Interchangeable Groove

kneedeep said:
Kershaw could always do a build to order website, it might be the most practical option.
I know that most retailers hate having extra SKU's. And then you'd have dealers that would only want to stock the most popular parts.

Configure a complete knife the way you want it initially, with the option to purchase any additional parts as they become available.
Click to expand...

ya know knedeep, that is one of the best ideas anyone has come up with in awhile.

you could do that with alot of diferent knives. some would be (other than the groove) Leek, Blur, Lahar (think dif handle colors and blade finish), JYD family, even some of the new ones coming out.

it could take some time to get the orders out, and price would be a bit diferent, but we could get what we want then, even more so
 
kneedeep said:
Kershaw could always do a build to order website, it might be the most practical option.
I know that most retailers hate having extra SKU's. And then you'd have dealers that would only want to stock the most popular parts.

Configure a complete knife the way you want it initially, with the option to purchase any additional parts as they become available.
Click to expand...
offsetlover said:
ya know knedeep, that is one of the best ideas anyone has come up with in awhile.

you could do that with alot of diferent knives. some would be (other than the groove) Leek, Blur, Lahar (think dif handle colors and blade finish), JYD family, even some of the new ones coming out.

it could take some time to get the orders out, and price would be a bit diferent, but we could get what we want then, even more so
Click to expand...

I hate to disagree guys, but I don't think it is a very practical idea. It already takes Kershaw months to produce a quality product, but if they built knives to order, it would take a lot longer and they would have to charge a LOT more. Plus, they don't sell to the public now so they would need a new company infrastructure in order to have a retail entity: Order processors, online catalog and order forms, etc...Plus there would be people who claim that they didn't get what they ordered...

Sorry if that sounded hostile (I meant no offense), but I hope Kershaw keeps doing business just the way they are. We are just spoiled to have such a direct link to one of our favorite brands. Imagine if we had this level of input with GLOCK, or Microsoft?

Logistics aside, it would be cool if we could call Kershaw and tell them I wanted a Plain Edge Random Leek with a Boron Carbide Coating! I just wouldn't want it to cost us the affordable pricing we love so much now.
 
nygiantsfan3342 said:
I hate to disagree guys, but I don't think it is a very practical idea. It already takes Kershaw months to produce a quality product, but if they built knives to order, it would take a lot longer and they would have to charge a LOT more. Plus, they don't sell to the public now so they would need a new company infrastructure in order to have a retail entity: Order processors, online catalog and order forms, etc...Plus there would be people who claim that they didn't get what they ordered...

Sorry if that sounded hostile (I meant no offense), but I hope Kershaw keeps doing business just the way they are. We are just spoiled to have such a direct link to one of our favorite brands. Imagine if we had this level of input with GLOCK, or Microsoft?

Logistics aside, it would be cool if we could call Kershaw and tell them I wanted a Plain Edge Random Leek with a Boron Carbide Coating! I just wouldn't want it to cost us the affordable pricing we love so much now.
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no offense taken. i didn't know that they didn't sell to the public direct (ya learn something new everyday!).

yes we are spoiled and are enjoying every minute of it :D :thumbup::thumbup:

first if we had that sorta sway with GLOCK or any other gun company, we would be listened to. Microsoft however would look at us and think up new reasons to dodge us (something about servers being down, or your OS is no longer compatible with our servers, or some crap like that). sheesh its Microsoft :rolleyes:

you and that boron coating! Thomas, i have an idea for you. you should make the Boron Carbide coating available on ALL kershaws. we must keep Jeremy happy! (of course the resulting loss of available invitory would tick the rest of us off because jeremy bought them all :D :D).
 
offsetlover said:
you and that boron coating! Thomas, i have an idea for you. you should make the Boron Carbide coating available on ALL kershaws. we must keep Jeremy happy! (of course the resulting loss of available invitory would tick the rest of us off because jeremy bought them all :D :D).
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Hey that is a good idea boron coating on all kershaw. If all get the boron coating they should also do the rainbow finish on all knives. I would want each knife in both coatings
 
Actually I didn't mean build to order all knives. Just the Interchangeable Groove.
Obviously Kershaw wouldn't want to alienate their dealers.

Like I said before, the average retailer wants as few SKU's as possible. Many probably would not want to participate in something like this if all the different parts were available all the time, just too many different things to stock, some of which might not be popular. It probably wouldn't be so bad if it were a different blade or scale available for a limited time, every so often. But this wouldn't really address most peoples' expressed desire to basically pick and choose the parts that they want.

Oh, and of course, no offense taken either. After all we're here to express our thoughts and opinions.
 
kneedeep said:
Actually I didn't mean build to order all knives. Just the Interchangeable Groove.
Obviously Kershaw wouldn't want to alienate their dealers.
Click to expand...
This is what I was thinking from the start. Buck has been very successful with their custom shop. Look through the Buck forum some time and you'll see custom 110s everywhere. The 110 is the quintessential Buck, so Kershaw would naturally select their most popular knife - the Leek - as their custom shop knife. They could always expand to a couple other models later, if enough demand existed. Dealers don't like stocking a thousand versions of one knife and only selling three of them; this would be a great way for Kershaw to find out what variants are worth producing en masse beforehand.

