Handling knives at shows

P

Phillip Jones

Joined
Oct 4, 1999
Messages
551
A question to all makers and enthusiasts...

Makers...
Does it bother you when you give a potential customer at a show permission to pick up a knife and they don't do it?

Enthusiasts...
Do you handle knives if given permission to do so at shows?

It does not bother me at all to pick up pieces and look at them. At one of the first shows I ever attended Hugh Bartrug's wife thrust "MICHEAL'S SWORD" into my hands (NO it did not hurt) and I have never been the same since. At that time the asking price was $75,000 and well worth every penny plus a tip. I shook nervously for a while but did not drop it. (THANK GOD!) Any thoughts?
 
If there is no sign, I will ask.

If there is a sign that says pick 'em up, I won't hesitate.

If there is a sign that says ask, I ask.

If I know the maker or purveyor, I leave as many finger prints as I can.

My experience is that most guys and gals will tell you to pick them up as soon as you roll up to their table.

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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
 
If I'm just looking, I just look. I don't ask to handle a knife that I am not interested in purchasing. I don't ask to fondle a $1200 knife if I only have $200 in my pocket.
I don't handle without asking, I usually look it over carefully, and if folded- I ask before I open.
 
Phillip:

If a maker gives me permission to handle his knives, I don't feel that obligates me to pick 'em up. Sometimes I just thank him, continue looking, then move on. Usually, though, I like it when the maker tells me to pick up his knives as soon as I walk up, it definitely does make it more likely that I'll pick up his knives.

Joe
 
I only handle if I am interested in the knife. If not, I politely decline. And of course you should never handle without permission. I don't know any makers well enough to pull the finger print routine. Sounds like fun though!

 
I do not mind if they don't pick them up but some people buy without handling them until they pay for them. Are they buying on sight alone just to collect them or do they think that since it looks good, it must feel good during use? It does not bother me if they do not use the knife. I just want to know if people are willing to handle them or if they are afraid they might drop them. I have had people do that but have never had one get damaged.
 
Recently when I was at the Paris knife show I noticed that many of the customers never asked to look at a knife. I found it strange to see this. Has anyone else noticed this in Europe?

Larry

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KnifeArt.com
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When I'm sitting behind a table, I will almost always invite customers to handle my knives. The only real exception is small children.

It really makes me happy when someone has the courtesy to ask permission to handle one of my knives. It tells me that he/she is a knowledgeable potential customer and/or their parents taught them proper manners. I will always thank them for asking.

What really "gets my goat" is when someone will stroll up to the table, just pick up a knife and basically just toss it back without any regard for scratching or damaging it and walk away.

The only time I ever asked (told) someone to leave my table was when this joker just picked up a knife without asking, gave it a "full windup" flick inertial opening. I asked him not to do that and he replied "Some people are sooo anal". He then proceeded to the next table where he just picked up a knife w/o asking and started to shave his face with it.

Stay sharp!

Jim

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Jim O'Young
www.speed-techknives.com
Home of the Speed Tech "SYNERGY" (tm)
1999-2000 BLADE Magazine "Most Innovative American Design"

 
Jim, let's just hope that the next time the joker in your last paragraph tries the shaving trick, he doesn't notice that the knife he's picked up is fully serrated
smile.gif


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Carl /\/\/\ AKTI #A000921

Think this through with me ... Let me know your mind
Wo-oah, what I want to know ... is are you kind?
-- Hunter/Garcia, "Uncle John's Band"
 
After getting permission I handle them with a clean chamois. Haveing been on the selling side of a table I do not want to think about the jerks and jerketts that have thrown knives back on the table and the dings that have resulted. I think I have met Jim's "flicker" at the Blade Show. I am thankful that knife folks like him are an exception rather than the rule.
 
Hmmm. This thread has got me thinking a little.

I must confess that I occasionally touch the blades of knives that I've been given permission to handle. I feel that it's easier to tell by touch rather than by sight whether or not grinds are even, and feeling is the best way for me to tell if the edge geometry is the way I want it to be. I do this even with non-stainless blades. Am I being rude? Since it's a show, I've always assumed the maker had a Tuf-Cloth or other cloth to wipe off any blade prints. And invariably, he does.

Especially on a knife I plan to use hard, I like to feel the edge geometry. Besides touching, I don't know any other way to get reliable feedback on edge geometry, except for actually cutting with the thing!

Joe
 
Tom --

I was actually thinking about fixed blades when I wrote my note. With folders, you're right, it's even more obvious you're going to be touching the blades. I always check for blade-play and lockup before buying a folder -- always.

Joe
 
I try to never put my fingers on a damasscus or high carbon blade. On those I touch handle only. I have sweaty hands and don't want that on my conscience.
 
I always ask.I have never been turned down.If it is a knife I plan to carry,I will ask if it is okay to slide it into my pocket.
Different knives carry with different comfort levels and sometimes it is hard to tell by looking.Some relatively heavy knives carry better than lighter ones because of design.My asking permission lets the seller know that I`m not trying to sneak off with something.
If if it passes the handling test,including checking for blade play,and it passes the pocket test,then I ask if I can check for sharpness.By this point I know that I will buy it if it is sharp.I do the shaving on the arm hair test and buy if it passes.If it does not, I wipe the blade clean with cloth and return it.I never flick a knife open. You can tell more about a knifes action by opening it slowly ,feeling for resistence and grittiness anyway.
I want to develop and maintain good relatioships with knife makers and vendors.If any of this seems out of line or inappropriate,let me know. It is a privilege to handle others knives
David

AKTI#150
 
Joe
One way to check for consistant grind on the knife blade is to lay a business card edge up on a blade going from spine to the edge. You can see real quick how even the grind is and you can check it from choil to point by sliding the card and looking against the light and one side of the blade against the other. By feel is a very good way to check, the card just offers another way to look at it. I have picked up some things with the card I could not feel by hand.
 
I agree with tom, if you're serious about buying or evaluating a folder, you have to touch the blade. I'll ask first unless it's obvious yea or nay.
Sometimes at a show - often, actually - a maker will want me to spend more time with his a knife than I have or want to spend. I don't want to offend him by not doing so, but I also don't want to waste his time and mine if I'm really not that interested or have to get to another table or two. It's a balancing act, and I hope I don't screw up too often.
 
I always ask first regardless to me its just good manners and I always carry a soft cotton hankie to avoid putting fingerprints all over or to wipe the blade before putting it back on the table.
Bob
 
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