I don't get the whole custom vs production thing..

I have not owned a slicer, but had a 3" spearpoint and now EDC a 3.5 spearpoint. They have been my absolute favorite knives.
 
motojg said:
I have not owned a slicer, but had a 3" spearpoint and now EDC a 3.5 spearpoint. They have been my absolute favorite knives.
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I've owned a bunch of production spantos, and now have a 3" spearpoint. The spearpoint is a great blade shape, I'd imagine the slicer would be a great, well, slicer. I think the slicer has the thinnest tip, though (I think the spearpoint actually has a thicker tip than the custom spanto, at the very end, but I've never seen them together). There's a slicer going in the forums now. It's definitely on the greener forum, I haven't checked the exchange here, but it probably is on here too.
 
Nothing can knock my XM-18 3.5" flipper out of my pocket - except an XM-24! :D

Rick's knives are hands down the best IMO. The "mid-tech" or "gen 3 production" mean nothing to me except a shinier blade that I'd be afraid of buggering up. :(

Give me a stonewashed spanto bladed XM anytime (Rick puts the final edge on these) and I'm not looking back! :thumbup:
 
misterjuiceman said:
I've owned a bunch of production spantos, and now have a 3" spearpoint. The spearpoint is a great blade shape, I'd imagine the slicer would be a great, well, slicer. I think the slicer has the thinnest tip, though (I think the spearpoint actually has a thicker tip than the custom spanto, at the very end, but I've never seen them together). There's a slicer going in the forums now. It's definitely on the greener forum, I haven't checked the exchange here, but it probably is on here too.
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Ive seen pictures showing the tips of a slicer, spearpoint, and spanto. The slicer had the thinnest tip, and the spearpoint the thickest. Some people have said they do not notice any real difference between the slicer and spearpoint. The great slicing ability and the strong tip is what made my spearpoint a grail.
 
motojg said:
Ive seen pictures showing the tips of a slicer, spearpoint, and spanto. The slicer had the thinnest tip, and the spearpoint the thickest. Some people have said they do not notice any real difference between the slicer and spearpoint. The great slicing ability and the strong tip is what made my spearpoint a grail.
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well, I can't argue with someone saying that the grind of mine is the best :)
 
I have been watching the custom fixed blade knife section on this site and it
Seems to be that custom = $$$.
There only seems to be a few custom knives that sell for $ 100
Or less. I bought a couple and they are nice but I would think a custom 3.5" blade knife at at
Sub $ 100 price tag would be a great niche to fill.
I am sure they would sell nicely.
 
And how is the make the maker going to get more than minus 50cents an hour with that price. And of course all of the quality that makes it better from the factor product must still be there. The makers blade may be the same but the finishing, heat treating and hardness may be more suitable for the steel.Factories are bound to certain standards in order to allow them to produce. Fitness should be better as well, and then if the high priced materials are wanted just watch what happens. Some nice black lip pearl scales about 3" long if you can get them - cost the maker about $225. you can check that out. I believe there is usually lots of difference between the factory or maker made knives but there is choice and costs and both can be very good and perhaps that factory one is the choice for you or you're just thinking the maker made one has an overall "swish" to you that you just gotta' have. Frank
 
Yes, the reason there's only three designs for a Home Depot building is that if you had a local contractor designing your store, it'd take three times as long to build and cost twice as much. Mass production maximizes profits; that doesn't make it bad. Upper-end Spydercos and Benchmades rival the sheer functional build quality of many of their custom counterparts, and Lone Wolf and CRKs turn out some higher-end stuff which is a little extra in the beauty department. These knives I've mentioned (again, upper-end quality from production companies) start at the price point you mentioned and climb into the hundreds quickly. All of these guys also buy materials in bulk and produce the same knife over and over and over again, both of which save money. What you're paying for in a custom knife is being able to say, "Okay, I like this blade pattern, but don't care for where the thumb stud is--I'd like it a touch farther back. Also, I really want to try some of this ________ steel I've heard so much about. I don't like finger grooves like the knife I saw, though, so please do it without those." Now the maker has to draw out the new design, make sure it still works, place a non-bulk order (meaning he pays full price) for whatever whiz-bang steel the customer wanted and start crafting. Since he only has a grinder/band saw/basic mill it will take him many hours (or days depending on skill and how complex the design is) to do instead of the fifteen minutes it takes a production maker to turn one out with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of CNC machining, laser cutting machines, water jet machines, or whichever process they use that allows them to produce knives fast enough to keep the Walmarts of the world supplied. Given the price of most of the higher-end steels (and nobody sells you steel in 3.5" lengths) and the length of time it takes to turn out what most would expect in "custom" fit and finish, like Frank Niro said at $100 the maker is not only working for free but picking up a fair amount of the cost himself. If he buys enough material and streamlines the process enough to reduce his costs and make 100 of the same knife...well, is it really custom anymore? I mean, whoever ordered it first and set the design parameters is getting everything they want but the other 99 customers are just getting a low-production knife. A good knife? Sure, but there's lots of good knives at $90 that they don't have to wait for.
 
So anyone want to talk about Hinderer knives anymore? I just got a brand spanking new XM-24 today S35VN. :D I heard Rick runs the steel at 60 Rc - anybody confirm that? I saw a post with all of his steels and the hardness he puts in them but I can't find it now. :(
 
The hardness is in the XM specs on his website....;)
http://www.rickhindererknives.com/rick-hinderer-knives/xm-folding-knives/
Actually its 60-61 Hrc for CPM-S35VN!
 
What's to talk about? My XM-18s are my favorite folders, EVER. What more is there to say?
 
I don't get how a custom knife can cost more than a custom gun? I regularly see custom knives that cost more than hand assembled guns from Wilson and Red Jacket ect.

I understand they sell knives at those prices and hey more power to em' I just don't get it. And I won't ever be paying more for a knife than I would for a gun.
 
Its same thing like some watches cost more than a sports car or a house depends how much people are willing to pay for it.
Also there is a much bigger market for knives than guns, worldwide.

Almost anyone can purchase a knife, guns are much harder in most countries. You can't sell a fully customized race gun on the fleabay for example.

Custom can mean its:
Made on specific wishes of the customer or it has features the regular production does not have.

Personally I think a (full) custom should be unique or much different than regular production, a polished blade only does not qualify for me as a full custom, I rather call it customized, or custom featured.

A different grind would classify as full custom for some but then I think also the frame should also be customized if its a regular frame its still semi-custom or mid-tech in my opinion.

So imho not worth paying triple the price as often seen on the secondary market. I see people offer XM-18's for almost $2000 (or more) with just a different blade grind !
I can see why some people associate "custom" with big $$$ when they see these prices showing up.

But still some people are more than willing to pay top dollar for the little extra exclusivity...to stand out from the rest of simple production owners like myself..for now at least ;)
I am already happy I have a bead blasted frame on my XM-24 and not the "usual" stonewash, but I am not calling it a custom....yet )
 
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akthor said:
I don't get how a custom knife can cost more than a custom gun? I regularly see custom knives that cost more than hand assembled guns from Wilson and Red Jacket ect.

I understand they sell knives at those prices and hey more power to em' I just don't get it. And I won't ever be paying more for a knife than I would for a gun.
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I've seen rare stamps that cost more than a Corvette.

Coduhhh said:
Awww Naw, somebody's hatin on the strudel.
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I've don't hate 'em any more than I hate termites--I just recognize something that needs to be got rid of when I see it. ;)
 
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