Handmade custom knife woes, advice needed.

G

gilla409

Joined
Dec 8, 2014
Messages
7
Disclaimer- I'm not putting anyone on blast here, so please don't ask for any names.

I recently commissioned a custom knife to be made for me. The maker was extremely patient and accommodating, and went above and beyond to make any changes needed to get exactly what I wanted. $200 plus shipping later, and we were off to the races.

Production took about a month, and I mostly left him alone to work his magic. The red/black g10 he ordered didn't look very good, so we went with black G10 with a red liner since he had the materials in stock.

The knife arrives, and looks great, though not quite finished as well as I expected. The grip liners were a bit rough, and create hot spots during heavy use. Also there was almost no secondary bevel, but that's no biggie.

This is where I ran into the biggest issue. I brought my knife to a professional sharpener to get a hairsplitting edge put on it, which he succeeded in, though the bevel he added revealed a hidden defect. It looks as though the primary bevel wasn't exactly flat, there's a low spot a little past halfway down the length edge. So, since sharpening the edge is no longer straight.

I really want to love this knife, but the wobbly edge is a bummer. I'm really not sure what to do about it, either. My options are: 1) let the professional sharpener work on the edge and see if he can straighten it out, and 2) send the knife back to the maker and see what he can do. Option 1 is most convenient, as he's local and it wouldn't take long to do, assuming he's able to fix it. Option 2 would likely give the best results, if the maker is even willing to work on it. I'm not sure how much he can even do on the knife post heat treat and finishing, and it would take quite a while before I'd get my knife back.

What would you guys do in this situation? Am I being too picky here, and expecting too much from the maker? Is this something he would even be able to fix without having to remake the knife? It's a beautiful knife otherwise, and I don't want to insult him or his work, I'm just not happy with the finished product.
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First off please don't take any of this as derogatory

if the knife was not as sharp as you would like you should of sent it back to the maker

If the edge was straight before you sent it to the so called Profesional it should be straight now

You said the original maker was easy to work with so you should of sent it back to him to sharpen if you were not pleased

On the fit and finish aspect ...... you get what you pay for

Good Luck
 
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I agree with Joe P - send it back to the maker and ask to get the items fixed. If I had this knife, I'd straighten out the edge by putting it on a flat platen, grind it straight to .025", then regrind the primaries and THEN sharpen it. I'd also ask him to grind the handle contours down to the scales because those exposed edges will cut or blister your hand in no time.

If you don't get this kind of satisfaction, the maker has earned your report on The Good, Bad, and Ugly forum.

A well known knife purveyor once told me many years ago, "A lot of guys just don't know what makes a $350 knife." This is so true. Best of luck to you and don't give up on us custom makers. :)
 
JParanee said:
If the edge was straight before you sent it to the so called Proffessional it should be straight now

On the fit and finish aspect ...... you get what you pay for
Click to expand...

I can only but echo these sentiments...
Do the scales come off? I see bolts... if so, perhaps you can soften the liner edges yourself with sandpaper.
 
The sharpening had nothing to do with it. The person I went to is totally competent and does it for a living, and has for many years... far from some unskilled hack.

When I got the knife initially there was zero secondary bevel. He lightly sharpened the edge of the primary bevel and sent it out. The issue is that there is a low spot on the primary bevel, so any sharpening whatsoever (professional or not) would have created a wobble in the edge. This is a defect in the grind, not in the sharpening.

Finally, to suggest that sharpening requires sending back to the maker doesn't make much sense. It's a knife, it's meant to be sharpened. Also, being a custom maker with full books, the turnaround time would be way longer than I'd like.
 
You paid for it. Get your money's worth.

I will say that I have heard all kinds of horror stories from custom makers not delivering acceptable work, particularly in folders.
 
Just because a knife doesn't have much of a secondary bevel doesn't mean it's flawed. I like my knives thin behind the edge. With that being said it should be sharp.
Not trying to be ugly, but as a guy that makes knives myself I would be embarrassed if that left my shop. It looks uncomfortable to hold or use. Don't get me wrong I like a slightly more coarse finish than the typical ABS finish, but scales fitting to the tang with no gaps or sharp edges is a must.I would have also given the maker the opportunity to fix the issue prior to having someone else work on it. I would say the wobbly edge is due to the guy trying to sharpen it. Wharnecliffe blades are extremely difficult to keep flat on the lower edge when sharpening on a grinder which is what looks like happened.
 
If I looked at this from a maker's point of view my thoughts would be as follows.

Any maker who sells a product to the public for money should have the tools and the skill to fix any problems. If he doesn't he's not ready to sell. In rare cases a knife might slip out with a discreet flaw. We are all human and therefore less than perfect. But no knife should leave a shop with errors due to sloppiness regardless of price point. If a flawed knife left my shop and the customer brought it to my attention, that knife would get priority over anything else on my bench. The flaw would be fixed or the knife replaced. And, I make sure every knife that leaves my shop is SHARP. A customer shouldn't have to go to someone else to do a job I should have done.

