Canal Street Co-op Knives

Former Schrade President Walley Gardner and principal Joe Hufnagel joined with nine master cutlers to form a group of US craftsmen with over 300 years of combined knife making experience to create Canal Street Cutlery. It was first located in upstate New York where a long and rich tradition of quality knife making dates back to the 19th century. Unfortunately, the company closed its doors in 2015, but not before making some great knives. The brand was resurrected in 2018 as Canal Street Cutlery Co-Op & focused on making very small batches of high quality traditional knives. As a Co-Op, it was owned by the knife makers who worked there. Unfortunately, the business model couldn't hold up & the entity again ceased production.
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Airborne 1
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Airborne 1 »

Has any one spoke with Eric about the hold up ,@ea42,just curious ?
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Montanaman »

I have seen Erics name at the bottom of the forum often. This is "the straw that broke the camels back" for me. I have tried to like CSC over the years, but I guess there is a reason they are out of business, and the Co-Op can't produce a small number of knives in a timely fashion.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Airborne 1 »

I sent Eric a e-mail about it a few min. ago. We'll see how that goes .Robin at RHC and I are on a 1st name bases now. she's as in the dark as we are . Maybe the knife will be very very well done and worth the wait. ::shrug:: Thats my storey and I'm sticking to it ! ::skeptic::
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Montanaman »

I like Eric and think he is a great craftsman, I just had higher hopes for the Co-Op.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Chase »

Feel free to cancel the order with Red Hill....I am sure there are plenty of folks standing in line to receive one of these knives...I am....lol

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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by KAW »

Montanaman wrote:I have seen Erics name at the bottom of the forum often. This is "the straw that broke the camels back" for me. I have tried to like CSC over the years, but I guess there is a reason they are out of business, and the Co-Op can't produce a small number of knives in a timely fashion.
Eric is only one of the cutlers in the co-op & may not even be involved with the pattern in question... nor may he even be aware of his name being mentioned in this thread. The only definite person to know the answer is Walter Gardiner... head of the co-op, who is running the whole shebang...
'til later....
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by boykinlp »

FYI, Red Hill Cutlery has 2 new CSC knives available for order. I think there will be 25 of each made.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Schradenut »

Reading most of the threads posted and the pics supplied, i am perplexed that the tang stamp didn't change with the involvement of Red Hill Cutlery.

I was imagining that the tang stamp would read "Canal Street Cutlery Co. Co-Op". As it is, the tang stamps are the same as when they were at Canal Street. My thoughts were that the tang stamp would reflect the new vernture and give us a "Co-Op" in the stamp and differentiate between the knives made in the two different cutlery shops.

Just saying.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by philco »

Head's up folks. Red Hill has two more Co-op knives available for preorder. Get em while you can.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Sasquach »

I'm going to have to get out of my cave more often. I was unaware that the Canal Street Coop was attempting a comeback until a fellow member brought it up in a discussion of canittlers on the canoe thread. Thank you RalphAlsip for waking me up. I tend to over-hibernate sometimes! ::rotflol:: I think this is great even if the number of knives produced is small. Having another source of quality American made knives is a big deal. I hope they decide to offer the canittler pattern. ::tu::

I would love to see Queen reemerge as well. I had a short email conversation with Ken Daniels and he didn't offer much hope.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by glennbad »

I saw an update on the stag knives today.


Production Update:
Canal Street Stag Boy's Knife
We pre-sold these earlier this year. If you pre-ordered one we are sorry for the inconvenience and elongated wait. If all goes right, all pre-orders on these should be filled by end of December.
We thank you for your patience
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by boykinlp »

glennbad wrote:I saw an update on the stag knives today.


Production Update:
Canal Street Stag Boy's Knife
We pre-sold these earlier this year. If you pre-ordered one we are sorry for the inconvenience and elongated wait. If all goes right, all pre-orders on these should be filled by end of December.
We thank you for your patience
It is nice that RHC sent this out. It would have been even better a couple of months ago though. But, like I have said before, getting a quality made knife is the main objective. I would rather have that with delays than a piece of junk made quickly.
Now, some WIP from Eric would be icing on the cake! Sounds like they are heading in the right direction anyway.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Montanaman »

Just had a nice conversation with Josh, looking forward to the knife.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by S2K »

RalphAlsip wrote:Here are pictures of the Canal Street Co-op Pinch Lockback Wildebeest knife I received today. I believe it is the knife at the top of pile in the picture that Red Hill posted on Facebook that is shown earlier in this thread.

The Wildebeest handles are gorgeous! ::tu:: ::tu:: The fit and finish of the handles and the places where bone meets bolster, etc., are smooth with no snags. The knife opens smoothly and locks up tight with a reassuring snap. It snaps closed. The blade is super sharp. In short, if you were familiar with products produced by Canal Street Cutlery between approximately 2005 and 2015 my experience with this one sample makes it seem like the Canal Street Co-op knives are pretty much carrying forward the same tradition of well-made knives. Congratulations to Wally and the members of the Co-op on their relaunch. ::clapping::

My one minor complaint is the pile side tang has a spot that seems like it wasn't polished completely (see picture below). I've rubbed it with a chamois without much effect. I might try something more aggressive like a pencil lead tomorrow.

