is it normal reply for consumer? HAK(HideAwayKnives)....

[high1]

Well he really only gave the other gentleman's response...

but it seems that he wanted this a guy who makes knives in batches to do a one off and got upset when he wouldn't.

Well, I don't know well.
So you might be right.

Also I can't post full of my emails and his response
(Even #1 had edited 10 more times, some errors by loooong text and it's still show you 85% of his mail)

But at least I did not say any of s**t, f**k, or some bad words
And here is the end of his mail.

i can under stand, business are very hard, I also had some experiences
I do not know he had bad time when he wrote this mail

But that makes nothing

i asked is ti normal mail for Customers(Myself or yourself or even be your wife or son)

Anyway Its end of his mail


So making a jig to help grind faster is not art. Then replacing the jig with an NC grinder and programming it to perfection is not art - just engineering. If you have 11 models of knife in 4 metals - (damascus, 440C, S30V and Titanium and have 32 sizes and want 200 each so folks won't bitch you out on the net like a dog, that would be (11*4*32*200=281,600 knives. But if you make those that is not art. What the hell - at 30 bucks each that would only be 8.4 million dollars you would have to accumulate over years. That is not art. Thats dog shit. Art is some drunken pot bellied recluse beating a hunk of metal over a charcoal pit with a bellows until it looks like a knife. You want art. You do not want me. And I am OK with that!

Now be a good girl and buy an S30V straight or tiger claw from me and take a good look at it and the sheath - all made one at a time with my hands - you will see art at its highest form.

William

 

[Monofletch]

Why does it take 5 years to make a knife?

 

[mrnotsam123]

I think the 5 years is related to one off designs, ones he doesn't make regularly and he is setup to make in batches (due to the nature of the knife having different sizings for different hand sizes) so that means he has to wait to do cutouts with his equipment because of sizing differences, materials, finishes etc....

I can understand why he would be frustrated. I think one of the biggest challenges of full custom work is the communication with the customer. To the OP I think you just asked at the wrong time, it sounds like he is really excited to be done with the whole thing and he has probably been getting requests still and has to continue to deny them, you just happened to be the final straw. I wouldn't take it personally.

I'd go with what other suggested and try a maker here on the forum.

Best of luck
-Nick

 

[Insipid Moniker]

At least you got a reply. I ordered one several years ago, maybe I measured wrong, maybe they shipped wrong, but I ended up with the wrong size. I read on the website that they offered size exchanges so I emailed and called repeatedly, never got any answer. Luckily, it fit a good friend like a glove so it made a great gift. I'd never buy from them again after that.

 

[jbmonkey]

For a guy who is so focused on time management and its proper usage........he sure seems to have a lot of time to write long and detailed emails and responses. Reading that links comments from him was very insightful into this.

 

[Rey HRH]

He's an engineer. He writes like an engineer. wordy. no wonder he doesn't like to respond to weekly follow-up emails on custom knives that take him 5 years to finish.

He's being honest. At least he didn't take your order and money to leave you hanging.

 

[Drew Riley]

Holy crap. That's quite a long, and mostly irrelevant, rambling email.

I've always thought that HAK was a perfect example of the differences between an Artist, an Engineer, and a Businessman, (and maybe we'll throw web designer in there too) and how trying to be all at the same time can often reveal that you've not the time to become very good at any.

I ordered a Utility from the site about 8 years ago. It took a few months, but I did receive it, and it was exactly what I ordered. Even 8 years ago, however, the communication was near non-existent, and William was complaining about the hundreds of emails he had to spend 20 hours a day on (literally his words).

What always struck me as odd was that the solutions to all of these problems he seemed to make (or imagine) for himself are relatively easy to solve, and ARE solved by 100s of knife makers and companies every day.

For instance, his website is very outdated and much harder to navigate then it needs to be. It looks exactly the same as it did about 8 or 10 years ago. While he does have a FAQ, it would have been more useful to give updates on batches, projects in the works, etc... and provide his general communications through the website, rather than type the same stuff out to every email he responds to, or wait for someone to pull it out of you with an interview.

It really just seems that most of his problems come from trying to do everything himself. Hire a secretary/customer service rep to field emails and help package. Hire an actual web designer to revamp and manage your website. Train a couple of guys to make sheaths and pay them per sheath. Roll that fixed cost into the product.

Sounds like he's making a step in the right direction with getting a distributor, but based on the emails I received 8 years ago, this should have happened... well, 8 years ago.

For somebody who claims to be a multi-million dollar corporation, I'm confused as to why he wont act like one. Get some help dude!
He should easily be able to make the cost back and then some.

 

[craytab]

What I love is how the guy complains about how answering all these emails and forum posts is ruining his business and taking all his time. Well yeah dude! If you write a freaking rambling novel with meaningless math equations and half ass econ 101 bull snot it will take time and make you look like a crazy nut! Some people just don't get and never will.

 

[Bludgeon]

Someone needs a stiff drink and a vacation.

 

[Mecha]

Art is some drunken pot bellied recluse beating a hunk of metal over a charcoal pit with a bellows until it looks like a knife. You want art. You do not want me. And I am OK with that!

That statement is art!

 

[CrufflerJJ]

I bought my HAK back in 2008, and used to carry it (or an Emerson LaGriffe) velcro'd to my vest carrier while running as a volunteer paramedic on my local fire department.

The HAK took a while to arrive, but such is life. I measured my hand (per instructions on their website), entered my request/reservation, paid when the knife was ready, and received it.