Bo Randall - Misplaced Pages

Bo Randall
Born	Walter Doane Randall Jr. September 27, 1909 Cincinnati, Ohio
Died	December 25, 1989(1989-12-25) (aged 80)
Other names	Walter Doane Randall Jr., WD Randall
Occupation(s)	Knifemaker, bladesmith
Spouse	Ruth Randall
Awards	Blade Cutlery Hall of Fame

Bo Randall (September 27, 1909 – December 25, 1989) was an American knifemaker who founded Randall Made Knives in Orlando, Florida.

Early life

Randall was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on September 27, 1909. His family moved to Orlando, Florida in 1916. As a youth Randall enjoyed hunting and fishing and went on to become a successful citrus rancher. He first became interested in making knives after he purchased in 1936 a William Scagel knife that was being used to scrape paint off of a boat without showing any signs of wear or damage.

Knifemaking

Impressed with his Scagel knife, Randall located Scagel and asked him how to make knives. Over the years he visited Scagel and corresponded with him, becoming his "pupil" with regard to knifemaking. Randall forged his first knife out of a leaf spring from an automobile in his garage in Lake Ivanhoe, Florida with a handle of stag and made his first hunting knife. On his first hunting trip with that knife he sold it to a companion and made another, repeating the pattern of making knives and selling them to friends one at a time.

In 1938 Randall opened a shop in Orlando, Florida. Although Randall's initial efforts were inspired by Scagel's designs and were predominantly "sporting knives" for hunters and fisherman, a visit by a soldier bound for World War II changed that. Randall began production of the "All Purpose Fighting Knife" giving it the designation of "Number 1" in his catalog. Between 1942 and 1945, Randall Made Knives produced 4,000 of these knives for US Troops in the war, with approximately 1,058 subcontracted out to Northampton Cutlery Company in Springfield, Massachusetts to meet the demand. In the 1950s Randall would return to the pattern of the Bowie knife for several of his combat knife designs.

Randall designed the Model 17 Astro Model and built 7 of these knives for NASA. In addition to the knife that made 21 orbits around the Earth, several of Randall's knives are displayed in the Smithsonian Institution and in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. One Model 8 "Trout and Bird Knife" was displayed in the Monino Airbase museum near Moscow as part of the equipment carried by U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers who was shot down over the Soviet Union in 1960.

Personal life

Randall's wife was Ruth Randall.

Randall died in 1989 in Orlando, Florida, at 80 years of age.

Legacy

Randall was inducted into the Blade magazine Cutlery Hall of Fame at the 1983 Blade Show as an inauguree. In 1997, Randall was inducted into the American Bladesmith Society Hall of Fame. In 2001, Randall's knives were listed as "Best Sheath Knife" as part of Forbes "50 Best List".

References

Pacella, Gerard (2002). 100 Legendary Knives. Krause Publications. pp. 20–21. ISBN 0-87349-417-2.
Barney, Richard W.; Loveless, Robert W. (March 1995) . How to Make Knives. Knife World Publications. pp. 6–10. ISBN 978-0-87341-389-3.
Coulbourn, Keith (February 12, 1967). "A Cut Above The Average". The Tampa Tribune.
Hunt, Robert E. (2004). Randall Military Models: Fighters, Bowies And Full Tang Knives. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company. p. 304. ISBN 978-1-56311-953-8.
Burton, Walter E. (1944). "Knives for Fighting Men". Popular Science. 145 (1): 150–153.
Pacella (2002)pp. 130-131
Walker, Greg (1993). Battle Blades: A Professional's Guide to Combat/Fighting Knives. Boulder, Colo.: Paladin Press. p. 55. ISBN 0-87364-732-7.
Sand, George X (1967). "Knives for Astronauts and Everyone". Popular Mechanics. 127 (1): 144–147, 233.
"WD Randall Attack-Survival Knife (model 18)". WD Randall Collection. Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 2011-03-11.
Hunt, Robert E. (2002). Randall Fighting Knives in Wartime: WWII, Korea & Vietnam. Paducah, KY: Turner Publishing Company. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-56311-779-4.
^ Jean, Charlie (1989). "Bo Randall Dies At 80, Famous For Quality Knives". Sun Sentinel.
Voyles, J. Bruce (1990). "Blade Cutlery Hall of Fame". Blade Magazine. 17 (1).
Shackleford, Steve (1997). "Family Rules at ABS Hall of Fame". Blade. 24 (12). F&W Media: 66.
"50 of America's Best". Forbes. 2001. Archived from the original on 2012-01-19. Retrieved 2011-03-11.

