The Coffin knife, Blacklip Pearl scales and Herm's photo, was a gift from Herm and I was so excited about getting it from him, that I had them framed.
 

After a long journey to Australia, Ken Robertson (Victoria), James Sorensen (South Australia), Mark Sinclair (Western Australia) and myself (New South Wales) are the recipients of a money clip each, thanks to the kindness of Jason Rosinski, who procured a bunch of very old Barlow scales, with long Bolster attached, and fitted a money clip to the back of each one.
These old bits and pieces of old Barlow knives came out of Herman Williams workshop thanks to the generosity of Zane, who is now the owner of all of Herman's trinkets. They are all extremely old, and would have a thousand stories each. The one I sent to James has the name all but rubbed off, as is the single thread on the Bolster. Now that is some pocket ware.
Jason has gone right out of his way to procure these items. There was a lot of time and effort involved, putting these together, packaging them up, and sending them to the other side of the World, some 10,000 miles away.
Jase, I am absolutely thrilled to get mine, and I am sure that the other 3 boys will be as well when theirs arrives from Sydney. With any luck the other 3 will be delivered tomorrow.
Jase, thank you ever so much for this amazing act of kindness. It will sit very proudly in my Knife Cabinet, with a few other money clips I have collected along the way. Doug Webber started me off with a very nice Heritage knife money clip some years ago. I do cherish them as they all have history.

The photograph above will always be foremost in my mind when I think of Herman Williams.
After his passing, Zane contacted me to see if I would like something out of Herman’s shop since he had just purchased it from Herman’s widow, as a reminder of my association with the great man.
His suggestion was a hammer, and as I was looking at buying a Cobblers hammer at the time, one of Herman’s Cobbler’s hammers was a perfect fit.
It isn’t the one he is holding in the photo, but it is one that has seen a lot of action over the years, and been part of the construction of many an amazing knife.
I haven’t been able to remove this hammer from my PC desk, and I suspect it is will be in eyesight for a long time to come.
I can't remember if I mentioned it, but the Cobblers Hammer in the pics was gifted to me by Zane...very generously
Thank you Zane, for this amazing act of kindness, and it is something that will be with me until the end of days.

Further to my previous listing of the Sam Colt Bowie, they made two different models for some reason that has always bewildered me.
If you look closely at each knife, you will see a plethora of differences.
Some have been highlighted in the last pic, and I am hoping that some of you learned gentleman can enlighten me as to “why this is so”.

This is a special from Herman, and one of those occasions when he didn’t have any decent Stag anywhere, and continued on with his quite often rant about the Culpepper’s, and how they used to send him rubbish Stag. Then, low and behold he would pull out the most amazing pieces of Elk horn you ever did see. Not only that, but Herman couldn’t let a couple of prominent edges go without embellishing the spine with some of his amazing filework that he is so well known for.
You will agree, that this piece of Elk was just made for this wonderful knife, and the finished result is just stunning.
Check this Hum Dinger out…

I have always been a big fan of the 225OT (Son of a Gun), and in 2018 I sent one to Herman with the brief “One with the Lot” please Herm.
You can imagine my delight when it arrived. The Sambar Stag he chose for this knife was superb, and as usual the bar shield was beautifully fitted.
Cast your eyes on that file work, just amazing. The top view of the spine is interesting to say the least, with both spines being symmetrically filed, to add to the eye-

Photo numbers to match additional descriptions on CSrUS.
1. Hermans Knives Catawba Valley-KC (01~22). Herman made the knife for this club for quite a few years and these 2 are up there with the best.
The first one in a 4 blade Stockman using the TM3 from Schrade’s Tradesman series. This knife was graciously passed on to me by Zane Greear who was aware that I had been seeking one for some time.
The other CVKC club knife is a modified 51OT with the best pair of Gnarly Sambar Stag scales you ever did see. Herman produced a very unique design with this one turning the spear blade into a clip and sculpting the body of the 51 to give it very nice style change.

