Custom Knife Factory, nothing but problems and insults

Scrim

Scrim

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Sep 26, 2014
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I own 3 knives from CKF, A Sukhoi, a Deception-1 and a Konygin Maxi. I like the knives but have had nothing but problems with CKF unfortunately. Far too many knives come from them with damage, dings, ripped up knife pouches, etc. I've experienced a problem each time I've bought their products. I wrote them, very nicely, about these issues. At first Mikhail seemed concerned and willing to make things right. Ultimately, when I decided to try them one final time, I placed an order and the next day Mikhail (Mike, as he is also known) simply cancelled my order and refused it under the excuse that obviously it is dangerous and too costly to ship to me in California (for their $60 charge) as the problems must happen in shipping, blaming all on USPS or my post office, I guess. Funny, no damage to the outside of the shipment, only damage was to product inside of their packing materials. Nothing but lame, implausible excuses, problems, and turning the blame on the customer. I spent a lot of money on their products and only wrote them about real problems with the condition of the knives I received from them, not nit picky little things either. End result, rudeness from them and blaming the customer in words and refusing any more business FROM the customer wronged by THEM. Lunacy! They lost a repeat, high value customer with legitimate issues about their sloppiness, careless handling of their knives and their unprofessionalism. A really idiotic way for them to handle a once supportive customer. CKF buyers beware. Oh, by the way, on their $1070 Deception 1, they issue EVERY SINGLE COA with the number "1 of 300" on it. I mentioned how deceptive that was to a collector/buyer too. Got lame excuses, an admission of guilt, an obviously fake apology and then they cut off my ability (and certainly my desire) to ever order from them again. Too many great knives to buy elsewhere to put up with that kind of customer abuse, especially when taking a leap of faith, pre-paying them and trusting them to "deliver" like professional knife makers, all the way from Russia. Never again! Oh, they'll take the money for sure. Their economy is tanking BIG TIME. You'd think they value the American collector's business. There is huge anti-Americanism in Russia these days, and increasingly so. I have to wonder if they are not just laughing at us, adjusting upwards their prices (especially Shirogorovs and CKF's higher end mid techs & customs) for the American market. We send them our dollars...as they laugh all the way to the Ruble bank and send us often damaged goods. I wonder if the local, Russian clients (or other non-Americans) get the knives without imperfections on them. Look carefully at the condition of your knife from CKF. Is it perfect as a brand new knife should be from the maker, or dinged, or scratched or damaged in some way or worse. Hopefully you got a new knife in new condition. They are 0 for 3 with me. I am done with them. CKF, enough is enough. You don't appreciate my business, you LOSE my business. -- PS. Collectors, God forbid one of these knives ever requires repair. Think about it.:thumbdn:
 
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Sure seems to be one hell of an up charge from Russia to the states for shipping, not to mention the whopping price increases on knives that run on average $#50-$00 over there. Amazing enough to keep some folks away.
 
While I do not doubt Scrim's experience, all I can say is that I have also made three purchases from CKF - all have arrived in a timely fashion, in good condition and as advertised. YMMV is often the circumstance one in confronted with in dealing with foreign interests - but so far so good for me. They have also reduced their shipping change from $60 to $30 so that is another annoyance that they have moved to mitigate. Now that much of their product line is now being carried by B-HQ and TKC one does have safer purchase option for a number of their products.
 
I bought two from Mike. One of the steel lockbar inserts did not seem hardened enough and eventually had vertical play. Told him about it and asked for an exchange or return. I went with the return route. Sent it to his American address in CA. Got my money back (including shipping) on the same the I shipped it.
 
I bought my first CKF knife about 3 weeks ago. while I don't normally buy production knives, I wanted to see how the tritium in the Daboia is. The knife came with a bunch of cosmetic flaws. Burrs that weren't cleaned on their cast parts. Paint scratches and the action was not good. I did a side by side comparison to a Reate hills on my IG page. It's not even in the same league. I've also read a lot of other people say bad things about the quality of the Daboia. Pretty disappointed and will not buy another.
 
sorry to hear that, Scrim. I bought a Decepticon-1 and it's flawless. Hit and miss I guess when you have to deal with knives coming from different countries. Decepticon-1 is one of my favorite mid-techs to be honest.

