You don't look bad at all to me. Good on you for letting everyone know and for fighting this with everything you have. Those pictures are ridiculous I can't believe the cracks and the bad etching job! Williams is an absolute scumbag.
-
All For Sale threads must have a pic showing the knife being sold with written date listed, your username & Bladeforums or BFC to prevent photo harvesting from elsewhere - scammers hate this one trick! The rules for The Exchange can be found here. Please read and follow them. Stop using Paypal Friends & Family and follow our best practices to prevent getting ripped off or having a bad deal.
-
The BladeForums.com 2024 Traditional Knife is ready to order! See this thread for details: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/bladeforums-2024-traditional-knife.2003187/
Price is$300$250 ea (shipped within CONUS). If you live outside the US, I will contact you after your order for extra shipping charges.
Order here: https://www.bladeforums.com/help/2024-traditional/ - Order as many as you like, we have plenty.
Chris Williams knife tried to rip me off for $5,150
- Thread starter Damage109
- Start date
You don't look bad at all to me. Good on you for letting everyone know and for fighting this with everything you have. Those pictures are ridiculous I can't believe the cracks and the bad etching job! Williams is an absolute scumbag.
Drew Riley
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2007
- Messages
- 4,241
Couple of things:
I think it should be clarified (and perhaps in the original post as well) that this is NOT Chris Williams of Wilmont Grinders, who is also a knife maker, and based out of NORTH Carolina.
As for the Damascus in the pictures, there's little way of telling what the actual composition is without analysis by a metallurgical lab, but if I had to take a guess, it's likely a mixture of junk mystery steel, imported from some overseas company for a few bucks per blank. The texture is just how the acid etched different alloys, and from the looks of it, it was etched too long, or the solution was too strong. There are a couple of tiny spots that look almost like a delamination, but it's hard to tell exclusively from the pictures. At any rate, that's some poor Damascus whether he made it or not.
As for the rusting, Damascus can and does rust, and even more so if it has been heavily etched, as the little pockets and crevices tend to hold moisture much more readily that a more polished or lightly etched (smoother) Damascus steel.
Did he make any claims as to what the mixture was?
I think it should be clarified (and perhaps in the original post as well) that this is NOT Chris Williams of Wilmont Grinders, who is also a knife maker, and based out of NORTH Carolina.
As for the Damascus in the pictures, there's little way of telling what the actual composition is without analysis by a metallurgical lab, but if I had to take a guess, it's likely a mixture of junk mystery steel, imported from some overseas company for a few bucks per blank. The texture is just how the acid etched different alloys, and from the looks of it, it was etched too long, or the solution was too strong. There are a couple of tiny spots that look almost like a delamination, but it's hard to tell exclusively from the pictures. At any rate, that's some poor Damascus whether he made it or not.
As for the rusting, Damascus can and does rust, and even more so if it has been heavily etched, as the little pockets and crevices tend to hold moisture much more readily that a more polished or lightly etched (smoother) Damascus steel.
Did he make any claims as to what the mixture was?
I've copied and pasted his description of the Kiawah:
There's really nothing like the Kiawah large stainless Damascus Chef knife. Like its namesake, its curving lines and elegant beauty will draw you back for more. Made of varying Damascus layers of stainless steel, folded over a VG-10 core, this knife will hold an edge that is unparallelled. Truly as much "workhorse" as "work of art."
And the Wappoo:
There's really nothing like the Wappoo Stainless Damascus Santuko knife. Like its namesake, its curving lines and elegant beauty will draw you back for more. Made of varying Damascus layers of stainless steel, folded over a VG-10 core, this knife will hold an edge unparallelled. Truly as much "workhorse" as "work of art.", it's serves as a perfect partner to the Kiawah Chef.
Delamination makes sense, I think we've only used these knives twice and washed them by hand and used a soft fine towel to wipe them dry. He instructed us to use olive oil or pam spray on them after they were cleaned.
Drew Riley
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2007
- Messages
- 4,241
Ah, I missed that it was stainless Damascus. Stainless is quite a bit harder to etch, and does typically take a stronger acid than simple carbon Damascus. Still, it does appear to have some areas of minor delam, as well as being etched a little too heavily. Some people DO like the contrast/texture of a heavier etch, but personally, I want as smooth of a finish as possible when I'm making/using knives for food prep. As I said, the rough surfaces hold moisture (though they will also hold oil as well, and stainless can and will rust if not dried well and/or lightly oiled), and they're also good for growing bacteria if not cleaned well.
I promise you someone like this does not have "friends everywhere" who are standing by to do harm to anyone at his beckon call. I wouldn't worry about his bluster. That doesn't mean not to get the restraining order or taking steps to protect yourself.
Just be careful who you do business with. If am going to spend that much on a knife then it helps to do a bit of research first. It sounds like you were exactly the kind of customer he was looking for. Someone with a lot of money to spend on knives but not enough knowledge to see the red flags a more experienced knife collector/ aficionado would recognize. I don't mean this in an insulting way at all so please don't take it that way.
I have been bit myself by Hand Tech Made knives. Even after I read about problems with one of their models I bought a different model thinking it might be ok and experienced the same problems. Either way I am glad the credit card company ruled in your favour. This guy is a scumbag of the highest (or lowest?) order.
Just be careful who you do business with. If am going to spend that much on a knife then it helps to do a bit of research first. It sounds like you were exactly the kind of customer he was looking for. Someone with a lot of money to spend on knives but not enough knowledge to see the red flags a more experienced knife collector/ aficionado would recognize. I don't mean this in an insulting way at all so please don't take it that way.
