Custom knife - probably belongs in another forum

Michael_Aos

Michael_Aos

Joined
Jan 25, 2001
Messages
1,639
Just not sure which one. This has bugged me for a while now, what do you think?

Someone posted a picture of a custom 7" OAL fixed blade. I liked the style a LOT, so I e-mailed the maker.

Said "I like the style, and this is what I want to use it for, what can you do for me".

We went back and forth for a while -- the "subject title" in all the e-mails remained ' 7" knife', even though we decided he was going to make me an 8" -- 4" blade, with a 4" handle, for $400, shipped.

Well, after 5 months of waiting, a 7" knife shows up. E-mailed the maker, asking if maybe I was sent the wrong knife. Nope, he wrote down 7" when we started talking, never updated his books over the course of the conversation, so when my name came up, he made what was in his little book. Beautiful knife, just not what I wanted.

He did offer to make me what I wanted -- but the wait is now 9 months, and his prices have gone up substantially.

I just kept it, but I'm not terribly happy about the whole deal -- nice knife, good price, just not what I ordered.

Thoughts?

Mike
 
Michael,

He did give you the option to return the knife and get what you wanted. Being that it was his mistake writing the wrong description in his book, I would hope that he would sort of push you to the front of the line. As far as prices going up, I would hope he would honor the price that was agreed upon in your earlier email conversations.

To me knife collecting is more about interactions with the maker than it is about the knife. IMHO, if you're not happy with the knife now, you probably won't be really happy with it later - unless you start to use it and find it to perform better than expected...

With customs that you order, you should get exactly what you want - it may take a while, but custom is custom. If you're getting something that's just close to what you want, you may as well have ordered off a dealer site and saved yourself the wait...

~Mitch
 
It can get confusing sometimes when changes start running hot and heavy during the design phase. The best way that a maker can handle this is to send out a final confirmation of order with all the details before starting work and get confirmation back that all is OK. If any additional changes are requested the initial order should be scrapped and a new confirmation written up.

Some customers get peeved about all the attention to detail but that is the only way to avoid errors, not saying that I have never missed a detail on a work order but as I refine my order taking proceedure errors are reduced.
 
I usually ask for a final, list everything email to avoid that happening. Some of these let's-change-this-to-that exchanges can run on long enough that what you began talking of gets lost in the details.

Since you seem to have gotten a more valuable knife than you thought you ordered, why not sell and start over?
 
I would expect a maker, who has admitted that he made a mistake, to make you the knife you ordered at the price you agreed on. Just my .02.
 
What time of day was it when you discussed the changes in blade length with the maker Michael? Was it half past beer thirty? Sometimes 'ideas' are discussed either in email or on the phone and misconceptions are easy to register. You know what you thought you said and he's pretty sure he knew what you were talking about but felt like maybe there was going to be some further details if that was your wish. I've been there. Maybe not as many times as Jerry but I've been there.

There are no guarantees in life. Mistakes are made and we all live for another day. I feel for you because I can see that happening to me as a maker doing business the way I do. Hell, maybe it was me. Got a pic of that blade? :D

I can speak for myself because I'm the only one I can really speak for. If that happened to me as the maker, you'd have your knife replaced as soon as I could manage it. Because I know how easy it is for me to make mistakes. I'll be the first one to admitt mistakes so I can sleep at night. But there seems to be something missing in your story Michael. Maybe it's just me. But most makers make contact with their customers about the time they begin work on a backordered blade. I know I do. Hell, I like to crow like the next guy. If your maker didn't do that then you need to find a new one. Do like Jerry said and sell that knife and try again. If your knifemaker is worth fooling with he won't make the same mistake twice. I've made mistakes like that but my customers always come out on top or I'll eat your hat! And that's the way it has to be as far as I can tell. Good luck Michael. Nothing is worse than paying for custom work and not getting what you wanted. Have patience, be persistent and you will have what you want.
 
"Michael,

I am glad that you like the knife. It is the one that I meant for you
to have. I had forgotten about our conversation about blade size etc., and
just looked in my order book where I wrote down the 7 oal that was in the
subject line of one of the mail messages that I got from you. If you would
like a larger knife just send that one back to me and I will send you a
larger one. I have one knife from the Salem show that has a three and three
quarter inch blade that is deeper and a little thicker than the one that I
sent you. Its' overall length is almost eight and a half inches.
I must tell you though that the larger knife is will cost you about another
hundred and fifty dollars as I have raised the prices since you ordered your
knife. A four inch blade now costs about <edit>. My back log
length is still almost eight months. let me know what you would like and
I'll do what I can to make sure that you are happy."

In all fairness, the knife I got fits my hand like it was made for it. Hell, if I'd gotten what I ordered, I'd probably have complained it was too big! Just struck me as kinda "weird". I'm new to this whole thing though, so still getting a feel for what to expect or what's "normal". I know it wasn't his intent, but it almost felt like a "bait and switch" or something.

Dunno.

Mike
 
Hmmm. Sticky spot here. you could sell the knife you got and buy another from the guy, or keep what you have. it was an honest mistake, but it leaves you in an awkward spot. the price and increase are not good, IMHO. you had it on order, got a smaller knife, but maybe of better quality than what you had expected when you ordered it. its a toss up.
 
Personally I think he owes you the knife you two decided on at the price that was quoted at the time.....if you still want it.
 
I read an article -- I think it was in Blade -- by Ed Fowler. As I recall, he said some of his customers were a little upset, after waiting YEARS for a Pronghorn, the price was a lot higher than when they ordered it.

Ed's explanation was that he makes a much better knife now, so the price is justified. I suspect this maker has a similar philosophy.

Mike
 
From my limited experience, it is very difficult to end up with exactly what you pictured when the only communication taking place between maker and buyer is via email and telephone. I suppose if you are ordering a "standard model" and only having it "customized", for example a different handle material or steel, there will be less likelyhood of a misunderstanding.

I once ordered a custom from George Tichbourne. It wasn't one of his standard models, and sure enough, the knife that came to me looked nothing like the one we agreed upon. We even had a drawing of it, but neither of us looked at the drawing when after the initial grinding was done George sent me a picture of the blade, and I didn't notice how different it was from our original design. That was just plain dumb of me, but even if the knife's profile had matched the drawing, there might have been other differences (and there were) that a 2-dimentional picture could not show. George was more than gracious and took the knife back. I heard later on that he did sell it to another buyer, and a beautiful knife it was too...

So I tried again with a maker who was less experienced (and less expensive) than George, that being Taz... This time I paid more attention to the pictures, but even so the knife was not exactly what I ordered, though in this case the difference was much smaller, so I ended up keeping the knife and have used it extensively ever since.

The next time I try, I'm going to go with a maker who is relatively local to me so I can acutally visit him and discuss the details in person. Perhaps that will do it...
 
Funny you mention Taz -- I had him add scales to a 420HC Arclite. Very nice, very reasonable.

George is on my short-list. I need some good kitchen knives.

I agree about local makers. I should give Mike Irie a yell again.

Mike
 
I'm curious as to who the maker in question is. "A four inch blade now costs $600"! Seems like a lot of money unless we are talking one of the big name makers here.
 
Micheal,

just send the knife back and I'll send you another one. the thing about the price increase is a mut point. When you ordered your knife I was getting around three hundred and fifty cuts on hemp rope. I now am getting a lot more, the last knife that I tested made SEVEN HUNDRED cuts and would still slice printer paper. If you will review your e-mails you will see where I said that I would push you up on the list as far as possible and If you do the math you'll see that I was still cutting you a bit of a deal on the larger knife. Iff you don't want to discuss this here then you still have my e-mail address.
 
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