Kershaw would also be getting MSRP for everything... you know you really love a company when you suggest they take more of your money. :o
 
Martini said:
This is what I was thinking from the start. Buck has been very successful with their custom shop. Look through the Buck forum some time and you'll see custom 110s everywhere. The 110 is the quintessential Buck, so Kershaw would naturally select their most popular knife - the Leek - as their custom shop knife. They could always expand to a couple other models later, if enough demand existed. Dealers don't like stocking a thousand versions of one knife and only selling three of them; this would be a great way for Kershaw to find out what variants are worth producing en masse beforehand.

Kershaw would also be getting MSRP for everything... you know you really love a company when you suggest they take more of your money. :o
Click to expand...

I agree. Buck has been doing this for many years. I know I'd order a special made Leek.
 
Martini said:
This is what I was thinking from the start. Buck has been very successful with their custom shop. Look through the Buck forum some time and you'll see custom 110s everywhere. The 110 is the quintessential Buck, so Kershaw would naturally select their most popular knife - the Leek - as their custom shop knife. They could always expand to a couple other models later, if enough demand existed. Dealers don't like stocking a thousand versions of one knife and only selling three of them; this would be a great way for Kershaw to find out what variants are worth producing en masse beforehand.

Kershaw would also be getting MSRP for everything... you know you really love a company when you suggest they take more of your money. :o
Click to expand...

agreed. that would be really cool.

im with ya rnr. i would buy a Leek like that
 
Martini said:
This is what I was thinking from the start. Buck has been very successful with their custom shop. Look through the Buck forum some time and you'll see custom 110s everywhere. The 110 is the quintessential Buck, so Kershaw would naturally select their most popular knife - the Leek - as their custom shop knife. They could always expand to a couple other models later, if enough demand existed. Dealers don't like stocking a thousand versions of one knife and only selling three of them; this would be a great way for Kershaw to find out what variants are worth producing en masse beforehand.

Kershaw would also be getting MSRP for everything... you know you really love a company when you suggest they take more of your money. :o
Click to expand...


My wallet will be crying for mercy if this happens. Hell, I may even shed a few tears of joy myself.:D I like the idea....big time!!:thumbup:
 
There's definitely been some great feedback, but I think we've gotten sidetracked a bit from the original question, which was if anyone would be interested in a parts knife based on the Groove. Clearly the Leek would be a popular choice for this. I wouldn't mind either, but the Groove might be more interesting to do since there have been less variations of it so far.

One of the big questions would be that initial knife. Would it have to just be the stock knife, or could that be BTO? The impression I get, is that most would like it to be BTO.
Where would we buy it? Factory direct or dealers?

If Kershaw did a BTO website in house, the only place they might really need extra staff would be in assembly and processing the orders (of course the number of people would depend on how popular this would be).
The really great part of the Interchangeable Groove idea is that you could customize and change parts on your knife as they become available. The BTO thing has been done, but I don't think the offering of custom new parts after you have the knife has really been done on a large scale, if at all.

How would the individual parts be sold? Web, direct from Kershaw seems like the best idea. To keep from alienating the dealers, they should have the option of participating, maybe having some parts exclusive to them.
 
I thought that especially linerlocks require rather good fit of both the lockbar and blade tang to be reliable :confused:

Besides what's real difference between offering just variation of the model? I doubt price would be that much lower to have it any potential to sell well.
 
Last time Thomas spoke on it.......not gonna happen.
Kershaw was just kicking the idea around a little.

Personally, I wish they would kick it around a little more. :thumbup:
 
Hey Thomas,
I just got home from work and haven't read every single response yet, so if I repeat something, I apologize.

I really like the idea, and strongly second STR's idea about different blade shapes. I especially love Wharncliffs!! Also, I know the name "groove" comes from the 3D pattern of the blade, but I've always wanted to see this model with a non-grooved blade. How about a couple of those??;) Overall, I think it's a fun idea that would go over pretty well with knife guys. It's also nice for you because you can manufacture and package pieces and let the customer do the assembly and they'll enjoy it, so everybody wins!!:thumbup:

Keep us posted!

Jon
 
What still surprises me the most is that this idea is with the groove! The leek seems the prime platform for this, it already has a thousand and a half variations, I'm pretty sure it's the best selling folder, and people are already creating frankenleeks by swapping around parts from the ones they have!

though I'd totally buy a groove anyway for this.
 
I'd definately buy a wharncliffe blade and a drop point if Kershaw made them for the Groove.
 
I like the idea. Mabey a starterKITwith 3 different blades and 2 grips.
However recently I needed a new blade for my Blackout. Kershaw wouldn't send one to me. But they did warranty it for me, sent me a new knife!! (Thank You very much for the excelent service):thumbup:

Does this mean a change in policy on sending out blades for diy ??

Yes there lots of people who would like a kit knife. Just like customizing your gun or car. It'd be fun.

Btw I really like all the different variations of the groves in the pictures. Cool!
 
Well, after the thread yesterday showing a couple Grooves with orange G-10 on them, makes me wonder if they're going a different route.
 
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