# Two beautiful gifts.



## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

As some of you know, I do "business" with a woman named Joyce in North Carolina. To close orders quickly, I might send her a knife for her clients, and she will return the favor. She had told me she "owed" me money, and I told her to take her time; her husband is quite ill and confined to bed.

So out of nowhere, the doorbell rang. *I hate that bell*. It spooks me, and while you might find this hard to believe, but I have more enemies than friends.

Turns out it was just the UPS guy with a box, although I had nothing on its way. The label was from "_Horizon Bladeworks_," the business title of Joyce' and Nick's business. I opened the box and found a great surprise! Joyce had sent me two Sicilian automatic stilettos (identical to ones I carried in high school) and a big check to boot!

I had once told her what I liked to carry, but then, how could I find knives from 1968? Well, Joyce did! One from beautiful black grained polished hardwood, and the other of decorated 'fractured' white grips, in a quality I had not seen in decades! The black knife had a perfect 'fuller,' and both them were stamped "Sicily." I believe my first beater car didn't cost this much!

As I have said, have no problem in doing business with Joyce. Her word is her bond, and I have not received a dinged folder in short of two decades. I had to laugh--it was she who bought the knives for me, and then added the remaining money she "owed" making sure the package sustained a cost to the penny!

And yes, the nomenclature on the ricasso of my new stiletto said "STILETTO ITALY." That's code for "Sicily."

I had taken up fencing in college. Since this is a discipline of thrusting, my defensive knives were purchased for this thrust--not cutting, and Joyce had remembered it.

...oh, and the white switchblade was beautiful, too...


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## KUSA (Apr 21, 2016)

No pictures?


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

KUSA said:


> No pictures?


Not today. My wife and my SIL are out going to visit their mother, and that usually means taking pictures. They're returning tonight and I'll have pictures soon.

But trust me, if knives come from my buddy Joyce, they will be first rate. For example, I cannot believe the build quality of this "9 inch" Sicilian stiletto. (BTW, 9 inches on a knife means a 4-inch blade and a 5-inch handle).

And that fuller is not only remarkable and a perfect addition to the blade, but this addition is a great balance for an automatic knife. The blade cannot be too heavy for the strain on the activation spring, but not too light to be a credible cutting tool.

And as stated, I bought two of them. A black one and a white one.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Let's see if this picture works.

This is my favorite knife--from my youth to my foolish adulthood. I like the way the knife looks, how its weight feels and the snappiness of the action. I also believe in "balance," and I do not think a stiletto designed to save your life needs anything more than five inches for it's grip and four inches for its blade.

My latest example has a blade with a "fuller." While I believe that feature is just an additional structure to the blade, it sure is 'purty.' It hasn't left my sight since it arrived.

BTW, if you're thinking of automatic knives, get at least one of these for your total collection.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

Looks like a nice pumpkin carving knife. Do you carve pumpkins for Halloween?


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Annie said:


> Looks like a nice pumpkin carving knife. Do you carve pumpkins for Halloween?


And ruin a perfectly good future pumpkin pie? Now this might seem odd to most of you, but I have more switchblades than I have butter-knives. This dates back to my state's outright ban on such knives. I salted them all away. Then the floodgates opened and every idiot owned what was once denied.

In the end, it's just a folding knife. Fancy, yes. The "horrible weapon of the 1950s"? Not by a long shot...


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> And ruin a perfectly good future pumpkin pie? Now this might seem odd to most of you, but I have more switchblades than I have butter-knives. This dates back to my state's outright ban on such knives. I salted them all away. Then the floodgates opened and every idiot owned what was once denied.
> 
> In the end, it's just a folding knife. Fancy, yes. The "horrible weapon of the 1950s"? Not by a long shot...


Well, so what's good for carving jack-o-lanterns?


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

Annie said:


> Well, so what's good for carving jack-o-lanterns?


Something with a fuse--short enough to be interesting and long enough to help older hips gain some distance. Then again, I usually talk my foolish cousins into actually holding the match...


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

The Tourist said:


> Something with a fuse--short enough to be interesting and long enough to help older hips gain some distance. Then again, I usually talk my foolish cousins into actually holding the match...


I want to carve a pumpkin, not blow it up!


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## Buckman (Sep 24, 2020)

Go to your favorite hardware store and pick up what is called a "keyhole saw "


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

Buckman said:


> Go to your favorite hardware store and pick up what is called a "keyhole saw "


Thanks. That looks like the right tool for the job.


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## Buckman (Sep 24, 2020)

Yup, they usually have a sharp point for piercing and you can get them with various size teeth for sawing.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

Annie said:


> Thanks. That looks like the right tool for the job.


You can also ask for a "drywall saw". That is the same thing.
Mine has a handle that accepts replaceable blades. I've had it for probably 50 years now.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

KUSA said:


> No pictures?


The website of the business listed, Horizon Bladeworks, is www.nicnac.net/index.html
There is some really neat stuff there.
Most of it out of my price range, but neat nonetheless.

A big shoutout to my friend @The Tourist for telling me about that site.


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## The Tourist (Jun 9, 2016)

rice paddy daddy said:


> A big shoutout to my friend @The Tourist for telling me about that site.


I was happy to help! In fact, I was thinking about getting another stiletto. Say hi to Joyce for me, and tell her I have money...


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