Like it has been mentioned, there are safer options to get their knives now... GPknives and Bladehq carry their knives now.
 
Sidenote: I heard Russian Post is notorious for stealing knives (not from personal experience, but from friends). So that is why they have streamline packages. Same thing you have to do with certain countries. I usually try to keep my knife dealings within the continental US because the problems with customs, but I really wanted this knife. So I bite the bullet. I was initially worried about possible damage to the product when I first saw how they packaged it, but... It has to be this way.

I really wish I had a Russian connection to get some Shiros at domestic prices. We're nearly paying double in the states. Meh.
 
dubioustofu said:
Sidenote: I heard Russian Post is notorious for stealing knives (not from personal experience, but from friends). So that is why they have streamline packages. Same thing you have to do with certain countries. I usually try to keep my knife dealings within the continental US because the problems with customs, but I really wanted this knife. So I bite the bullet. I was initially worried about possible damage to the product when I first saw how they packaged it, but... It has to be this way.

I really wish I had a Russian connection to get some Shiros at domestic prices. We're nearly paying double in the states. Meh.
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Russian post is notoriously corrupt. I've dealt with a Russian member here and mailed knives both ways using fed ex at their request for that reason. Oh and they are very very slow. So fed ex costs

Depending on a connection you may have, it's usually still not a simple buy it at their cost. They can't get them from the factory as easy as though. It's similar to hinderer here. Demand exceeds supply. Many of the resellers are buying on the used market there at already inflated prices. Many times, that knife that costs double, the reseller isn't making near about 100% profit when it's all said and done

Just a couple things I've learned playing around with the shiros a little.
 
Scrim said:
dubioustofu: As a fellow Deception-1 owner, you might enjoy this..a little ranting & stuff -- http://youtu.be/rsrjxt1CIrk
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Cool video and knife.
Maybe it's all the Benchmade knives I've ever seen, but when I see 1 of ###, that immediately has always told me that it is actually one of ### many out there. I automatically inferred it, and not once have I figured that a model was actually number 1 of... On the other hard, when I see something like 3/30 lasered on the blade, that is an entirely different thing. That should mean that it is actually number 3 of 30 knives. In any case, lots of people have automatically been lead to believe that the 1 of ### is actually number one in a large run.
 
How many Thorburns you have now? I remember selling you the first one. Hope you have been treating it well.


...And uh... If you plan to let go of that Daboia... I'll buy it from you. lol. It's marketed as KJ Venom 2 now and it has that stupid big logo on the blade. Meh.
 
I almost hate to admit it (because it makes me look like a Thorburn addict) but -- Thorburns and counting. I just think the guy puts out some of the best stuff I've ever been able to find, anywhere. Yours still sits perched on it's velvet pillow, illuminated by lasers and halogen pin-spots, in its humidity controlled safe-room....as it was my first (hehe). -- I like the Daboia. I know it's a Kevin John thing that CKF bought & resold, but I still like it and this version without all the logo crap on the blade. But if I do ever decide to let go of it, I'll let you know. :cool:
 
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I can't understand why you are buying these chinese knives with secondary design instead of Shirogorov's, whose a real knife-makers with their own production:thumbdn:
 
Benchmade used to do this as well. There are tons of Benchmade "Pre-Production 1 of 1000" knifes wandering around with exactly the same "1 of 1000" marking on them, as well as nearly just as many guys who thought they got the "#1" knife of the set and could charge a premium for the marking.

Not saying it's right, but it's been a fairly commonplace practice in the industry. Just comes of laziness and not wanting to change the engraving. In the case or CKF since it's a handwritten certificate, it's even less excusable laziness, but I would stop short of calling it deceptive.
 
Is CKF and FRWK one and the same? I'd prefer to keep the sales management and the production quality separate. I bought a Sukhoi from KnifeArt and it is a flawless. Quality is unsurpassable for its price. I bought also a Daboia from FRWK and it's also a flawless piece for its price.
 
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