WireEdge Roger wrote:Cool story!
Glad you enjoyed it. After seeing the drawings I did remember holding and playing with the Claw.
Two years ago I was digging through a forgotten chest of drawers that I had found left over from a time that I had put in the basement of the new house we moved to after leaving the old neighborhood. I found three old Goddard knives buried away. Took them over to Wayne's house to show them to him. As he dug through his archives he determined from the materials used, the markings and in one case the lack of markings, that these three were from an early period of his career, somewhere between '65-'69. He offered to buy them from me, but instead I asked him to make me a knife. A few months after that at the 2012 knife show I stopped to talk with him at his table and saw that he had three different sizes of the Spyderco Goddard with micarta handles. I offered to change our trade deal of his three knives for one each of the different size Spyderco's. He had to ask his wife Phyllis though as selling the Goddard models was her part of the business. She said yes and that she would give him a discount on the table price of the folders.
I know that the price of the folders could never actually equal the value of his three knives but this was for an old friend who had the opportunity to reclaim a valued part of his history. I would simply have given the knives to him but I didn't want to lose that connection to our shared history, hence the trade. Actually I first met Wayne when I was looking for somebody to make me a set of knives. After meeting him I ordered a matching set of Bowie Knife and Arkansas Toothpick with 10.5" and 11" blades respectively. They had black sheaths that tied down, Macassar Ebony handles and brass fixtures. Both were double edged. They matched a western outfit that I wore for special square dance events and I caused quite a stir when I was in full costume. Everybody was always highly amused that a "cowboy" carried a set of knives instead of pistols. My timing of the purchase was somewhat unfortunate because at the same time we were planning our wedding and the $325 the knives cost me was shall we say, "distressing" for my fiancé. But she eventually got over it and we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary this August. She really did love me and apparently still does.
When I think about it, I guess you could say that Spyderco is now a part of that shared history between Wayne and myself. I've left the three knives in their boxes and should something happen to me they will belong to my wife and eventually my children and grandchildren.
