A place for input on jgcustom knifes......

i like the handle styles. they look like they'd fit the hand very well. i can see a use to a degree in the skinning shed for your blades, but lean towards the traditional. your construction looks very good!
 
i would give a similar opinion. The handles are very well shaped and look great. The blade designs dont all seem very practical to me, but thats what i look for in a knife, practical use.
 
If you have been able to craft such beautiful pieces I am sure you wouldn't have any problem making simple straight forward designs like utility/bushcraft/field knives. Handles look great but I don't know if they would allow you to hold them for a long time in different grips.

I usually look at knives more than tools than showpieces and those knives you just made seem to be on the second family. Not that there is anything wrong with that, don't take me wrong.

Congrats for your work,
Mikel

PD: It would be great if you told us about (even with pictures) about the process of making these knives.
 
Your knives are progressing well. A couple things you may want to consider. Work out all scratches in the blades (you seem to have done this on the last knife). Be careful with pin placement, especially with wood. If it is too close to the edge, the wood will have a tendency to crack. I like to leave at least 1/4" between the pin and the edge of the wood. Your designs have progressed. I like your most recent and it seems to be more along the lines of a usable blade. You are coming along, take whatever criticism there is and use it to shorten your learning curve. Also, avoid polyurethane on the handles (if that is what cabot poly is) it will eventually turn yellow and flake off. Finally, the key to selling a knife that you have put countless hours into, is to take great pictures of it. Take some time, build or buy a light tent, and experiment until you can consistantly capture the knife in a picture. It seems strange that so many will spend 25 hours or more on a blade and have it not sell because no one can tell what it really looks like from the pictures. It normally takes me at least an hour or more to get the pictures that I want for a knife for sale.
 
I think you've made 5 knives and you're starting price for them has been up to $250 when nobody knows who you are. $250 a piece is a hefty price to start selling your stuff with no reputation. Add to that that there is a fantasy knife feel to your stuff so far, and they sit and sit. There is no right and wrong in design, and I'm not trying to be harsh on you. I hope that hasn't offended you.

Think of someone on BF and the choices they have. They can get a Gossman, or a BL Goode, or a Koster, or a Bailey, or a (list goes on and on) or a JG Customs that nobody has a clue about.

Start smaller and work your way up. There are makers here that aren't as good as you already are at fit and finish that are selling knives. They're estabolishing themselves, and as time goes their knives more and more in demand.

Or, don't listen to me. What the hell do I know. I'm always shocked to see folks buying my stuff here too. (cheaper than yours though)
 
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Also, and here I'm just being a nitpickey ass, but the word is knives. And the wood in your knife for sale is Bocote. Why would someone pay a person top dollar if they can't spell the wood? Do your homework.
 
How are your knives heat treated? What method and what aprox. hardness?

Often people whom are not familiar with the bussiness side of a craft fail to realize the value of a product is not dependant on the time spent in the making of said product. You may feel your pricing is fair but unless the price is where people are willing to pay you will have a very hard time selling any of your work. I would say you are much better off selling a few at lower prices and getting some feadback and builing a reputation. Also keep in mind most people buying knives in this price range expect very fine and usable knives. I would never tell you to give up on your creativity but such odd designs may not apeal to many people.

One last thing with only five knives under your belt you are just getting started. Remember Rome was not built in a day. Most guys would not be trying to sell their work at this stage. Keep the first one give some away to friends while you refine your skills. Then try to sell some. I mean to say unless your some sort of prodigy it takes a while to know what a good knife consists of. You said yourself on one of your for sale threads that you dont know anything about knife design other than the few you have made. That is not going to make any one very confident in you and your work.

I am most certainly not trying to be a jerk here but I went through your posts just now and this is what I came up with.

Good luck and keep on trying.
 
I honestly think that if you took some of the skills you have learned, and applied them to a few straightforward and traditional designs, say that of Loveless or Herron...simple and graceful designs that can be used, you could probably move more knives here on the site (and elsewhere) and save that money to buy yourself some more knifemaking equipment.

holy run on sentence Batman....

Basically, I think you need to slow down a bit and think more about mastering the basics on some simple designs. I know that knifemaking is exciting, and we all want to jump right into it, and take off running. Thinking outside the box and being creative is what this thing is all about, but some of your designs and creativity look.....forced to me. Seems like you sacrifice alot for the OMG-CRAZY-INSANE-LIKE NOTHING ELSE OUT THERE EVER factor.

I think it takes time. If you notice, alot of makers here make the same tried and true designs, but knife nuts can pick out who made what. Everyone develops their own style naturally. The creativity will come with skill level.

Oh and by the way....I think you should use your real name with your knives, knife company, website etc.

I'm seeing too many JJ Customs Knives and JT Knives, and Lmnop CUSTOM knives..... so dirty and cheap sounding to me. Be proud of your knives and use your real name.
 
All iv got from most is criticism and rude gestures on how im wrong and not making a quality knife.
 
