Hi folks,
A few simple thoughts on my end. First off, thank you everybody for your support. In reading this thread it was great to hear that you stand behind us and what we do here. It seemed to me that was the case even if you disagreed with certain aspects of how the Friday thread works. And that support is what keeps us going, literally and figuratively.
As Andy said earlier, these "back door" sales only account for 10 (if that) knives a month. I believe the frustration on certain people's end is that many folks are interested in the same knife. And when they call or email us that knife has already been scooped up. We had that a few weeks back with a very nice Carver, must have gotten 6 requests for it. We've all seen this happen on any given Friday thread - where multiple people are trying to shark the same knife, the unicorn horn runt for example. I cannot tell you how many requests we have received here to buy the Black/Osage Sunset Bushcrafter that has been reserved for Blade show. In the case of that particular knife I've said no to everybody. We're not even sure how exactly we're going to sell it at Blade Show because we'd like it to be on the table for more than 5 minutes.
You can trust us when we say we're knife guys. And we know what it means when a particular knife speaks to you. They speak to us too. That is why we always do our best to accommodate folks that 'have to have it!' We get it. I myself missed out on a knife 8 years ago that I still can't forget. (Ironically, at Blade show last year the maker had made me another one - that was subsequently stolen off of his table.... just not meant to be in this case) It happens. Thankfully, like love and food, more is on the way and in time you find another knife that suits your fancy. Doesn't mean you don't regret the ones that got away, but maybe it means you appreciate the ones you do have all that much more.
Part of what we value the most in the sneak peek threads is that they show off the Process. It's hard work what we do here, just like the hard work that you do. In these threads you get to see a glimpse of the How, and we take a lot of pride in that. And it's cool to show off too. Plus you get to see upcoming knives! I don't understand how that is a bad thing, never has made sense to me. Except of course if you see your grail knife but can't get it. That makes sense. Please read above paragraph for my take on that.
A few people have expressed issues with the time of the Friday thread. Generally it takes all day to sort, photograph, & write the thread. If the thread is running late I post that it is running late, which could be for lots of reasons - technical problems, internet connectivity, safety issues in the shop, etc. I only once posted the thread early - the very first time. I learned my lesson and have never done it since, it was a genuine mistake and of course it pissed folks off.
You can expect the thread to be in the mid afternoon. However, when there is an event taking place - Guild meetings, shows, Trackrock, holidays.... then yes, it's gonna be earlier. Please keep in mind that during times like this we are compressing 5 work days into 4/4.5. The same stuff has to get done, in less time.
I'll leave it at that.
Thanks again for your support, for being a great community, and for sharing your perspectives in here.
Ken
