How Perfect Should a Custom Slipjoint Be?????

cnas122

cnas122

Joined
Mar 23, 2008
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I have recently been introduced to the wonderful world of online knife discussions and forums, although I have been a collector for some time. So now I have the chance to ask many, many questions to those who probably have as many whittling scars on their fingers as myself.

So my question is this...how perfect should a custom be? For instance, I have blades from Bose (both), Shadley, Ruple, Horn, etc. Some are perfect...symmetry, handle material, fit, finish...but some are not, although extremely close. What should be expected for the price I am paying? For instance, I have a beautiful **maker unnamed but one of the legends** stockman that feels great in my hands and I'm finishing up whittling a nice (at least in my eyes) teal decoy. But one scale is noticeably thicker than the other and would bug someone with a case of obsessive compulsive disorder. From a collectors standpoint, is this an issue, or does this just go hand in hand with being a custom?
 
As long as the scale is tight, aligned and without shrinkage I wouldn't let it bother me.

You can drive yourself "nuts" with that sort of thing.

You always hear "scales are perfectly matched", usually meaning color and texture. Well, I would rather have a little variation from side to side, as long as it's like material. IMO, it adds a little character.
 
I have a bit of OCD myself. We should make them as perfect as we are able. Pure and simple. As we get older, our our eyes begin to fail. As do motor skills. That said, I am constantly hearing the terms perfect fit and finish when knives are bought, shown, discussed etc. But when you bother to look at the pic's, much less in person, it is rarely the case. Even with the very top names. I for one have never made a knife I am completely happy with. Something I have to deal with on a daily basis. That said, Lovett Knives have gained a reputation for very tight fit and very high finish. Especially in the last couple of years. But it to me, makes no difference. As there is no such thing as the perfect knife. Some are damed close. Very Very close.

I have had some very close friends in the Knife making business. Makers called perfect. Super Clean. Un-real fit and finish. These are labels of respect the collectors and every day buyers have put on them. And we appreciate it to be sure. I have been called the King of Clean. ( They never saw me after a knight in the shop!)Steve Johnson is beyond reproach. Buster Warrenski, FANTASTIC!!! Lorchner, Lake, Walker, You name it! They can do it in splendid fashion. We all have one thing in common. We do not make perfect knives. Ever! We all have that goal on our shoulder. Yep, Even Buster did. He was the firs to point out what he wasn't happy with. Yeah, right Old friend. Un-real work Buster did!!!

So don't get carried away. Nothing is perfect. Especially Knives still coming out of a Makers shop, still doing it the old fashion way. Still by hand held operations. Multi runs of laser cut, cnc machined, double disk ground, and assembled knives, especially tactical folder types where fit and finish in all truth really isn't a part of the work Or goa. goes on., All seem perfect when compared to one another. And that's fine too. It is what it is.

And please don't any body say that I just don't under stand CNC. Hell , I was selling them for McFarland and asst's back in the late 70's to customers at Marshal Space flight Center. Thats NASA Folks. They're vendors have had them longer than anybody. Including Water Jet and Laser cutter, wire edm. you name it! That is how they got pionered in the first place.The Space Race! And for what it's worth, I love tactical folders!!!

Only the Maker can decide for him or herself, just how far they are willing to go, and still try to make a living at what they love.

Mike .
 
A knifemaker cannot make the perfect knife, he can make a knife that passes his standards. A knifemaker's standards vary with the maker, some have very high standards and some have lower ones. The standards also differ between appearance and function. I prefer to concentrate on as perfect function as possible with less emphasis on finish, some makers prefer finish and some try to make both as perfect as possible.

Theres also a cost issue both in terms of time taken to make a folder as perfectly functional as possible and making the finish as fine as possible. Doing both would be good but it puts prices up quite fast because they both take time and results in a higher rate of rejects because something is 0.1mm off, happens to me sometimes.
 
I agree that there is no such thing as a perfect knife, no matter who made it, and the great makers will be the first to admit it. One can always find something, whether you consider it a flaw or not.

Also, when it comes to natural scale materials, there's always going to be a bit of variation from side to side in terms of thickness, shading, texture, color etc. This is a non-issue unless it's a truly noticeable and disproportionate fit.

