Custom Questions

[Gargs]

At the risk of sounding completely stupid, does E Emerson actually make the customs or do they come out of the shop different from the production models? If he does not make them himself, any idea who does? Also could you tell me SEVERAL differences between the customs and the productions besides the handle materials and (I'd guess) steel used? You guys don't know how much I appreciate this!
S

 

[Haze]

customs have the same materials bar the micarta scales.
the titanium liners are bead blasted rather than left raw as in the production moddels.
the titanium on the lock side is thicker on the customs.
the blade has a zero bevel grind and does not have the production knife coatings (black or satin)
the blade is stamped with the EKI custom logo.
I believe the knife is made by Earnie him self and they cost ALOT more because of that.

I cant think of any other differences but im sure the good folks here will chime in with more detailes.

 

[SIFU1A]

ernie makes the customs himself.

haze is pretty much right except were noted.

i have found that the blade on customs is a little wider than the production strangely enough, only a little bit.

not all have zero bevel grinds though a lot do, some are CG and some of the older ones are "V" grinds.

sometimes the handle screws have a different pattern vs the production ie the '8 does i am sure. also as i'm sure ya know a lot of customs have ti bolsters which the std ones dont, also a lot of the customs have micarta handles but not all do, some ie the '8, have G10 handles. also a lot have chrome(polished?) handle screws and pivot screws though again not all do ie the '8 does not.

though the new ones have the thick liners a lot of older ones dont, i had an '8 which had IIRC the exact same liner thickness as a production '8.

i now have a '13 which is a little bit thicker in the handle vs the std '13.

several models are only available as custom ie CQC6 & viper.

productions bought from ernie run ~$550 or so, its when ya get them in the secondary market that the price goes up, up, & up, on most over $1K.

to sum it up a custom '13 and a production '13 are gonna be pretty close in the looks and size department, but not exactly the same.

they are very nice knives and imho are a good investment, for a knife anyway, they seem to alawys be going up in value especially the waved/bolstered ones, which are the hot ones at the moment.

 

[Gargs]

Thanks a lot....most helpful. Yea, the price is pretty steep on those pieces (there's 1 at Arizona Knives and Steel Addiction has 4 and each is in the $1100-$1200 range, except for a specwar neckknife, which is tempting!

 

[MORIMOTOM]

if you are able to get one from ernie at a show, they are all 550.00.

all models, all sizes, same price.

 

[SIFU1A]

yep ~$550 from EE IF ya can get one lol.

emerson fixed blades dont seem to have the demand of folders thus the prices are more in line with other makers, i havent ever really liked many if any of the FB's though.

 

[Gargs]

Bringing back this thread...for Christmas I just got myself a CQC-13 from Dave Ellis at exquisiteknives.com. Blades are hand ground by Ernie and the price is as a custom at a show ($550 and I know this isn't a complete custom knife) rather than the $1000-$1300 customs go for on the secondary market. I just happened upon the site and can't wait to get the knife. Solved my 'problem' in going back-and-forth between a 12 and a 13. Got rid of the extra money I had stashed (in addition to what I would have laid out for a production 12 - which is where I was leaning), but worth it from my point of view. By the way, Dave sounds like a great guy! The advice in this thread helped a lot....thanks again guys.