Good pricing for a custom knife?

K

Kipstanley

Joined
Nov 27, 2016
Messages
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Hey I found a knife maker on a knife forum, I asked him to replicate a Puma skinner with a Damascus blade. He isn't some famous knife maker but I saw some of his knives and they look very nice. This is the quote that he gave me

Steel-9.5 in $230

Steel guard $40

Elk antler handle$40

Brass pins, epoxy, various abrasives, heat treating, acid etching. $40

10 Man hours @ 10 per $100

Is that fair?

Edit: you can see some of his knives here https://m.reddit.com/user/hold_my_ham/activity?activity=submitted
 
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the steel guard seems awful high. steel for a guard is usually around $6. i wish i could make a nice knife in 10 hours ! for $450 it should be a very well crafted knife. there is no way for me to judge if it is fair without viewing his other work.
 
Just my two cents: that seems very high for the caliber of work produced. Im just basing this off of market prices. I would expect a knife like that to go on the forsale forums on here for ~175 give or take 25.

All due respects,
Spencer
 
That's respectable quality, but not $500-range quality. I'm with Spencer on what knives by him would be worth, but a lot would depend on the damascus. Is he forging it himself? Or is it Chad Nichols or something like that?
 
I would think just looking Exchange in BF that one could find something for quite a bit less $ to do whatever you may want to use the knife. Don't be in a rush. Take time to look on various locations to see what is being done in the field by a variety of makers and keep a file of those that interest you along with pricing and then make a decision.
 
$450 is massively overpriced for the apparent quality of those knives. There are a lot of amazing makers on the Knifemaker's Market selling better fixed blades for several hundred dollars less: http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/754-For-Sale-Fixed-Blades. If you want something made to order, I'd recommend browsing that subforum, finding a maker you're interested in, then messaging/emailing them abou the possibility of commissioning something.
 
Watch the Makers For Sale Forum here and if you don't see what you want contact a Maker who's style is similar to what you're looking for.

Very few knives in the Makers For Sale Forum are priced over $500.
 
Kipstanley said:
https://m.reddit.com/user/hold_my_ham/activity?activity=submitted

Should bring you to some of his knives
Click to expand...

Personally, I would not entertain such knives. There's lots of production knives that cost HALF of that which would make those knives pale in comparison in both quality and aesthetics. Buck Knives, Boker, Fox Knives, SOG, Colt, ESEE... and list goes on and on and on. Damascus to me is not even an option. I can't stand the looks of it, it does NOT even look like proper steel. It's another passing fab that won't last and looks quite hideous to me. Hamons are another thing, as is laminates like San Mai, those are PROPER steel and they LOOK IT. Damascus looks like a dual colored Plasticine.:D

Go for a REAL knife if you ask me.
 
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brownshoe said:
I'd suggest contacting Steingass. http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/member.php/281817-TK-Steingass

I don't have any of his knives, but he has gotten good reviews and does a wide variety of patterns.
Click to expand...

I concur 10 fold. There you'll get a real knife, made by a man that knows how to make beautiful knives, and he is an absolute pleasure to do business with. No mind games, no wishy washy pricing, and proper response times to your questions. Again; he is a pleasure to do business with.

And there are others both in here and external. Look around and ask.
 
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Here for example, I ordered a knife fromTimmy Steingass, and then cancelled the order a couple of months later due to his dishonorable conduct with me. Not responding to emails, allowing others to que jump over me etc.
 
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