"Budget" Custom Folders

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martinlutherbling

Joined
Oct 10, 2014
Messages
457
Hey guys,
I'm slowly starting to dip my feet into the world of custom knives, but there's so many names out there and it gets pretty overwhelming. I know there's a great wealth of knowledge here on the forums, so I thought I'd turn to you guys for advice.
I'm looking for makers that could be considered "up and coming", doing solid but inexpensive work. Specifically, I'm looking for small (~3") folders (preferably flippers running IKBS) in the $5-600 range. To give you an idea of what I like, I've been looking hard at Jason Clark, George Muller, Alan Davis, Andre Thorburn and John Arnold…all of whom would have fit the bill perfectly 6 months to a year ago. I see tons of posts from 2013-14 saying what a great value they represent, only to find that their books have closed and knives that were selling for $500 going for $700+.
So, I'm hoping you guys could give me some advice. Who's the maker to keep an eye on? Who's the great value knife maker of 2015?
Thanks in advance!
 
Bruce Bingenheimer's flippers are great. He makes a few different styles and all fit your description.
 
Thanks for the suggestion! His work looks amazing and I think I'll get on his list. Unfortunately as of this morning he has roughly a 1 year wait, so in the meantime the search continues.
 
martinlutherbling said:
Hey guys,
I'm looking for makers that could be considered "up and coming", doing solid but inexpensive work...
Click to expand...

Why? Are you planning on reselling them? Because many "up and coming" makers flame out and you can be left with knives that are worth less. Any maker identified "up and coming" on this board could soon become too expensive, particularly if they are part time.

If you want "up and coming" makers for good price/value, my advice is to go to shows and find out what you really like and which makers trip your trigger. Look at the old boys and the new ones. Learn what "value" and "fit/finish" means. See how good designs can trump poor fit/finish but perfect execution can never trump a poor design. Talk to the makers and find out which ones seem to know what they are doing and will be in it for awhile. Then buy what you like.

I started out this way and bought my first custom at a local show...Jody Miller. He is now much more desirable the knife is still worth at least what I paid for it. I commissioned my first knife, a Terzuola ATCF after seeing them for years and finding out how Bob works. Now Bob no longer takes orders and my knife has at least tripled in value. Even if the value on both dropped, I still have knives I like.
 
Burl Source, I've always got an eye glued to that sub forum. Missed a few good ones there, but I'm always looking.

Brownshoe, I'm not looking to buy low and sell high, if thats what you mean. Resale value is a consideration, but I'm not looking to make money flipping knives. I'm simply looking for a good deal on a good knife. Of course, our ideas of what constitutes a good deal change over time (Oh, how I miss 6 months ago when I spent hours searching for the best deal on a Spyderco Persistence), but $600 is my self imposed cap and I'd like to stick to it. As I said, I see tons of posts from 1-3 years ago about X maker's knives being amazing in every way and so well priced, only to find that in the meantime their prices have increased dramatically and their books are long closed. I WISH I could check out some of the big knife shows, but they aren't really an option for me, they're all too far away. Locally I have my choice of ZT's, Benchmades and Spyderco's but that's about it. So, now that I'm becoming interested in customs my only options are to (a) put my money where my mouth is and buy what I'm interested in, and (b) ask you guys, who know much, much more than I do.

Thanks for the suggestions so far! Keep em coming.
 
If you're waiting 2 to 3 years for your knife to be built anyhow, why not increase your budget? Saving just $10 a week for 2 years gives you an extra $1000 to use on your custom order. This would open up a lot more makers & options.
 
Ideally I wouldn't be waiting that long. For example Bing has a 1 yr wait which is about as far out as I'm willing to look at this point. Also $600 is a self imposed limit, I could go higher but I simply don't want to have much more than that into a knife. Anything I get will be carried and used.
 
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