How do they do it

wolfmann601

wolfmann601

Gone, but not forgotton. RIP Ira.
Joined
Mar 12, 2001
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Looking through E-bay of late, I find a slew of knives listed as "custom" with photos depicting what looks like a truly good looking knife with prices under $150. The write-up says what one expects to read for a knife selling in the $500 range yet the price is so low that I am really suspicious about the validity of the description.

Here is a photo of one selling for $139

yelloblack28_5.jpg


So what do you think???
 
OOPs sorry, forgot the goodies!!!

Blade Material: 440C
Bolster: 420J with Mosaic pin
Handle: Honey, Black Pearl with Mosaic pin
Back Spacer: 420J on file work
Thumb Stud: Brass inset with Citrin

and the current bid price is $76:confused:
 
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If this is a custom from Thailand or Taiwan it's not uncommon for them to sell at low prices. Custom makers there do great work, but considerably cheaper.
 
There are also a lot of suppliers who sell almost every component you'd need to build a knife. A friend of mine has a little bench-mounted electric tile saw he bought for bathroom work, and with a fine abrasive blade, he can literally cut almost anything with no chipping, even brittle material like MOP.

With a little handwork and fancy filing, you can have a really nice looking knife. I'm not sure if it would be a "full custom", though.

thx - cpr
 
Just about any knife could be called a custom knife by the dictionary definition. Do your homework before you buy one and analyze exactly what you think "custom" means. There are many ideas about what "custom" means. Even here among us there isn't a real clear definition.
 
It's from Thailand alright and looking at the pictures, the lock seems a bit less than well fitted.
yelloblack28_8.jpg
 
Looks decent to me. I might get one in the not too distant future. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. For that price it looks like they use decent materials. And they might even be good craftsmen, who knows.
 
THE PUNISHER said:
it looks well made,might be a good knife,no resell though..
Click to expand...

I rarely buy knives for resale, I buy them to use.
One knife has caught my curiosity, so I bid $30 and won the bid. When it arrives I will photo it and put it through some "tests" (non Cliff Stamp type:D) and see how it holds up.

I find it hard to believe that with the materials listed it could be made and sell for so low and actually turn a profit, even in Thailand.

Maybe???
 
The knife in the pictures looks well made, but I think the liner goes over way too far.
The picture looks likes it's nearly to the opposite side.
 
wolfmann601 said:
I find it hard to believe that with the materials listed it could be made and sell for so low and actually turn a profit, even in Thailand.
Click to expand...
.....then you'd find it even MORE hard to believe the disparity between actual production cost and MSRP, even here in the states.
 
As it was stated above, there a dealers who sell all the components needed to build a knife. A lot of these "kit" makers will post their wares on ebay to sell. That's really a good thing in that it gives the market a chance to evaluate the craftsmanship of a new maker, and perhaps provide encouragement for them to continue in the trade. It will also help to weed out the hacks.

So it's kind of a gamble. You may get a budding Brian Tighe or Ken Onion, or you may get a rube. If its worth the risk to you and you want to roll the dice, go for it.
 
A couple years back I was collecting unusual Sharpfinger variants and bought over a dozen from eBay. Several were "customs" made from Schrade blanks, with exotic handle materials, mosaic pins, and filework. The heat treat was so bad on one of them that the tip rolled in shipment.
 
i agree with jill on the lock. you might find blade not heat treated,also they may use paper glue to hold it together.
see if you can get money returned if knife is'nt satisfactory
 
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