Is This Acceptable ?

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rprocter

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i have just received a 13"(OAL) Presentation Fighter, 1070 forged with Tiger Maple handle from a well known custom knife dealer, made by a well known knife maker.
there are 2 cracks on the underside of the handle, each about 1" long, following down the grain of the burl, and each with some separation such that it is easy to feel the sharp edges of these cracks by running your finger along the underside of the handle.
also there are 5 handle pins. all stand a little proud on both sides of the handle and have sharp edges.
there was no mention of any of this in our pre-purchase correspondence.
is this acceptable with a new $675 knife ?
i have notified the dealer and he has not yet had time to reply, but as a novice here, i would like to know what the generally accepted standards are in custom knives of this price range. thanks, roland
 
I don't think it is for that amount of money.
Part of a dealer's job is to add another layer of quality control, so I would expect the dealer to help find a positive outcome for you, as they have responsibilities tied to their profit.
 
i want to be clear: I am not questioning the dealer's integrity. what i want is to hear from seasoned custom collectors as to their standards. thank you Lorien. roland
 
no way is a crack acceptable on a knife that price for me....i say send it back for a refund or maybe u wanna buy something else from the dealer......the dealer should have stated there was a crack.....anything other than that is deception.......me personally-i'd ask for either a call tag to send it back or to be reinbursed to ship it back to them also....ryan
 
I would guess the maker would want to make it right, it's thier name on the knife. The cracks could have been overlooked(but shouldn't have), but the pins should be flush, that's a basic f&f issue. Don't feel bad about asking to have it fixed, it shouldnt be a problem. Good luck.
 
I'm not sure I'm clear - are we talking about a one piece handle with cracks in the wood - or a mortise handle with separation along the seam?

The raised pins sound like good old shrinkage to me. One of the reasons I prefer domed pins.

Whatever the case, if you're not happy, send it back.

Roger
 
From your description, the condition of that knife would be unacceptable to me. It would not be unreasonable for you to expect a refund or possibly a repair by the maker.
 
If it is a crack and not a seam as roger stated I would send it back to the dealer for a refund. It was up to the dealer to tell you about crack and to make good if there was a fault not spoken off along the lines of a cracked handle. One dealer even went out of his way to send me extra pics of a knife with a cracked handle in that price range to make sure i knew what i was getting
 
Peregrin said:
From your description, the condition of that knife would be unacceptable to me. It would not be unreasonable for you to expect a refund or possibly a repair by the maker.
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I agree totally!! I would send it back, but that is me.
 
You are the only person who can answer if this is acceptable to you. Most dealers I know have a return policy.

Brett
 
I'd have to see photos to know for sure, but from your description, I wouldn't find those problems to be acceptable. It appears that the wood may have shrunk. That will cause the problems you have described. The wood may not have been dried out enough when the handle was made, or the knife may have gone from a humid climate to a dry one.

You have tried to contact the dealer, but you should also contact the maker. It is likely that he will want to fix the problem.
 
it is a solid handle, i.e. 1 piece.
i posted because i see this as an educational opportunity. the best way to learn is to ask the opinions of others with more experience than myself. i had expected a range of replies, but so far there seems to be a uniform standard applied to the "defects" i mention.
as i said, i am a novice in the area of custom fighter knives. $675 is at the lower end for a forged knife of this size, so i was prepared to hear that it might be acceptable for this knife at this price, but not for a smaller hunter at the same price.
the dealer has replied (promptly) asking that i return the knife and he will send a refund. i will do this, but it is disappointing and not an outcome that i ever thought of when purchasing.
i presume more experienced collectors have had an occasional similar experience and it's all part of knife collecting; an experience which helps to mature the collector. roland
 
I'm always happy to agree with Keith Montgomery. :) This may not have been the way the maker sent the knife off in the first place. But it also sounds like an experience that should give you some added confidence in that dealer.
 
I just wanted to add that I don't think the price of the knife is a particularly relevant factor. This really sounds like a case of handle shrinkage to me - that can happen as easily on a $300 hunter as on a $3000 bowie and has nothing to do with the skill of the maker. (Yes, I understand that there are steps makers can take to minimize the likelihood of this happening, but sometimes it happens anyway.) It's the reason why most makers don't guarantee the stability of the natural handle materials - they can't.

I have even had stuff shrink up in transit from a warmer / more humid climate to the dry furnace-blasted heat of a Canadian winter.

All of which is to say - the knife may (and likely didn't) leave the maker's shop in the condition you received it and may not even have left the dealer's hands that way.

But by all means, I think you should send it back. Questions of fault aside, the knife arrived in a condition that is not acceptable to you. You should send it back.

Roger
 
RogerP said:
I have even had stuff shrink up in transit from a warmer / more humid climate to the dry furnace-blasted heat of a Canadian winter.
Click to expand...


I had this EXACT thing happen to a Bowie I sent up to Canada last month. Gave the option to my customer of either sending it back for me to fix, or talking him through it on the phone. He chose to fix it himself (wasnt a critical fix), with me giving some guidance and instruction.

So, things do happen, especially when your dealing with natural materials and different climates. That said, if your not comfortable send it back to the dealer (i would have been in touch with him before posting) then the dealer can send it to the maker etc...
 
this knife was made in Australia and then spent some time in Arizona before being sent to me. transit time from dealer to me was 2 days and my post was 1 day after receiving it.
saying "if it is not acceptable to me" is not much help. i don't want to be a "jerk" or unreasonable, and as this is my first knife of this class, i did not know what others with experience consider unacceptable. thanks to advice given here, now i do.
i am at my "country" home and it is not possible to post decent pics.(at 640x 480 pixels it takes up to 4 minutes to upload a "thumbnail", if it even goes through). my phone was a 4 party line until just a few years ago and the phone company's equipment has not been updated to allow full internet use. roland
 
Hi Roland,

I emailed you last night. Giving you my address to send the knife back to.

Letting you know that Shawn can fix this, however I won't see him until the blade show.

Subsequently, I wrote that I would send you your money back as I didn't want you to be out the money until the knife was fixed.

As my return policy says, if for any reason you are not happy with the knife you can send it back.

Just a note for clarification, I sent the knife directly to Washington state. How it got to Arizona I don't know. :D

Natural handle materials are subject to shrinkage and expansion. Perhaps going from GA to Canada took it's toll on the wood from Australia??

Les Robertson
Custom Knife Entrepreneur
www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com
 
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