Custom Knife Shop....when?

J

jeffj

Joined
Apr 8, 1999
Messages
439
Have I missed the announcement of a date? Or is the beta testing still going on? Last I saw it mentioned, it was supposed to be opening "soon".

Looking forward to see what you have to offer.

Jeff Jenness

[This message has been edited by jeffj (edited 30 June 1999).]
 
Hopefully it will open in the next couple of weeks...

To beta test for us do the following....
THESE ARE NOT LIVE ORDERS!!!!
go to site http://198.5.212.128/

Design your perfect 110, go to buy this knife now...
DO NOT USE THE CREDIT CARD FIELD for a real card. put xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx and date in the fields instead....
Under Comments put "test for Jeff" and any suggestions or problems you run across
Finish out the order, I'll get the e-mail with your design specs and suggestions...

Live orders will come soon....

Jeff
BTW Thank You...

------------------
Jeff "Without data it's just another opinion" Hubbard
Quality Supervisor


Watch for Pete's Custom Knife Shoppe on www.buckknives.com

[This message has been edited by Jeff Hubbard (edited 30 June 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Jeff Hubbard (edited 30 June 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Jeff Hubbard (edited 30 June 1999).]
 
Wow! Looks great. Very nice design. I like the way that you can see the knife as you design...you can see the actual product.

Will you be offering other custom patterns for sale? Like the Special, Lightning?

Jeff Jenness
 
Well, I went back a second time...to complete the process of design/order and have the following to report. Since I don't think you will receive an email from the site I am responding here.

I didn't find a comments section...perhaps you meant the engraving? Just guessing here but I figured when I pressed the "click here to order" button at the top right that I would be presented with comment/credit card sections -- nothing happened. I didn't look at the code to see if there were any actions programmed for the image and I'm not going to wait again for everything to load.

Are you running the site on a non-production server? It seems to run slooowwwlly. The time to load everything is quite exhausting but I had a look at your images and they are quite small for "gif" files. Perhaps you could make them "jpeg" files and save some space (20-50% and retain the same quality). If you are running on a non-production server it is hard to tell if the time problems are from the server or your page building methods.

Further, the ASP pages/Scripting make reloading just as expensive, ugh! Although I connected using 28800 baud, the time is on the order of 4-5 minutes which is too long even for 28800 modems. I might suggest you not us client-side scripting for loading your images. The opening screens are nice, but the technique makes the user take a hit on any reload since the scripts do not make use of the html cache, but reload the images blindly. I would suggest that you load the images as needed directly on the design page.

Other than that, once the main design page loads, I like the assembly order that you present. It works well.

Hope this helps. BTW, I teach this stuff for a living, if I can be of further help let me know.

jj
 
Jeff,
Thanks for the feedback... I had slow loads also, but Im not sure if that is the final server. The images are being pre-loaded in the background when you sign in on the 1st page, but I noticed that when i did it, I went through the 1st page much faster than the images could load in the background. I'll check to make sure the buy now button works...
The buy now button worked for me....
As far as expansion... if this project is successful internally and externally, it will expand. Which models, unknown at this point.

------------------
Jeff "Without data it's just another opinion" Hubbard
Quality Supervisor

JeffH@buckknives.com
<A HREF="http://www.buckknives.com]www.buckknives.com[/URL" TARGET=_blank>
Watch for Pete's Custom Knife Shoppe on www.buckknives.com</A>



[This message has been edited by Jeff Hubbard (edited 30 June 1999).]
 
Jeff,

My beta report:

Using a 200MHz MMX with 64Mb RAM and
Netscape v4.61 56k modem but because of my US West area I hit only at 26.4k

The six pages of base images load much too slow. Recommend that the frames be split so that the main order page does not include blades, handles, and information. Rather those become sequentially pages 1 through 3.

With Netscape even in full screen the information block shows 3/4 of the DESIGNER CHOICE SERIES and truncates all below that.

I picked BG-42, ram horn, silver bolsters, finger grooves, engraving, then could find no way to proceed.... no buy or order buttom. Nor was there a scroll down frame guide to the information segment of the page. I could go no further.

Now to content... it isn't clear if the BuckCote will be available on ATS-34 or BG-42 in addition to the 420 series blades.