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jgcustoms said:
iv learned what i know from doug of DPKnives. he helps me with any questions and advise i need. The heat treat and temper was initially done by him while i learned how to do that process correctly. The hardness is 58-60 i do believe. Hes had his knifes tested and abused so i dont see a problem with how things are done. I know the knifes iv made are quality, and the fit and finish is thrall on all of them. If fiddleback want to patronize me on the misspelling of the bocote in my very first post then so be it. Iv only POSTED 5, thats not what iv made for personal or gifts for family. Just for a GOOD laugh id like to see any of your first five knifes, because im coming to the conclusion that im making knifes that you you couldn't do in your early days of knife making. So get your digs in while you all can because im not going anywhere! Iv just begun and I make my sales because THERE QUALITY KNIFES AND NOT AT A UNREASONABLE PRICE. Theres talent and good skills put into every one made. Ill be making some of your plain jane crap in the days to come and i know my fit and finish will surpass what your $90.00 good sellers will have to offer. Hate me if you want because this is all this has become on this site. Knife makers have stuck me enough so do your selfs a favor and dont respond to this post. This site has not shown any friendly welcome like i was told there was. All iv got from most is criticism and rude gestures on how im wrong and not making a quality knife.
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I'm quoting this so you can't delete it Cheezeball. You asked for criticism. You wanted to know why your skanky looking Klingon copy knives aren't selling. Reading this, I think it could be that people got a good read on what kind of person you are.

It seems you read about as well as you write. Nobody here said you didn't make a quality knife.

And if you had hung around enough to do a couple of searches, you'd see several threads on makers first knives. Again with the need to do your homework.

We can surely tell that you're God's gift to the knife lover. Please. Keep on trucking Porch Dweller.
 
Self-honesty and accurate self-assessment are two very important traits for a knifemaker, since we work alone. Neophytes must cultivate this as earnestly as any mechanical skill.

You ask for comment, and then respond belligerently when it isn't a pat on the back. That is no way to learn.

The only criticism I will bother to offer you is that you have much to learn.
 
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Much, much, much to learn. The majority of knifemakers that I have had contact with are very humble individuals. (you might say "umble")

When a fairly "newbie" like myself ask for reviews, he had better be aware that there are some very honest people left in this world. If you don't want honest replies, then its just best not to ask.

You just ain't gonna win a "pissin'-contest" here, especially with just a couple of months under your belt.

Take your time, learn all you can, ask for help now and then, ask for feedback on your knives (but be ready when it doesn't come up all-roses), and most of all............ brush off any chips you may have on your shoulders. Life will be much better that way.

Just an old man's observations on life.................... Robert
 
I gotta say brother asking for an opinion will not get you sugar coated replies.

If you choose not to listen to the respected makers and forum members here I doubt you'll have much success with your sales.

You say you believe the hardness of your knives is 58-60....but how do you know this? I'm not going to pay top dollar for a knife that someone "believes" is tempered properly. I'll spend $60 on one of David Farmers knives and know I'm getting a solid working blade that won't let me down.

And also looks have nothing at all to do with quality. I'd much rather have a crappy looking knife that I know is solidly built and will stand the test of time.

I can't comment on the quality of your blades but I can say that all the steps involved take time. Learning to forge, grind, woodwork, temper and make sheathes are all skills that can take a lifetime to master. Some makers excel at certain skills and suck at others. If you attempt to master all of these skills at once you more than likely will botch one of them, that's just the way it is.

Building a reputation is crucial to knife sales, as is customer feedback. A good lot of the makers here have built their knife business solely on customer feedback here on the forums. Nowadays it seems like anyone with $45 and a belt sander can buy a knifemaker membership. But that doesn't make you a knifemaker. Taking pride in what you do, learning from others and time do.
 
My criticism: Nobody is going to buy something from a guy who can't spell what he makes. It is not a knive, nor are they Knifes. Knive is not a word, and knifes is a verb.

Beginner knives require beginner pricing.

That first pic- the collection of stress risers- I would give away or just hang on the wall as an example of what not to do.

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Oh, I see you deleted the pictures. I guess you don't want to learn anything. You certainly have the right attitude to accomplish that goal.
 
Well, I'm sad to see the response to the honest criticizms offered here. It's very easy to become defensive when someone questions something you've worked long and hard to make. But you have to learn to take that initial insulted feeling, swallow it, and grow as a maker.

I look back through the responses and see a number of people who's work I admire or whom I've learned from in my few short years as a knifemaker. I even cringe to say that I'm a "knifemaker". You'll notice I don't have a knifemaker membership, and I've been making for 3 years and even have sold some knives with customers waiting for more. I feel that taking that step up to "knifemaker" is something I should have to earn, and I just now feel that I'm maybe approaching that level.

I have no doubt that your finish and quality of your knives is as good as you think you can make it, but experience will improve upon that, no matter how good it seems to you right now. And while you feel your pricing is justified, price is completely dependent on what someone is willing to pay for. There's nothing wrong with walking your own path in design, but there is a reason that people buy tried and true designs more than art knives. It's because THEY WORK. DO NOT come in here and insult generations of makers by calling their products "some of your plain jane crap." That is no way to make friends.

I read the responses, and all responses were honest criticizms to be taken to heart and grow from. It was only when you jumped on the defensive that things turned ugly.

--nathan
 
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