Custom knives for $50? What's going on here?

That's probably 440a or 420hc steel in those etched to look like that. I'm 90% sure if you bought three of the same kind they would have the exact same pattern on the blade
 
ebidis said:
Chris Reeve for one, and quite a few established custom makers do not. I've seen many, many custom knives from reputable makers with sterile blades, and a lot with no external markings whatsoever.

Im not saying these knives are good or bad. Ive never heard of them, so I can't say. I'm just saying that sterile blades are no indication of quality whatsoever.
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Perhaps I should have said who puts no marking on the knife at all? I know CRK puts their emblem some where on all their products. I guess I need to look at more custom knives. I just assumed that someone making a custom knife would mark it in some manner to show they made it. Seems like at the very least they would want folks to know who made it?
 
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Badhammer said:
Perhaps I should have said who puts no marking on the knife at all? I know CRK puts their emblem some where on all their products. I guess I need to look at more custom knives. I just assumed that someone making a custom knife would mark it in some manner to show they made it. Seems like at the very least they would want folks to know who made it?
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FWIW I've got knives from a few custom makers that have no markings whatsoever; three makers come to mind: William Neese, Bryan Breeden & SRG Knives; all are excellent quality using top notch materials.
 
Keep in mind, there is no definition of "custom" that distinguishes among the work of an accomplished master, a beginner learning how to make a knife-shaped object, and these Pakistani products, pounded out on a dirt floor from whatever metal scraps are available,

They are actually comparable to factory knives, and calling them custom is a misnomer. The sellers are dealers, not knifemakers.
 
To the OP- if you're looking for very reasonably priced custom knives, take a look on the knife maker's sale area for Austin Goldman. I'm always amazed at how reasonable those are.
 
browningsilver said:
So I was searching on ebay and found TIMURKNIVES with hand-made knives from Ontario Canada....the prices seem too good to be true. I've been doing some internet window shopping on custom knives lately and they typically price around 250-300 dollars. I nearly made a purchase the other day, but now I'm not sure what to think. There is a store link and strange youtube video associated with it as well. I contacted Jason, the owner of Rocky Mountain Bushcraft, and asked if he knew anything about them. He replied that he didn't, but said that the prices did seem a bit unusual for the level of quality. He suggested that I post the question here to see if anyone might be more familiar with their work.

[No eBay links!]




Thank you!
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As with anything else - When it's too good to be true, it is.
 
Badhammer said:
Perhaps I should have said who puts no marking on the knife at all? I know CRK puts their emblem some where on all their products. I guess I need to look at more custom knives. I just assumed that someone making a custom knife would mark it in some manner to show they made it. Seems like at the very least they would want folks to know who made it?
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There are many established, reputable custom makers who put no branding at all on their knives as they don't want it to interfere with the look of the knife. Most hardcore collectors or enthusiasts can spot the maker from the design elements of the knife, or there may be documentation with the knife, or if your buying strait from the maker, its pretty obvious whom the maker is.

Some makers also put their logo or signature inside the knife, on the liners or frame.
 
19-3ben said:
To the OP- if you're looking for very reasonably priced custom knives, take a look on the knife maker's sale area for Austin Goldman. I'm always amazed at how reasonable those are.
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You beat me to it - I finally bought my first Goldman knife for under $60 shipped and It's freaking great. It's an etched 1095 blade with nice exotic wood scales...a really good custom user. It's not as refined as the custom fixed blades I collect, but it is very well designed & constructed, & the young man is getting better all the time, so I imagine if he sticks with it, his prices won't always be so low....but they are now, & I'm glad I bought mine! Oh, & I even asked him to grind the nub in the guard area flush for me & he did it perfectly & still got the knife to me only 3 days after I bought it.
 
I have 4 knives by austin goldman and 2 on the way to me
great knives for the money and are hard work users I will keep buying from him as I collect and use my collection
 
the two I ordered from austin goldman
I am very happy with both very sharp and nicley done
 
KenHash said:
"Handmade" in Pakistan. There are a number of such knives such as CFK and ASH who market such products on ebay.
The sayings "Too good to be true" and "You get what you pay for" come to mind.
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Have you seen the CFK or ASH knives? Have you even tried them out?
 
Maybe another old timer can remember a knife I'm thinking of. They were tanto blades with no handle scales, and were available in carbon steel, sometimes titanium, but from a relatively well respected gentleman, and they were around $20, or so. He also made larger bare-bones knives. It's been 10 or more years, and I can almost think of the name of the guy, and the unique name of his knives... Very similar to Charlie Mike's early stuff. But this guy stuck with one pattern, and made a heck of a lot of them. They were the knife to get, just because they were such cool little pieces.

Someone help me out here. It's at the tip of my brain. If I think of it, I'll post back.
 
Newt Livesay: Woo. They were tanto bladed 1095, came with a Kydex sheath, and were ridiculously cheap, at around 30, or less, shipped. They were pretty rough, but were all the rage 10-12 years ago.

I saw a few on the bay for about $75-80, at this time. (No, I won't post link, per forum rules. :D)
 
"Timur Knives" is located in a single-family house at 240 Glenforest Road, Cambridge, Ontario. The area is zoned Residential.

That is also the location of "SharpSticks Archery - Dedicated to traditional archery." The claim is that the archery products are locally made.

The seller, "Michael," suggests, but does not expressly say, that the knives are made in Canada. That's a lot of knives being made in a garage in an area zoned residential where manufacturing is prohibited. Wonder why the neighbors haven't noticed as they are about sixty feet away on both sides.

Either way, unless they are marked with the actual country of origin (as suggested above, probably somewhere in Asia) they are being sold into the U.S. in violation of the U.S. Country of Origin Act.

So he sells knives out of his house that are made in Asia with the deceptive implication that they are made in Canada.

I'd sure want to do business with "Michael."
 
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