Best Round/Head Knife for under $100.00

[DUKE DEADEYE NUKEM]

Best Round/Head Knife for under $100.00
TIA,
Duke

[Slowhand Bob]

Duke, I have a luv/hate relationship with head knives and stopped using them several years back.  I was using Osborne knives  and found their QC to be a bit spotty at times.  I think that out of several knives, one came with a loose handle and one had a burned edge(with flat spot) on receipt.  They sharpened well and offered a fair selection of styles, I prefer the half blade head knife style for holster cutting and round knife for belts and cut offs.  I have been considering  getting one or two new ones myself but think I would look for something a bit better than Osborne this time around though.  I had been eying the ASB but several on here have advised against them so I will be following your results but if a really good knife can not be had for under a hundred I would not limit myself.

[Freedom]

Hey Duke,,, I think that the Weaver knife and the Tandy "Al Stolman" Both are pretty good knives for the money,

Pros.....  Stolman has squared points so it can make much tighter corner cuts. The long smooth handle feels real good and gives you a lot of control with-out choking up on the knife blade. The blade is real narrow so it will glide through very thick leather with ease. The Weaver.. has a real stubby round handle so it feels good in the hand. It comes very sharp, the blade is thicker which gives it a lot of backbone for skiving....it also has a full lenght tang with wood slabs on it

Cons... the stolman is thin so it will break if you add much side force to it (like skiving). It has a little tang insert so it is pretty cheaply made
         The weaver... the swept back points make it harder to make inside cornere cuts. And the little handle causes you to choke up on the blade so much that it can start to rub the top of your index finger.

I believe the Weaver is a much better knife for the money, I think it is made in America and made like it should be...but the stolman sure feels nicer to cut with.. so they both have an application.

These are cheaper knives and just don't seem to hold an edge like the $250-$300 knives, but for the money they both work quite well... The $300 knives are simply amazing, I have cut string from heavy 16oz HermanOak skirting.. they will just keep going around and around a heavy leather disk with total control ,,, but for $300 they better..

[Marshal Will Wingam]

That was a great summation, Freedom. Like Bob discovered, I found that the Osborne knives have poor QC, too. Handles crooked, blades with flat spots, etc. After sending several of them back, I just made my own, patterned after the Osborne. It works really well but after using it, I decided that it didn't do anything better than what I was used to so I went back to my old standby. It's hard to fork over $300 for a knife until you know what you like. If you have the cash for it, though, that's probably the way to go.

[ChuckBurrows]

check out www.proleptic.net - they are having a big used tool sale with several round knives for sale, most under $50.00 - most are Osbornes, but there's a Gomph, Rosecrans, Don Carlos, and a couple of others. The older Osborne's are generally better than the new ones....

they are lots 1360-1379

[cowboywc]

I have a good Osborne , 2 Weavers and the new Tandy Damascas. I like the Weavers the best Tandy's is my least favorite.
WC

[KidTerico]

I have 3 different Weavers, I got rid of the rest. KT

[Kid Cavalier]

If you can find a Danny Marlin Round Knife snap it up.  By far my favorite of the better tool makers and you see them every once in a while for under/around $100.  He makes several different patterns and they are all wonderful.  I found two at the Wickenburg Leathercraft show a few years ago for $50 each.  I got one and told a student about the other and he bought it.