Comments: Handmade vs. Custom

The debate over terminology had been argued on these forums many times. Most people seem to agree that custom means it was made to the customer's specifications.

I advertise my knives as handmade custom knives. Even if it is one that I made for a show, it is still custom to my own specifications at the time and different from any other that I have made.

I agree that the word custom is often misused on production knives. I don't consider a knife a custom made knife if there there dozens or hundreds of others exactly like it.
 
2knife said:
Handmade is better- and more "honest". A knife, a tool.
Custom = "show pony".
david
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Show Pony?, more like Handmade vs. Custom = beating a dead horse for the 100th time. ;)

Though very precise definitions can be found in Webster’s for both “handmade” and “custom” their meanings have become synonymous over the years in regard to knives.
Whether someone says “handmade knife” or “custom knife” or “handmade-custom knife” we ALL know exactly what they are speaking of.
 
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A knife is...Custom, handmade? Sole authorship, shopmade? CNC, power grinder, files? Forged, stock removal, or some combination?

It is what it is.

No label will change how a knife was designed and made.

Quality will not be affected by a label...we all know of sole authorship, custom, handmade, forged knives that are of limited quality.

A show pony? Any knife, including the beat production sodbuster you give an 8 yo boy, can be somebody's show pony. To a new knifemaker, every knife they make is a show pony, since it's a little better than the last knife.

A honest knife? Not possible. Honesty is a human attribute, not possible in inanimate objects. About once a week, my 17 yo car decides not to start, is it being dishonest? Not.
 
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Both terms have been discussed and debated to death. Nothing new is likely to be added, and certainly hasn't been by you.

Knives are neither honest nor dishonest. They are just knives.

Roger
 
rogerp said:
both terms have been discussed and debated to death. Nothing new is likely to be added, and certainly hasn't been by you.

Knives are neither honest nor dishonest. They are just knives.

Roger
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ditto - we been beatin' this horse to death - why ain't he dead?
 
Hi Tom,

Only if you will add the subset of Jigs and Pantograph to the CNC Category!

With regards to "Hand made"...surely you are not talking about anything with an electrical cord attached to it.

At that point isn't the motor replacing the "Elbow Grease" of the craftsman.

Imagine doing the holes in your TNT's with merely a hand turned drill...as opposed to one of those fancy drill press'!

How about filing away the steel with a hand file instead of a grinder????

But wait there is more! :D :D

How about cutting all of your blades out with a hack saw instead of a motor driven Band Saw????

Then there is the milling machine and lathes...with the motor in them.

How about the Trip Hammer in lieu of the hammer and anvil work.

How about a hydraulic press for creating patterns in Damascus???

Then again imagine where custom knives would be without all these improvements in tooling.

How long would it take makers to produce what they do?

What would be the additional cost for all the true "hand work"...like with only a file.

Maybe its just me...while I am a history buff...I have never been one who longed for the old days.....

I like AC and Indoor Plumbing!

The Army spent a lot of time and money to teach me how to use a Map and Compass. To the point that I became very proficient with both. Guess what is in my gear and car and boat....a GPS!

Custom is a Marketing Term...part of the lexicon created so those who enjoy the same hobby can talk with each other. Just like "Tactical"...it is not a type of knife...but a style a look...based primarily on the materials used.

Ok last post....I have to finish an article for Blade Magazine!

That damn Gutenberg...if he hadn't got that printing press going...some Monk would be writing my article! :D
 
vanity: The excessive belief in one's own abilities. That would be that you think that you can but you can't........ So what if a maker thinks that he can and he did? Talent? Makers challenge themselves all the time. Sometimes it turns out great and sometimes it doesn't. Doesn't make them vain if they fail, but it does help them to improve their skills.
 
I think that almost dead horse might have just one kick left in him, so hears my definition of handmade and custom.

I make handmade knives every day, all made to the best of my ability in every aspect, from the heat treatment to the fit and finish, all made to use.

I also make handmade custom knives, these are knives made to order in the design and shapes the customer personally requests, be it a so call show knife or a every day work knife, there all made with the same dedication from heat treatment to fit and finish and there all made to use.

Bill
 
2knife said:
I disagree. A substandard knife and knife not meant for use, no matter the degree of "fantasy art" is not worthy of the title.

All makers should insist their knives perform better than the standard "pack mentality".

Otherwise, why go custom? ..To honor the cast of Star Trek?

Handmade is a generic term i like. it has no pretense about it. I like knives, in style that have a simple beauty. Many custom art has a tendency towards vanity, as if makers are infatuated with themselves.
D.
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Sorry David - a substandard knife is not dishonest. It is just poorly made. Next you'll be telling me that knives are female, I expect. I've come across a great many knives in a couple decades of collecting. Never met an honest one, or a dishonest one.

As for your railing against "art" knives - I'm not taking the bait. You obviously feel the need to vent on the subject from time to time - that's fine, have at it if you must. But when you're done with your predictable rant, perhaps consider the possibility that not everyone who thinks differently from you is a complete idiot? And while you're at it, perhaps ponder that there is perhaps more than one single maker on this planet with a valid approach to the craft? Just a couple suggestions.

Roger
 
I think that I will start calling my knives "one off" because I can't make two that are exactly alike to save my life.:D
 
I think we should buy the knives we like and that makers should make the kinds of knives they like to make. If that happens to be fantasy knives, then so be it.

No knife needs to be embellished in any way. It doesn't add a darn thing to the knife's fuctionallity. However, embellishment makes knives appealing to a far broader base of people. I think that people should not concern themselves with the kinds of knives that are being made. If you don't like certain knives, don't buy them.
 
I'd like to buy a custom handmade knife. To me, the custom part means that it is somewhat exclusive to the maker, or is made the way the buyer wanted it. Handmade is obvious - but a maker could crank out 100 of the same knife by hand and they would still be custom because they are the maker's own work and no one else's - even if they are a copy of a similar design. Just my opinion on this...

Austin
 
Yeah, those silly art knives. Who would want one of those?
kingtut-EL1.jpg
 
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