Contacting Newt Livesay

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Ron53

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Does anyone have any good contact information for Newt Livesay at Livesay knives (Wicked Knife Company)?

I have tried to contact him via his email, with no luck whatsoever. It keeps getting kicked back, saying his account is over quota. I ordered a Model 117 from him over 3 years ago, and was in contact with him, or his associates for a while. I believe this was the time he started having medical problems.

Long story short: I never got either my 117 or my money back. I have heard that Mr. Livesay is making knives once more, to fill backorders. I want to be able to contact him and see if I can get my Model 117 now.

I certainly appreciate any information anyone might have which will allow me to contact him!

Thanks!
Ron
 
I've wondered about him. Everything about him strikes me as strictly amateur, including his relatively recent newtlivesayknives.com page. Good luck.
 
A dead end, I think. His son-in-law, Darrell Parent was doing business as Mt. Sequoyah Knives, but that website no longer loads. He had been cleaning up old Livesay orders and selling his own designs. I'm sorry I can't help any more than that.
 
Thanks, guys! I pretty much figured it was a dead-end. Esav, I have checked out the webpage...no luck! That's where I got the email address. Well, I've been out the $250 for over 3 years...guess I shouldn't miss it now, right?!?

I wanted to get this straightened out, finally, but I guess that isn't going to happen. Doing business with him has left me with a VERY bad impression of Mr. Livesay. So don't expect any enthusiastic kudos from me if you happen upon one of this knives.

Thanks,
Ron
 
These sort of threads always get my goat. :grumpy: Makers that take deposits and then fall into the "Dale Chudzinski Syndrome" get no love from me. I don't care how nice the knives are.
 
ilbruche said:
These sort of threads always get my goat. :grumpy: Makers that take deposits and then fall into the "Dale Chudzinski Syndrome" get no love from me. I don't care how nice the knives are.
Click to expand...

:thumbup: I agree. There are too many honest makers out there, that I fear people are missin out on due to fear of bein scammed by all the horror stories of a few. Its a shame:(
 
Hey Ron, I don't know where you are in life , but I would drive to his house, stroll up to his front door with an economy sized can of "kick ass" in my hand and get my money or my knife. After waiting three years, it's not the money or the knife, it's the principal of the thing. Good luck Cooter
 
Ron53, I don't know if you've ever used it or not, but try zabbasearch.com. I put in Newt's name and it popped up no problem with several phone numbers and addresses. All in the same town and all of the same date of birth. Near as I can tell, there is just one Newt W. Livesay in the CONUS. Hope this is of some help.
 
Let’s see if we can find the right forum …
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Cougar, thanks for moving the post for me! I appreciate it.

Thanks for the leads and advice, guys.

Cooter, I don't work that way anymore. It's not worth it. I learned a valuable lesson from this. I should never have sent any funds until I knew the knife was available. We live and learn.

Ron
 
since no one else has said it i will - NEVER pay up front for custom knives, a legit 'smith wont ask ya to anyway, a small deposit for special materials (ie ivory, damascus,etc) is ok, but do 'smiths a favor and dont pay up front for knives a lot of them really get themselves in trouble doing that. in the ~10 yrs i have been buying/swapping/using/selling custom knives i have had exactly one person ask me for the $$ up front, which was brad duncan, imho enough said.

good luck with newt,
 
Newt's great rep' was from about 10 years ago. One of the first to use kydex, micarta, non-metal blades, made a mean grind, heat treat, and great designs. Sold well to collectors, LEO and military -even had a side venture doing survival training in Peru.

Don't know what was the cause of his bankruptcy, but he started taking money for knives that he didn't make ('prolly around 2000). Even his "in stock" knives weren't shipping. He used to answer his emails and phone calls with "I'll put it in the mail tomorrow" but they'd never show up. Finally closed his site & email.

He owed me for years and it took a lot of constant follow-ups and phone calls for me to finally get my orders to me. I treaded it like a mission and kept politely reminding him of his responsibilities to me until he sent me the last of my orders back in 2003.

I was actually glad to find out that he'd started-up again thru his son-in-law the past few years. Too bad it looks like he could never outrun his debts.

Good luck on chasing him down. If you have his phone #, I suggest that you give him a call every week and kindly remind him of his obligations. Advice for "showing up and whupping ass" is not the way to go, especially since I believe Newt knows a few moves with knives and guns.
 
