Daniel : What dimensions would you require to make the type of handle you would do ?
Tom : I understand your points and would like to think I am a reasonable man.
To your first statement though, have you ever had a problem with any of his products. The way in which he talked to me and said bluntly he was not doing business with me anymore is out of order. He had absolutely no concern and shut me down completely. You don't do business like this !
To your second & third: This could of been intercepted at manufacture stage. When you look at the cross section below of the material in block form compared to the picture of the Neil Blackwoods Knife it is obvious to me that I would have no where near the same results . The canvas has gone extremely dark and the difference between the two colours is barely noticeable. If he had pride in his work he would of not of shipped this, he would of redone it.
I am pretty fair and willing to give this another maker to try get better results but to me short of a miracle it ain't gonna happen. I sent the picture of Neils knife in my original correspondence to Gary so he knew what I was looking for. His only warning to me prior to making was it would look like a thick laminate. I was fully aware of this.
The knife I have in my hand right now has the different colours shown through on the face but you need a high powered fluorescent light to see them as they are that dark and the burlap cloth is, yes I would say burnt too. The photo I sent him was to me as good as a sample, he failed to reproduce this material and just sent me it anyway.
It is obvious from his reaction just shutting me down, that being I am a one off customer he couldn't care less. In his reaction he just goes on about the days and costs and that is it. Am I supposed to sympathize that he struggled so much ? I would of payed the right price for what I asked for. He should of warned me due to the amount of resin in a large piece it could possibly overheat and look like shit.
All he said was, again it would look more like a laminate and that my piece was from the same bolt of material that was used in Neal's material. More color would be seen in the flat face of the fabric instead of the edge.
I have no colour !
I hope it works out for both of you, and harrybobble can get the handle finished to show off the material better.