Compare the truly hand made (one of a kind) knife to ones that have blades or scales that though "custom" look like cookie cutter knives that came off an assembly line.

Some of these may be close to "perfect" in terms of fit and finish but to my eye they generally appear soulless and leave me cold.
 
I only have one folder, so possibly shouldn't be commenting here, however I've found that some, though not many, predominately fixed-blade makers get pretty close to perfect.
 
Kevin Jones said:
I only have one folder, so possibly shouldn't be commenting here, however I've found that some, though not many, predominately fixed-blade makers get pretty close to perfect.
Click to expand...


Pretty Close being the operative term. ;) (And no disrespect to fixed blade makers as I love my fixed blades, but there's a lot more to potentially go wrong with a folding knife.)
 
If it were a hundred years ago, hand made items that were perfect, or nearly so, was the mark of a great craftsman. Nowadays, if someone has that same level of skill turns out a "perfect piece", it is instantly suspect of being machine made. I like a ding or two that the craftsman has left. Maybe a slightly off stitch in a sheath. Character. Just my two cents.
 
Bumppo, I'd argue that one can clearly tell the difference between a near perfect hand made knife and one that is machine made.

In fact, I'd argue that despite fit and finish being (near) perfect, a "custom" knife exhibiting such uniformity in terms of the appearance of blades and scales (knife after knife after knife) would be flawed.
 
"Perfect" is in the eye of the beholder. i have 4 custom folders from 3 different makers. 2 of these(both from same maker) are perfect to me. i can find nothing that is not exactly right on, including over all esthetics and balance. perhaps the maker himself could point out something, that i cannot see, but frankly, if it is my ignorance that allows me to see it as perfection, then that ignorance also allows me to experience much joy each time i handle the knife.
there is a downside however to owning such a knife; it sets one's personal bar. i now hesitate to buy knives from other makers, fearing disappointment if it does not live up to this high standard. roland
 
Thanks for all of your thoughts. I guess the use of the word perfect is ambiguous at best. Like I said, I've always bought customs to use them, and not to collect with the hope of their value appreciating. And, of course, most of my knives could definitely not be sold as mint. Lately, however, I have been looking at knives with an eye towards investment; and I guess that is where my question was going. My grandfather always told me that something is only worth as much as someone will pay for it. From a mere investment standpoint, should I not shy away from an otherwise beautiful knife just because I find something, albeit miniscule, that makes me think the subsequent value of the blade might be lessened?
 
Though it is true that no knife is going to be perfect, there are a few in my collection that are as close as can be hoped for.

As the price of a knife goes up, so do my expectations. This of course is only applicable to knives that use similar materials. If one knife has a wood handle and another has an ivory one, just because the second one costs more, I wouldn't necessarily expect the second one to a higher degree of fit and finish. It would depend on how much more the second knife cost.
 
My decided preference is for scales to closely match - there's a reason this type of handle material is sold in pairs in the first place.

Roger
 
As a maker I think striving for higher degrees of progress is what keeps us going at least for me. When I go over some milestone on the ladder it makes me feel better. Perfect
Never, upping my standard yes. The better I get a set of scales matched the better I like the knife. I think I'd have to do something really drastic if I ever got them to look like they came out of a machine.
.
 
I wouldnt sweat it
often scales might not be the same thickness especially stag which can thin in places and has deep grooves
as long as the scales are flush with the liners back springs and bolsters I consider that Good Fit and Finish..
Natural materials vary naturally
 
Bob Loveless once told me that a hand made Knife should look hand made. That there should be some small flaw in each knife. Not entirely perfect. Guess I'll never have to worry about that one.Lol!!! There are a lot of fine makers work out there that I haven't seen. And a Lot that I have. Buster fantastic, as I have said before. , Lorchner, Lake. Near Perfect. Walker also.

Bob wasn't saying that our work should be crude. Far from it. It should be the best we can do. He was just very against machine reproduced, quasi Custom Knives.

I think the folder makers are doing a fine job.

As far as one style. Folder, straight, being easier. It depends on the give design of Knife. Some folders are dead simple. Some are very complicated. Same for straight Knives. But all should should be cleanly made.
 
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