"Leschorn"!

[BoBlade]

After 10 years, there are still some gaps in my Model 3 collection! Until recently, one of those gaps was a Tom Leschorn embellished example. For any of you not familiar with Tom, he was an artist in the pure sense of the word who embarked on his engraving career after meeting Bo in 1964 and continued on to become a master engraver. Bob Gaddis has a section on Tom in his book as well as a number of photographs of his wonderful work on Randall Made knives. Other Randall book authors such as Pete Hamilton and Bob Gaddis also have photographs of Tom's work.

Unfortunately, Tom was taken from us in 1992 at the young age of 60, but his legacy lives on in the form of the masterful renderings he left behind here on earth. Following is an exerpt from his obit in the Orlando Sentinel which gives us an brief overview of his life:

THOMAS L. LESCHORN, 60, 2420 State Road 44 West, Eustis, died Tuesday, April 28, 1992. He was a retired mechanical engineer for the U.S. Civil Service. He was a custom wildlife engraver with Randall Knives in Orlando for 30 years. Born in Cleveland, he moved to Eustis in 1986. He was a member of the Firearms Engravers Guild Association and a life member of the National Rifle Association. He served in the Navy.

About five years ago, I had an opportunity to acquire a Model 3-6 engraved by Tom at the Blade Show in Atlanta. Photo courtesy of Mitchell (Tunefink):



Unfortunately, the horn handle was badly cracked in multiple places and the seller had it priced out as if it was flawless, and as much as I desired it, I just couldn't pull the trigger! Interestingly enough, our own Moosehead was at a Blade show several years earlier and photographed a Leschorn 12-6 that was on exhibition which he posted here:

http://knifenetwork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31115

Well, five long years later another opportunity presented itself and now a small piece of Tom now resides in my collection:



As if it wasn't enough to have two carved ivory inserts in the Brazilian Rosewood handle, this knife also sports a double hilt and a low S stamp! Both the low S stamp and Tom's initials "TWL" in the lower portion of the carvings indicate very early work in Tom's career. To say I'm overjoyed is an understatement. Priviledged and honored are more appropriate descriptions of how I feel.

Please let other members know if you've had any experiences or exposure to Tom's work.

Thanks,