jeff, Thank you for this great thread.

[JSumm]

Talking' Story:

FYI, Spyderco was scheduled to make a knife for Bob Taylor's REKAT company designed by Bram Frank, called the "Escalator". We were going to use Bob's "Rolling Lock' which he invented, A very nice lock invention. After we began engineering the model, Bob Taylor and Bram Frank had a falling out and Bob cancelled the project. We had already begun the project and Bob said didn't want us to use his "Rolling Lock" which we were purchasing from him and had already planned to use on some of our own models. Since Bob stopped the Rolling lock purchase, we suddenly found ourselves making a Bram Frank Model, but with no lock that we felt would fork for the MBC design at the time. Headache.

It took me about 2 weeks, but I was able to "invent" a new lock, the Compression lock, on demand, to use on the model, which was name changed to the "Gunting". Some time after production, Bram and Spyderco had a falling out and the Gunting project was disco'd. Bob Taylor and I are still friends. Funny how history has so many twists and turns?

sal

[JSumm]

Talkin' Story;

We never made a production spoon, but back in-the-day when our "Road Warriors (Pitchmen) were promoting our products at shows and fairs, we had a Pitchman that worked for us named "Cookie". Hardest working man I ever met. One day, he was working at a fair and was bored, so he sharpened a spoon on the Sharpmaker. It was very sharp. He enjoyed cutting small circles out of a piece of paper with it during his demonstration.

sal

[ImHereForTheMilitary2]

This really should be a youtube channel

[Sonorum]

This really should be a youtube channel

Wow yes, I'd love to see and hear Sal these stories. Wouldn't need to be high production, just something simple.