Tasteful and well-executed engraving. I'm sure he will treasure it and the memories it represents.
Raqudu :D
Freedom is never a gift. It is the "pearl of great price" in anguish won.
[RIGHT]- The Theological Concept of Freedom[/RIGHT]
"Well, it's a nice soft night so I think I'll go and join me comrades and talk a little treason."
[RIGHT]- Michaleen Flynn (Barry Fitzgerald) in "The Quiet Man"[/RIGHT]
"can they ingrave just blades if the handles arent metal?"
Yes. They use a computer controlled laser-engraver. The operator is free to do whatever. For example, my mockups had the text on the handle in a straight line. I just added a note saying, "Please make this match the curve of the handle" and as you can see, he (?) did a pretty good job.
They can also put as much text on as you want. The laser doesn't care, the fonts are all Truetype or similar. I suspect they can make them unreadably small, which could be cool in some circumstances.
If it is not inappropriate to ask, I'm curious as to a general idea of how much this type of laser engraving work costs? I'd love to personalize some knives for future gifts and am curious is they price it by the letter or if there are additional set-up costs involved. Any information you care to share on this would be very helpful. I know several others here have also had some custom laser engraving done on their knives.
><> The most important blood trail leads to the Cross <>< C09 CoPilots My Specialty Integrity is Being Good Even if No One is WatchingTM
Looking for: C04 Executive plain edge, C09 CoPilot plain edge with brass liners and a G-2 marked blade
The costs are no secret. There is a $25 set-up charge for each type of knife you're having engraved. After that, you're free to do whatever you want in terms of text. After that it is $3/side. So this knife was $31. I believe that if I had 5 identical knives and engraving, it would be $25+10*$3 = $65. There is no per-letter cost.
Further, they have a selection of graphics, though I didn't delve into that. If they have a graphic you want, I think it's no additional charge. If you want a custom graphic, you have to supply it and pay an extra $50 setup for the operator to convert it to a usable format.
I had to fill a form and diagram showing the text, location, size, and font. This engraving job was simple so I didn't have any problem mocking up a diagram with a photoshop-like program called The Gimp (free!) even though I am not skilled in its use. I chose the font, but since I didn't have a laser engraving machine, and since I didn't have a SS D4 in front of me, I asked the operator to use his best judgment for sizes and exact placement.
I originally was going to have a lot of text on the knife and the superbly patient :spyder: rep (Jim) didn't seem concerned. In the end, I went simple. Probably better.
I don't think Spyderco makes any money on this, so they don't promote it too much - it's a service they provide because they rawk!
Those considering the laser engraving... Check out the blades/handles that have the Spyderweb on them. They are cool. Should be fairly easy too find using the search feature.