For comparison, I included a comparison picture of a circa 2012 Canal Street Pinch Lockback handled in black water buffalo horn. I have often carried this knife. One difference I noticed is how the handle pins on the older knife are polished smooth and flat to the bolster vs. the spun(?) pins on the newer knife. I likely won't be carrying the Wildebeest since it is about 3 time the cost of the black buffalo horn. :)

I really hope to see the Squeeze lockback and the Cannitler make a comeback in a nice handle material like the Wildebeest.
Ralph, your WB is achingly beautiful. Congrats!

Philco, frequently check the New Posts link. That's how I found out. I've got a red flannel micarta pinch lockback on order, and there are ten more in stock.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by kennedy knives »

Got word there shipping the Flannel Pinch Lock back ::tu::
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by philco »

kennedy knives wrote:Got word there shipping the Flannel Pinch Lock back ::tu::
Mine showed up on the back porch this morning. ::ds::
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by kennedy knives »

Got mine this afternoon ::tu::
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by kennedy knives »

Photo of Mine
Attachments
Canal , Moki, S&M Cheetah ,GEC 153113 EO 028.JPG
Canal , Moki, S&M Cheetah ,GEC 153113 EO 035.JPG
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Drukai »

Wow that's a beauty!
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Montanaman »

I can't believe it is February 2019 and I have not received a SINGLE email or communication of any kind, paid for in July 2018 for stag boys knife. Wally should really get his ducks in a row, doesn't seem to me to be the best business practice. Red Hill could also communicate something!? I don't make excuses for business' that can't deliver.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by philco »

Montanaman wrote:I can't believe it is February 2019 and I have not received a SINGLE email or communication of any kind, paid for in July 2018 for stag boys knife. Wally should really get his ducks in a row, doesn't seem to me to be the best business practice. Red Hill could also communicate something!? I don't make excuses for business' that can't deliver.
Kris I contacted Josh Basham with Red Hill Cutlery and asked about the status of the Stag Boys Knife. Here's his response from 1-8-19.


"yes we are sorry for the delay on this, we are still expecting these in shortly, there was an issue on some of the blades.

as soon as we have an update we will let you know, sorry for the delay"
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Montanaman »

philco wrote:
Kris I contacted Josh Basham with Red Hill Cutlery and asked about the status of the Stag Boys Knife. Here's his response from 1-8-19.


"yes we are sorry for the delay on this, we are still expecting these in shortly, there was an issue on some of the blades.

as soon as we have an update we will let you know, sorry for the delay"
Thanks Phil, appreciate that. When I contacted Josh in late Nov or early Dec., it was another story. I am not upset, my mind is boggled at how Wally and Josh seem to feel this is acceptable business. I would be out of business if I treated my customers this way.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by glennbad »

I had contacted RHC around Jan 24th. They said CSC had a bunch of blades out for heat treat, then grinding/assembly. They felt that CSC would have a few batches of knives going out to them in 2-3 weeks.
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by ea42 »

Greetings everyone! I've been sending out some updates regarding the long overdue Sheepsfoot knives and the desert ironwood clip knife. I want to offer a sincere apology for this crazy delay, it's all on me as I had an almost impossible time trying to cut nail marks in the blades. It seems we wound up with steel that was cold rolled and not annealed, which resulted in it being almost impossible to machine. This was all new to me so I had to do the trial and error thing trying to work it out. unfortunately there was initially a LOT of error. I sent a message to Larry last week and am copying it here as it pretty much explains everything:

"I really want to apologize for the ridiculous delay. I had tremendous problems trying to cut a nail mark in the steel. It was apparently cold rolled and not annealed, which is not what was initially ordered. Thanks to that it was incredibly hard. I went through several high speed steel cutters and one TiN cutter that I had to special order and still barely scratched the surface. The TiN cutter was especially problematic since I had ordered it in October and it didn't arrive until mid-December. Following that I had to go with a last effort by ordering a carbide cutter, and amazingly it cut the steel. That single issue is basically what caused this entire delay. Had I known this from the start I would have invested in the carbide cutter immediately, but I was unaware of the steel screw up until much later on. They're over $500 apiece! Honestly a lot of this a learning experience for me, especially with these modern stainless steels.
In hindsight I probably should have updated you guys, but seeing as how many problems piled on one after the other, it probably would have just seemed like a continuous stream of excuses. Maybe it's a good thing I didn't. I now have the blades back from grinding, and just finished dressing the tangs and backs along with swedging. All that's left is full polish and then assembling some knives! Again I'm very sorry Larry, six months is inexcusable."

I'm polishing the blades now folks, and should be putting stag on the liners by Wednesday. I'm hoping to have the stag knives completed some time around the beginning of next week, along with the ram's horn knives. Then I'll start right in on the ironwood clip blade knives. Here's a shot of the blades I'm working on now:
Sheepsfoot Blades.jpg
Just to be clear Red Hill isn't to blame for the delay at all, they've been just as anxious as everyone else. Any time they tried to give a timeline we wound up with another unexpected delay, like when I thought those TiN cutters would actually work. It was a real nightmare. I'm just totally relieved that it finally worked out, and again I want to apologize to everyone who's been waiting.

All the Best,
Eric
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Re: Canal Street Co-op Knives

Post by Chase »

Thank you Eric for the update!

Tom
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