Sometime, way back, my father Vane Lamar Lindsay purchased two knives from Jimmy Lile. My brother Lamar Paul now has one and I (Andrew Lamar) have the other. Jimmy Lile was known as “The Arkansas Knife Maker” and also as the “Gentleman Knife Maker”. He was well known within the custom knife making trade and was generally known to the public as the creator and maker of the Rambo “First Blood” knife.
We had a family friend, Freddie Lindauer, who was also a craftsman – of virtually everything. He was a delightful and generous man that crafted many fun and useful items for our family as gifts. A couple of these gifts were leather notepad binders, a couple of which I recently found. As the Lile knife did not have a sheath and I really had no need for a heavy leather notepad binder, the next action was obvious – make a sheath for the knife out of Freddie’s leather.
Well, I haven’t done any leatherwork since I made my dad a pair of sandles back at Scout camp when I was 15 or 16, but I don’t think I did too badly. I think my dad and Freddie would be pleased.
Knife by Jimmy Lile, The Arkansas Knife Maker, 1933-1991 (Maker of the Rambo knife.)
Knife purchased by Vane L Lindsay 1944-2012.
Leather recovered from notebook made by Fred L. Lindauer 1908-1989 for friend Vane.
Sheath made by Andrew L Lindsay, 1956 – , in honor of father and friend.
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