Will all edges be the 2000 configuration?

Hope this helps!

-=[Bob]=-

[This message has been edited by bald1 (edited 30 June 1999).]
 
Jeff,

Just wanted to let you know that I was using IE 4.72.3110 SP1 when browsing...so it should support all that you have done.

You mentioned that reloading the first page was faster subsequently. Did the pages load just as quickly when you went to another site and back again? Mine didn't...hence my comment about the reload hit the user takes. I am certain this is from the fact that you load the images through JavaScript and not HTML. OTOH, you could make your JavaScript smarter in your HTML but you would have to place it all in the main page. It seems that I've seen somebody else use this trick...hmmm, I think it is a www.4adodge.com. Browse some car model and look at the exteriors (paint). The paint colors actually load as you place your mouse over your choice.

I guess what I'm saying is that if you structured the page to come up with minimal loading and load images on an "as needed" basis, then at least the initial hit would be much less unpleasant.

jj
 
Jeff,
Very impressive, but it is slow.
Also, the bolster type and engraving don't seem to register in the order form
and the model doesn't change for the silver bolsters.
Please don't let me know when it's operational.
Designing my own knives could become a very expensive habit.
Doc

------------------
"When I die, I would like to go peacefully, in my sleep,
like my grandfather did.
Not screaming and yelling like the passenger in his car."
- Jack Handey -

 
Jeff,
Me again. The type of sheath also doesn't register,
but I received e-mail confirmation in about 5 minutes.
Pretty slick
Doc
 
This is GREAT! I'll certainly be a customer as soon as this process comes on line for real. All of the concerns I have seem to have already been addressed by other forumites. A little more information about the format/appearance of the engraving options would be helpful. Maybe some sample pictures of the engraving options on completed knives would help.

Looking forward to doing business with you...

Jim

 
Jeff,

After seeing some of the other forumites post comments about a successful session, I returned to see if things had changed. Unfortunately with Netscape v4.61 (the most current) it's no joy. My comments in the previous post are still accurate.



------------------
-=[Bob]=-

I did NOT escape from the institution! They gave me a day pass!


 
All, Thanks for the feedback, That is why it is in beta test. We will try to get all concerns cleared up. I'll have to try it with my netscape and see. We definatly have to do something about the slow loads it seems....

Jeff

------------------
Jeff "Without data it's just another opinion" Hubbard
Quality Supervisor

JeffH@buckknives.com
www.buckknives.com
Watch for Pete's Custom Knife Shoppe on www.buckknives.com

 
I have a Webtv unit with a hard drive and so far haven't been able to use the Custom Knife Shop. It keeps looping when it starts to download the base images.
 
Looking forward to seeing the Custom Shop. Any thought of making it available through dealers in some way, like a catalog. This would reach customers not on the web or those who haven't looked up Buck's site, it would also be a chance to educate customers about the higher grade metals.
I also thought it would be interesting if you posted the top 5 or so top sellng blade/handle combinations to show the popular trends and perhaps dealers might stock them.
 
I like it.

What else can I say?

I wanted to see if I could have one with a horn handle,a Damascus blade and silver bolsters. It wouldn't let me. I guess it's programmed to know the balance in your checking account, too.

This could get expensive for me......


 
Hey Jeff and Pete,

Best Wishes with the Custom Shop. I bet it will take off like a rocket.

=Hope you offer Titanium as a handle option.(Buck once offered a Folding Hunter with Handle and Bolster in Titanium. Is it still offered?)
-Of course, I selected Bg-42
-The order confirmation page did not list the engraving field entries.

Good Luck. Our Check Books don't need this.

You're gonna get a lot of orders, I predict.
Especially knives ordered as presents with the customized engraving, as the Buck name and folding Hunter pattern is so recognized, the Custom Bucks will make great gifts,particularly with the certificate attesting to the kewl custom features as ordered for the lucky recipients.

Stay safe and all the best, Phil <------<

[This message has been edited by Phil Squire (edited 26 July 1999).]
 
I was just wondering if Jeff or any of the other folks from Buck could provide an update about the anticipated “opening” date of the Custom Shop. Last I heard, they were shooting for the first of August…

Any info would be appreciated…I’m really looking forward to placing an order!

Jim
 
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