geometry issue with new custom knife

O

olpappy

Joined
Dec 6, 2004
Messages
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I recently received a custom knife from a maker who I shall not name, I have ordered other items from him in the past and been pleased/satisfied. But this blade seems too thick even for an outdoors knife with a pseudo scandi grind. The stock thickness of the spine is .125 but with my digital micrometer I get .045" just behind the edge and .113" where the pseudo scandi bevel meets the flat of the blade. I tried to taks photos to show the blade bevels but it is nearly impossible to photograph well. The blade does not cut particularly well, I have contacted the maker but not heard back yet. I would like to be tactful but most likely I will end up trying to return it. Any comments from knifemakers regarding this blade geometry? Would you consider those measurements acceptable...
 
as a repeat customer it would seem likely that the maker would be more than happy to prepare another knife up to his usual standards which would be satisfactory for your needs. Many years ago my wife bought a knife from a maker for my birthday and the blade geometry just was not such that it was able to cut as one would expect. We kept the knife but the maker took to heart our concerns and following that we have purchased about a dozen more of his knives over the years. This the wonderful thing about custom knives and their makers -- they will work with you to provide the product with which you will be happy.
 
Try to talk with the maker, giving him the chance to make it right is a nice thing to do. Probably it should have been the first thing to do.
 
for a using knife, I don't usually mind having a little extra material there so that I can edge the knife the way I like. Takes some work, though.
 
Honestly....contact the man. If it were me I'd tell you to send it back so that I can finetune the grind properly.

Oh yeah...and apologise profusely.

But different people will react in various ways.
 
was this a custom order or a "stock" custom piece
i build "stock knives " a bit thicker but not overly so but different then a order that calls for a ultra thin knife. helps cut down on returns for buyers that are not quite used to extreme kitchen knives
that said if like the case you state its just overy thick i woudl have no problem thinning / regeindig in most cases (damascus blades that woudl need re eching an dsome types of other finishes i may rather make you a different blade as aposed to regrinding)
 
I always tell my customers "Thin to Win". That is how a knife edge should be, Thin.

As a maker I would definitely want to rework the knife to make it something you would want to use and enjoy using.

Good steel with a good heat treat there will be no problems, unless the knife is abused.
 
I agree with the others, with one caveat. What did you order? In any contract work, sometimes the communication gets messed up and the problem is really with the order and not the execution. In that case, both customer and maker need to give or the customer needs to accept what they ordered. The style for some knives with a psuedo scandi grind is to make it too thick. Some customers like thick blades with short scandi grinds. Not sure why, but hey I don't bushcraft, I camp :)
 
I see most makers bring their edge geometry way down, seems to be a big thing, and then I watch Shiva leave a little more meat than most on his blades before sharpening. AND, his will still out perform 90% out there... There is a point where its just too thick but there are also makers out there that know how to make it work really well.
 
rickmenefee said:
Your screwing the maker if you don't let him know. We all learn together
Click to expand...

This^
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A good maker would make this right for you.
A money maker might dance around a bit.
I'd let him know what your issue is and see which of the above he is.
 
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Finally heard back from the maker, he has offered to make it right, so with any luck it will be taken care of.
 
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