Conversation - What constitutes a custom knife these days?

Custom, I believe is unique, hand made or other, more unique (one of a kind colors, materials and or processes that make the knife collectable, hard to find. Could be someone's made up order that makes it "unlike others"
It's a fluid definition I believe the OP already has or had his answer shortly upon creating thread
 
That's an old conversation but I think we should distinguish between designing and building a knife.

Designed by the customer​
Designed by maker with options selected by client​
Fully designed by knife maker​
Hand made (possibly outsourcing HT)
A​
D​
G​
Mostly machine made but with manual work
B​
E​
H​
Fully machine made
C​
F​
I​

Here the columns are for the design and the rows are for the build. Perhaps it will help clarify the conversation.
For me a custom knife exist in cells A, B and C. What is important for a "custom" is the fact that the customer defined the design. The build is irrelevant.
The cell F this is the case when the maker propose to "build your own" knife like with Olamic when you select between a multitude of options.
The cell G is for a maker building his knives manually and then selling them on his website. The client can only decide whether or not to buy, but does not determine the knife's design.
 
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Just to add to the fire, customized does not mean custom. Such as taking a production knife and adding new scales, pins, etc or doing a regrind. So it may be added to to make improvements, it is still not a custom knife. if I buy a car, and add a a bunch of features to make It unique or tricked out, it has been customized. Now, maybe a bad example, if it’s a NASCAR race car, i would consider that a custom since they are basically building the car from scratch from the ground up.
 
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"If you can't buy 'my' knife out of a store": mine is custom.
If I can't but yours: yours is just a mid-grade! 🤣"
BTW: Does the knifemaker have to dig up and process his own iron ore? What if the customer does it for him??
 
patrickguignot said:
That's an old conversation but I think we should distinguish between designing and building a knife.

Designed by the customer​
Designed by maker with options selected by client​
Fully designed by knife maker​
Hand made (possibly outsourcing HT)
A​
D​
G​
Mostly machine made but with manual work
B​
E​
H​
Fully machine made
C​
F​
I​

Here the columns are for the design and the rows are for the build. Perhaps it will help clarify the conversation.
For me a custom knife exist in cells A, B and C. What is important for a "custom" is the fact that the customer defined the design. The build is irrelevant.
The cell F this is the case when the maker propose to "build your own" knife like with Olamic when you select between a multitude of options.
The cell G is for a maker building his knives manually and then selling them on his website. The client can only decide whether or not to buy, but does not determine the knife's design.
Click to expand...
Olamic gets an F ?!?!?
Lol just kidding….
But wouldn’t these bigger high end brands like Olamic, Hinderer, CRK, George etc, fall into the category of “E” ?
I thought companies like these all had some manual human interaction involved… Unlike a USA Kershaw or Spyderco or something
 
tony281sc2 said:
Olamic gets an F ?!?!?
Lol just kidding….
But wouldn’t these bigger high end brands like Olamic, Hinderer, CRK, George etc, fall into the category of “E” ?
I thought companies like these all had some manual human interaction involved… Unlike a USA Kershaw or Spyderco or something
Click to expand...

Yes you're right, it should be the "E" category because I imagine these brands are not fully automated.
 
David Mary said:
Do you like the knife? Did you get what you paid for? If so, then what does it matter how many people chime in and say it's custom, or customized, or midtech, or semi production, etc.?
Click to expand...
I do like the knife very much. There are couple of fit and finish issues but I do enjoy carrying it. With Buck and I believe Benchmade having a custom shop of sorts it begs the question on where do they fit in? It isn’t a custom knife in the same way as a sole authorship knife made to order with a single individual producing it nor is it an off the shelf factory knife that you can go to any sporting goods store and pick up off the shelf on any given day.
Just curious to see what are people’s opinions.
 
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Crag the Brewer said:
Haha..... I've been Both a Professional brewer, and now This.....& I have No idea, what your analogy was about??? It's ok.

Back in my day micro breweries were 10k barrels of less per year


It is funny, the similarities between knife making and brewing, there Are alot.
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I was trying to show that custom and semi-custom are blurred terms that are as hard to understand for knife buyers as the brewing company designations are for the average beer drinker.

"This is a lot like people talking about what is "craft beer". That gets technical quick once you throw an actual brewer into the conversation."

I honestly thought about trying to give a number value for low production knife makers to give equivalency for microbrewing, but any number I gave would be wrong, given the wide range of production from one low production company to another. What exactly are low production numbers for knife makers could be another thread in and of itself.

"Is there an official definition of what is a custom/semi-custom knife offered by groups like the American Bladesmith Society, the Knifemaker's Guild, or the American Knife and Tool Institute?"

This question is something I'm still wondering about, since there are actually official bodies speaking for and on behalf of knife makers.
 
The Grendels said:
I was trying to show that custom and semi-custom are blurred terms that are as hard to understand for knife buyers as the brewing company designations are for the average beer drinker.

"This is a lot like people talking about what is "craft beer". That gets technical quick once you throw an actual brewer into the conversation."

I honestly thought about trying to give a number value for low production knife makers to give equivalency for microbrewing, but any number I gave would be wrong, given the wide range of production from one low production company to another. What exactly are low production numbers for knife makers could be another thread in and of itself.

"Is there an official definition of what is a custom/semi-custom knife offered by groups like the American Bladesmith Society, the Knifemaker's Guild, or the American Knife and Tool Institute?"

This question is something I'm still wondering about, since there are actually official bodies speaking for and on behalf of knife makers.
Click to expand...


I think a fun look at an often non-talked about conversation shared by Both breweries, and knifemakers.........Not about the quantities , but Who made the product???

Samuel Adams is America's largest brewery (Brand) (at least it was not long ago, I think it still is)

In the beginning, for a Good number of years..... They didn't have an actual brewery. They didn't even make any beer...... They paid OTHER people to make the beer. That's called a contract brewery. A brewery that makes beer for another "brewery".
Eventually, S. A. Had to make a brewery....... Because Brewery tours are no good without tanks and kettles......



Like Sphinx3000 Sphinx3000
Mentioned..... About Who makes the knife???

We All own knives with names on the blades. Even from small custom makers, who don't make Their knives......well, not All of them.
 
What about knives like the PM2, Bugout, XM-18, etc. that can be heavily modified?

If you have an aftermarket scale, clip, hardware and a regrind would that be a custom???
 
I would say that any knife that you can collaborate with the maker on to make it yours can be considered a custom. And yes, I think that broad definition can arguably include things like Buck’s custom shop. You could theoretically come up with a combination of blade style, blade and handle materials, and finishes that nobody else has. It’s not mathematically likely given their customer base, but it’s possible.

I also have three kitchen knives, two ‘working’ knives, and one bizarro creation out of the depths of my twisted brain from David Mary David Mary which, while some resemble mass-produced knives, they all have unique elements of my own preferences that David masterfully incorporated into their designs. Even though there may be others like them, they were made for me and are unquestionably custom.
 
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