Your knife can and should be fixed by the maker even in its heat treated state. Bevels can be flattened. Edges can be straightened. Sharpness can be restored. If the maker is a good guy(and a good business man) he will take care of it for you. Don't be afraid to ask a maker what his warranty covers before commissioning or buying a knife in the future.
 
gilla409 said:
Finally, to suggest that sharpening requires sending back to the maker doesn't make much sense. It's a knife, it's meant to be sharpened. Also, being a custom maker with full books, the turnaround time would be way longer than I'd like.
Click to expand...

this comment here makes me not want to give any advice.
 
I think you can send it back to the maker for sharpening it and taking the hot spots down on the handle. Unless the maker refuses to deal with you and help correct some of the problems with the knife, I'm not seeing a huge problem here. You payed $200.00 for and EDC knife, have the problems fixed and the knife resharpened by the maker and use and enjoy your new knife.
 
gilla409 said:
The sharpening had nothing to do with it. The person I went to is totally competent and does it for a living, and has for many years... far from some unskilled hack.

When I got the knife initially there was zero secondary bevel. He lightly sharpened the edge of the primary bevel and sent it out. The issue is that there is a low spot on the primary bevel, so any sharpening whatsoever (professional or not) would have created a wobble in the edge. This is a defect in the grind, not in the sharpening.

Finally, to suggest that sharpening requires sending back to the maker doesn't make much sense. It's a knife, it's meant to be sharpened. Also, being a custom maker with full books, the turnaround time would be way longer than I'd like.
Click to expand...


Professional sharpener of what ...... lawn mower blades :)

What does he use to sharpen ?

No to touch up your edge you don't need to send it back to the maker but by your own words the edge was not ground to your expectations and you wanted it reprofiled to a certain degree and yes on a new knife that should be done by the maker

The maker should not make you wait or put you on the list it should be addressed in a timely manner

Now you have set yourself up with a situation where one Proffesional has altered the original profile of the blade and the makers stance could be that the sharpener did the bad job not him

Do you have a pic of the blade before it went to the sharpener ?
 
JParanee said:
Professional sharpener of what ...... lawn mower blades :)

What does he use to sharpen ?

No to touch up your edge you don't need to send it back to the maker but by your own words the edge was not ground to your expectations and you wanted it reprofiled to a certain degree and yes on a new knife that should be done by the maker

The maker should not make you wait or put you on the list it should be addressed in a timely manner

Now you have set yourself up with a situation where one Proffesional has altered the original profile of the blade and the makers stance could be that the sharpener did the bad job not him

Do you have a pic of the blade before it went to the sharpener ?
Click to expand...

I agree with this you bought a knife and not happy bout the grind. You then took it to a professional to sharpen it and he found a problem. You should have sent it back to the maker to be fixed. I would treat this as a sales thread here you altered the item. Not saying your professional did anything wrong. But he shouldn't have been the first one to work on the knife if you weren't happy with the knife once you got it.
 
When I saw your pict , at 6am, I had to do a double take, I make one kinda similar to what you have there.

$200 is a lot of money for some people to spend on a knife, and if you have a problem the maker is the first one you should contact.

Your edge geometry from the get go was not correct and your professional sharpener making the edge symmetrical just high lighted that.

As had already been suggested, the maker can flatten and re profile that edge and that grip needs to be made addressed as well.

Contact the maker, the remedy for your knife is easy peasy.

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I'm very new, but that knife shows too much promise, and has too much going for it to end up with such sloppy fit and finish. On the two knives that I've completed, the finishing, tweaking, and refinishing the handle (trying to get them just right) took twice as long as the rest of the project. That being said, and as meticulous as I am, I could not imagine someone actually selling knives without being able to warranty them (like knowing how to fix things ya'll have mentioned) let alone selling any knives that look like cub scout projects... I can't help but wonder if this knife started as a kit, and the 'knife maker' saw an easy way to scam some money...

Another sad thing about it is that it reminds me of an auto glass shop I worked for that told me it's okay to have a few warranties here and there if it means completing an extra job or two per day... Why do so many business owners feel that way? I've always felt quality of work should matter more than quantity. and saw that opportunity to get paid for quality craftsmanship in making elite level knives. However, the pictures of G gilla409 's $200 commissioned knife remind me of the numerous technicians I worked with over the years that just don't give a sh*#...

Anyways, sorry for the rant, this poor guys knife situation really got me going...
 
BTW, I have spent some time drooling over many knives that many forum users have posted pics of, or checked out their websites etc. and I believe that 99.9% of the people around here feel the same about craftsmanship as I do. All of you are a great inspiration and at levels I aspire to reach some day.
 
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