v t e Knives and daggers
List of daggers List of blade materials
Kitchen and table knives	Boning Boti Bread knife Butcher knife Butter knife Caidao Cheese knife Chef's knife Cleaver Electric knife Fillet knife Grapefruit knife Lame Mezzaluna Parmesan knife Pizza cutter Splayd Steak knife Tomato knife Japanese kitchen knives Deba bōchō Maguro bōchō Nakiri bōchō Santoku Sashimi bōchō Udon kiri Unagisaki hōchō Usuba bōchō Yanagi ba
Other knives	Aircrew Survival Egress Knife Athame Balisong/Butterfly Ballistic Ballpoint pen knife Bayonet Boline Bolo Boot knife Bowie Cane knife Ceramic knife Clip point Combat knife Commander Corvo CQC-6 Deba bōchō Diving knife Drop point Fairbairn–Sykes fighting knife Gerber Mark II Ginsu Golok Gravity knife Guna Hacking knife Higonokami Hunting knife Husa knife Ivan's Knife Jacob's ladder Karambit Kard Kirpan Kitchen knife Kukri Laguiole knife Machete Mandau Marking knife Misericorde Mora knife Multi-tool Navaja Neck knife Nontron knife Opinel knife Palette knife Pantographic knife Parang Penknife Penny knife Pesh-kabz Pirah Pocketknife Phurba Putty knife Puukko Rampuri Resolza Sabatier Sami knife SARK Scalpel Seax Sgian dubh Sharpfinger Sheath knife Shiv Sliding knife Smatchet SOG Knife Straight razor Strider SMF Survival knife Swiss Army knife Switchblade Taping knife Throwing knife Trench knife Tumi Ulu Utility knife Verlängerungsmesser Warrior knife Wedung X-Acto Yarara Parachute Knife Yatagan
Daggers	Anelace Applegate–Fairbairn fighting knife Arkansas toothpick BC-41 Bagh nakh Balarao Baselard Bichuwa Bollock dagger Cinquedea Dha Dirk Ear dagger Emeici Facón French Nail Gunong Hunting dagger Jambiya Jile Kabutowari Kaiken Kalis Katar Khanjali Khanjar Kris Kunai Liaoning dagger Mark I trench knife Microtech Jagdkommando Parrying dagger Poignard Pugio Push dagger Rondel dagger Seme Shobo Sica Stiletto Tantō U.S. Marine Raider stiletto V-42 Yoroi-dōshi
Manufacturers	Aitor Knife Company Al Mar Knives American Tomahawk Company Aritsugu Benchmade Böker Buck Knives Camillus Cutlery Company Cattaraugus Cutlery Company Chris Reeve Knives Chroma Cnife Clauss Cutlery Company Cobray Company Cold Steel Columbia River Knife & Tool Cuisinart Cutco Dalian Hanwei Metal Dexter-Russell Ek Commando Knife Co. EKA Emerson Knives F. Dick Fällkniven FAMAE Fiskars Gerber Legendary Blades Füritechnics Glock Ges.m.b.H. Imperial Schrade Ivan's Ka-Bar Kershaw Knives KitchenAid Korin Japanese Trading Company Kyocera Leatherman Mad Dog Knives Marble Arms Medford Knife and Tool Microtech Knives Morseth Muela Murphy Knives OLFA Ontario Knife Company Opinel Randall Made Knives Ranz Cuchillos Rösle Sabatier Shun Cutlery Slice, Inc. SOG Specialty Knives Spyderco STI Knives Strider Knives Thiers Issard TOPS Knives Tramontina Victorinox W. R. Case & Sons Cutlery Co. Carl Walther GmbH Wenger Western Knife Company Wilkinson Sword Wüsthof Yoshida Metal Industry Global Zero Tolerance Knives Zwilling J. A. Henckels
Knifemakers	Rex Applegate James Black Tom Brown Jr. Blackie Collins John Nelson Cooper Jack W. Crain Ernest Emerson Jerry Fisk Bill Harsey Jr. Phill Hartsfield Gil Hibben Jimmy Lile Bob Loveless William F. Moran Ken Onion Ralph Osterhout Bo Randall Chris Reeve A. G. Russell Jody Samson William Scagel Mike Snody Robert Terzuola Michael Walker Buster Warenski Daniel Winkler
Associations	American Bladesmith Society Cutlery and Allied Trades Research Association Knifemakers' Guild
Category:Knives / Daggers

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