2. Gaff Knife Gaff Knife (1-9) I was alerted to this knife by Jason Rozinski who sent his exact knife and mine to Herman to be rehandled with his famous jigged bone scales (Herman had his own handle jigging machine). There are only 4 knives in existence that were prepared in this way. The recipients are; Jason Rozinski, John Kellogg, LT and myself. Zane Greear has the scales and the knife to be built at his leisure.
3. Hermans Knives 6OT (8 pics) This knife is a special fun knife that he made the first one for James Sorensen from South Australia in appreciation for a series of kindnesses he showed towards Herman. The knife was built on a 6OT frame with Rams Horn scales and a “UNCLE HERMAN” bar shield on each side. As usual from Herm, all edges were meticulously files with some of his best work. I was Skyping Herman at the time when he showed me what he had done for James….and then he help up another one exactly the same for me. What a guy, but that was the Herman Williams that we all knew and loved. That amazing knife has special significance to me, and it will always be treasured.
4. Hermans Knives Coffin Knife (12 & 12a) While Herman was ratting around in his shed one day he came across 2 sets of brand new Schrade Cut Co, Coffin knives and Black Lip Pearl scales to suit. One set was given to me and the other to Zane Greear. I was extremely chuffed that he would do that for me that I had the bits mounted in the frame you see here. I believe that he was quite thrilled that I would go to such lengths to show off his gift. That frame now hangs on my Loungeroom wall with pride.
5. Hermans Knives Hammer (15, 16, & 16a) This Cobblers Hammer may just look like any other that has seen a lifetime of use, but not so with this one. Zane Greear was privy to Herman’s tools when he passed, and he sent me a message one day asking if I would like a memento from Herman’s workshop. That was a very generous gift from Zane, and I jumped at the chance to have one of Herman’s Hammers in my collection.
6. Hermans Knives 858OT (23~29) This is a fine example of how versatile Herman was with this Schrade 858 Old Timer Stockman adorned with his signature Red dyed Stag….and not a 3 blade Stockman, but a 5 blader. It is quite a remarkable knife with all those blades jammed in there, and not one blade rub….sensational.
7. Hermans Knives 15OT (1&2) These knives look sensational with all having the “DU” cut-out on the blade, all filed and fitted with different ‘modern’ handle materials.
8. Hermans Knives 225OT (1~11) This 225OT is a real special knife that Herman made ‘POP’ with that absolutely amazing file work. I am a big fan of the 225OT anyway, but to have Herman dress this one up in its Sunday Best is quite remarkable. I would go so far as to class this knife as ‘exquisite’.
9. Hermans Knives “The Clasp” (62~76) This my friends is my favourite (probably why there are so many of them-LOL). What I like about the Clasp is the sheer size of it, the huge handle area that really accentuates the handle material and that huge broad blade which was usually etched.
10. Hermans Knives Sam Colt Bowie (02~10) This Bowie is an exceptional knife and when I asked Herman to fit a nice piece of Stag to it he informed me that he was all out of the ‘good Stag’ and would a piece of Elk be OK. Check it out…the nicest piece of Elk I have seen, and it is in one piece…sensational. What makes it also stand out is that amazing Red dye he used on his bone.
11. Hermans Knives Money Clips (1~3) These money clips are out of my collection which was started by Doug Webber when he discovered a chap that had dozens of Heritage knife handles complete with the bolster, from the Schrade sale. This bloke fixed a money clip to the back…and a new business was born. The Blue Grass money clip was put together by Jason Rozinski who distributed a stack of these to the Aussie guys on The Schrade Shack. All these handle pieces came out of Herman’s workshop.
12. Hermans Knives Blade Opener (1~6) I mentioned to Herman one day that I would like a blade opener of his design. He made an incredibly nice one using Green Raffir handle material….and Herman being Herman actually filed the edges, as thin as they were. What a guy.