This is really too bad. Newt made some great knives. His prices were very low considering the quality of knives he made. I had one for a time, and would have had others if he had stayed in business. He was even willing to upgrade the blade steel from his usual 1095 to other steels for a small price. ...but he had problems, and I retired from the Army so my need was diminished and the knives I had on hand were sufficient.
 
I was a First time caller to Newt about three years ago and he told me the items I wanted were both "it's in stock" and "needed just a finish, or kydex made for it." He spoke and acted as though he were looking at the knives in his tool shed. Promised two weeks to complete and ship. I sent all the $$ upfront by USPS MO. Waited the promised two weeks, nothing. Addtional attempts to contact were marginal or failed. About seven or more months later I finally wrote certified letters to every address I could find of his (I spent about $40 on postage!) and prefaced in each letter that if anyone other than Newt got this letter to forward it to him, and in the letter quoted the specifics of Arkansas laws relating to theft and fraud etc and pointed out the sentencing guidelines, as well as for federal mail fraud, and then included the Chief's names and telephone numbers of the local, county etc police in his jurisdicition that i would contact them and use any clout I had to get them to charge him. Well, within three weeks of sending the letters I got my knives, except for one or two. He included an apologetic letter promising in a couple weeks I'd get the other knives. Two weeks goes by and nothing, so i call Mt. Sequioua and they send me a few knives to make right. I wish you the very best of luck but threatening criminal legal action by way of certified letters might help you along, but be sure to follow through and get your problem documented via a Criminal Incident Report if nothing happens. A few of these in the local Arkansas system locally will be sure to get things going. Or just get a cheap attorney for $50 to draft a letter on letterhead stipulating the criminal code he's in violation of and send those.
 
CWL said:
Newt's great rep' was from about 10 years ago. One of the first to use kydex, micarta, non-metal blades, made a mean grind, heat treat, and great designs. Sold well to collectors, LEO and military -even had a side venture doing survival training in Peru.

Don't know what was the cause of his bankruptcy, but he started taking money for knives that he didn't make ('prolly around 2000). Even his "in stock" knives weren't shipping. He used to answer his emails and phone calls with "I'll put it in the mail tomorrow" but they'd never show up. Finally closed his site & email.

He owed me for years and it took a lot of constant follow-ups and phone calls for me to finally get my orders to me. I treaded it like a mission and kept politely reminding him of his responsibilities to me until he sent me the last of my orders back in 2003.

I was actually glad to find out that he'd started-up again thru his son-in-law the past few years. Too bad it looks like he could never outrun his debts.

Good luck on chasing him down. If you have his phone #, I suggest that you give him a call every week and kindly remind him of his obligations. Advice for "showing up and whupping ass" is not the way to go, especially since I believe Newt knows a few moves with knives and guns.
Click to expand...


Heat treat? With what?

Who was he with in Peru?

N.

www.dozierknives.com/forum
 
"Good luck on chasing him down. If you have his phone #, I suggest that you give him a call every week and kindly remind him of his obligations. Advice for "showing up and whupping ass" is not the way to go, especially since I believe Newt knows a few moves with knives and guns. - CWL"

CWL, if you note in my post above, I said that I didn't operate in that manner ("whuppin ass"). Threatening people gets you nowhere...except maybe in jail. I am sitting here in Iraq right now, although I will be home soon. It's just not worth it to me to have to keep chasing someone like Mr. Livesay. It's a lesson learned, for me.

As to the other, after a career in Special Operations, and a number of years still working in that line of work after retirement, I also happen to know a few "moves" with knives and guns...but that's not what this is about. I just wish I could have received my Model 117.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

Ron
 
I was one of the lucky ones. Don't know if its' because we had had a couple of reasonably pleasant conversations in years past where he picked my brains about law enforcement issues related to terrorism and international arms smuggling (he was allegedly researching writing a novel)...

...but he actually refunded my money on a knife project I had paid for and returned to him for a variety of reasons.

It's a sad thing for a man to lose his good name and the trust that he had worked for years to earn.

BTW, I agree with Ron's take. Life's too short to spend it incarcerated for a matter of a few bucks despite the aggravation we may feel.
 
I owned at one time probably at least 10 of his knives. I ordered three or four of them directly from his office or company or whatever. They came immediatly. I was told which items were or were not in stock at the time. I sold them as soon as his reputation started going in the crapper. Too bad really his knives were fair priced and well made.

There are several other makers on the horizon that are soon to go the way of Newt Livesay...watch out and if you have thier knives I would sell them quick...those in the know know what I am talking about.

Ren
 
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