I have been bit myself by Hand Tech Made knives. Even after I read about problems with one of their models I bought a different model thinking it might be ok and experienced the same problems. Either way I am glad the credit card company ruled in your favour. This guy is a scumbag of the highest (or lowest?) order.
Not to tease you or anything but LOL at those descriptions. They are virtually identical to eachother. I guess both Kiawah and Wappoo are curving and elegantly beautiful, whatever they are.
I am not at all trying to mock you, I just think those descriptions are beyond hilarious. "There is really nothing like (insert blank), just like its namesake its curving and elegant lines will draw you back for more." (read: to be scammed further)
5.150$ for Magic Chris Williams 
.... it is called impulsive buying 
There was a magazine article in a well known magazine about him and his knives and it listed the website as well. When I went to his site he had links to his instagram and facebook accounts.
On his facebook and instagram accounts he is in communication with Armie Hammer ( a famous actor ) and yeti coolers. It seems like he's involved with yeti coolers quite a bit, these details gave me a false sense of comfort/trust. Between that comfort and trust along with my overwhelming responsibilities I failed to do research on him and his reputation. It was never my intention to explain why I fell for such a scam but I think at this point it's best I explain my story with a little more detail. I am an open book for this community at this point, feel free to ask questions or criticize as you see fit.
On his facebook and instagram accounts he is in communication with Armie Hammer ( a famous actor ) and yeti coolers. It seems like he's involved with yeti coolers quite a bit, these details gave me a false sense of comfort/trust. Between that comfort and trust along with my overwhelming responsibilities I failed to do research on him and his reputation. It was never my intention to explain why I fell for such a scam but I think at this point it's best I explain my story with a little more detail. I am an open book for this community at this point, feel free to ask questions or criticize as you see fit.
Last edited:
- Joined
- May 18, 2005
- Messages
- 23,024
Always internet search a company before giving them money.
We are not teasing you. It sounds like you are a good man going beyond your call of duty to provide for your family and I respect that. If you need a friend I will be your friend as will many others on this board. Communication through text does not get across the nuances of human communication very well so sometimes something that is meant lightheartedly can come across as cruel.
I had heard about him taking out ads in knife magazines and unfortunately I don't trust those magazines as they seem to be a sort of "pay us and we will write you a glowing article" type of deal. Armie Hammer (whoever he is) should be ashamed for being a shill for this guy. What probably happened is this guy sent Armie Hammer (who probably knows little about knives) some stuff free of charge. Armie Hammer is probably too busy to ever use the knives for anything long enough to notice the defects and so doesn't realize he is being suckered into this narcissist psychopath's schemes. Now whoever is running Armie's instagram (if he is like any other actor he doesn't run his own) responds cordially to this guy which is designed exactly to sucker innocent people in like yourself. Something similar might have happened with Yeti Coolers, maybe he sent something to the owner.
I am sorry you feel you have no friends. Come to the forum when you get the time and i am sure you will make friends. Maybe browse some other threads too and post to get to know the people around here a bit better. You got the gold membership anyway why not.
I had heard about him taking out ads in knife magazines and unfortunately I don't trust those magazines as they seem to be a sort of "pay us and we will write you a glowing article" type of deal. Armie Hammer (whoever he is) should be ashamed for being a shill for this guy. What probably happened is this guy sent Armie Hammer (who probably knows little about knives) some stuff free of charge. Armie Hammer is probably too busy to ever use the knives for anything long enough to notice the defects and so doesn't realize he is being suckered into this narcissist psychopath's schemes. Now whoever is running Armie's instagram (if he is like any other actor he doesn't run his own) responds cordially to this guy which is designed exactly to sucker innocent people in like yourself. Something similar might have happened with Yeti Coolers, maybe he sent something to the owner.
I am sorry you feel you have no friends. Come to the forum when you get the time and i am sure you will make friends. Maybe browse some other threads too and post to get to know the people around here a bit better. You got the gold membership anyway why not.
I welcome the criticism, I'm not offended at all as these questions are justified and I have no friends because of my schedule. I'm happy and healthy I just wanted to layout how and why this happened, at the end of the day I still failed to do the smart thing. At this point I hope people can learn from my mistake, I'm here at this point only to inform people with the hopes he won't be able to harm anyone else. I allowed a combination of fatigue and blind trust to cloud my decision making.
Sorry for your situation, you seem to live in the wrong way ... but that's another story.
I want you more lucky to make that happen
Don't be sorry, there's nothing wrong with my life, there are many people out there who are struggling. I just felt the need to explain my circumstances because certain questions kept coming up. My life is the way it is because this is what I have chosen and I'm happy with my situation overall. Now that this is out there I'd rather focus on what's important.
One of my first posts had a little rib in it. It was just that, a light hearted rib. I feel really bad that you are out a very large sum of money. I think at some point in our lives most of us have been scammed at least once, I know I was by lending one of my workers and personal loan, it was only about $250, he got paid that coming weekend and they were making good money. The dude ended up not coming in the following week, didn't call off, just didn't show up. He walked away from a job that was paying him about $1K a week over a $250 cash loan. Who woulda thunk?
There is a language barrier but I understand it entirely . I live in a much more stressful country but somehow I deal with it ... I also believe that you are a good man and a father and that you will laugh at all of this after some time.
