Custom Knife Purchases - Web Dealer, Collector or Maker?

Kevin Jones said:
That's a good point STeven, especially if you have been waiting for a couple years.
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The biggest problem ordering direct from a maker for me is that "2 years" can turn into "6 years" very easily.

Maker decides to reduce output, maker decides to increase quality, maker decides that they are making way more money selling at shows than filling orders, maker decides to only sell direct to a select group of "buddies" and then there is always maker quits or dies.

During the multi-year extensions, I find it hard to maintain focus and waste money piddling around with knives I have less interest in than the ones I ordered.

All other methods decided on price. I have received several knives that I had to return due to poor quality, mostly from dealers rather than collectors. I find that most dealers are simply brokers, and do not in fact bother to act as quality control for what they sell, they just sell whatever the maker delivers. I have had this happen with three different dealers. And yes, these were all "new, direct from the maker" knives.
 
My short list looks like this.

Maker:3
Dealer:1
ebay:1

Side note:
I'm looking for contact info for cfeller casemaker, Meridian Idaho. My Scott Cook Owyhee came in this amazingly nice sheath, I want more! I've got an e-mail out to Scott but he is a busy man.
 
ClintB said:
My short list looks like this.

Maker:3
Dealer:1
ebay:1

Side note:
I'm looking for contact info for cfeller casemaker, Meridian Idaho. My Scott Cook Owyhee came in this amazingly nice sheath, I want more! I've got an e-mail out to Scott but he is a busy man.
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Haven’t heard of that sheathmaker.
I assume you did an internet search?
 
Yes, did the Google search and a yellow pages search for Meridian.

Time to pick up a digi cam so I can share my new aquisitions!

Here's a pic I borrowed from Les Robertson's web site:
cook
 
Kevin: Understood. Everyone makes mistakes. My point is that, no maker should be above having an obvious flaw pointed out. Or, a non-obvious flaw, for that matter. This is especially true for a knife made for a specific customer, as opposed to a knife purchased on the secondary market.

At the least, the maker should be open to a dialog about the issue. Sometimes, the condition cannot be rectified without affecting some other aspect of the knife (removing a scratch when engraving is present, for example).

If my ego ever gets so big that my customers are afraid to ask me a question about my work, for fear of annoying me, then, I am in a bad place.
 
At first, I was a little surprised at how the responses here heavily favor purchases direct from the makers, however after more thought I'm not so surprised after all.

First, we are addressing handmade or custom knives here, not collector knives in general which would lean heavily towards the dealer in my opinion.

Secondly, this forum membership is not typical of the mainstream custom market as we are mostly seasoned collectors rather than newbies which lean more towards web dealer sales.
 
ClintB said:
I'm looking for contact info for cfeller casemaker, Meridian Idaho. My Scott Cook Owyhee came in this amazingly nice sheath, I want more! I've got an e-mail out to Scott but he is a busy man.
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Spelling is real impertant:p, here ya go;

http://www.gfeller.us/price list.htm

RJ,

Not so much a matter of ego, but some makers blow their tops first, especially if it is at a show, and they are sleep deprived. THEN, they calm down, and can be talked to. I have been collecting almost as long as you have been making, and just like there are some a**hole collectors, so too are there some "difficult" makers. It is definitely one of the downsides of dealing direct with the maker. Another collector or dealer has to take the bad news and make it right.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Most of my knives have from other collectors and vendors (dealers, auction sites).

About 25% have come from makers. The simple reason is that most makers I try and find make very few knives or are years behind. I also learned a lot about selecting custom knives by buying knives from seasoned collectors.
When I got into ABS knives, I bought more than a few knives from Danbo. He has a good eye for design and material and has good taste in makers. I learned a lot of good things from the knives I acquired from him.
 
Other makers like Matt Lamey and John Fitch also steered me in the direction of makers work that they found to be excellent as well.
 
Anthony Lombardo said:
I also learned a lot about selecting custom knives by buying knives from seasoned collectors.
When I got into ABS knives, I bought more than a few knives from Danbo. He has a good eye for design and material and has good taste in makers. I learned a lot of good things from the knives I acquired from him.
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I think Danbo deserves lots of credit for stimulating interest in custom knives and selling high quality knives at reasonable prices. :thumbup:
 
ptgdvc said:
I think Danbo deserves lots of credit for stimulating interest in custom knives and selling high quality knives at reasonable prices. :thumbup:
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I frikkin swear, man, after this weeks posts that you are President of the "I use Preparation H as lip gloss ASSociation".

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Dont have percentages
My Fixed blades tend to come from the Makers
My folders are about 50-50
 
Hi STeven:

I frikkin swear, man, after this weeks posts that you are President of the "I use Preparation H as lip gloss ASSociation".
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It is said that every Senator looks in the mirror and sees a President!

LOL.....:D

WWG
 
There a few dealers who have relationships with the more established makers and have standing orders placed with them for a particular number of knives each year.
Collectors give these dealers their preferred knife style and specifications and are put on waiting list and orders are filled as knives are delivered.
By this method, the collector takes advantage of the benefits from buying from both a dealer and the maker. Since the dealer has standing orders with the makers, waiting time for the collector is reduced in most cases.
 
Kohai999 said:
I frikkin swear, man, after this weeks posts that you are President of the "I use Preparation H as lip gloss ASSociation".

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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You and Les "the Ogre" Robertson are both out of control.

Can't we all just get along?

LOL!

P
 
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