Knife has run in magazine, should I sell it?

Matt Harildstad

Matt Harildstad

Joined
Oct 5, 1998
Messages
243
The title is not entirely descriptive of the situation. Normally, my knives are sold before they run in magazines. This one is different, and I'm curious what other's think.

This particular knife was completed and photographed a couple of years ago, and ran in Tactical Knives "Handmade Customs" and Blade "Gallery". A dealer kept it in the US for a while, and then returned it to me, and I've been holding on to it for a while.

The thing is, there are a number of things I am not happy about about the fit and finish of this knife. Normally, I'd just remove the handle, refinish the blade and do a new handle. That was my plan - until yesterday.

Now I'm wondering, does that prevent someone the opportunity to own a knife that has been published? Obviously, I'm not a big name maker, and it's not like it was a featured knife in the magazine, so it would not be like I was destroying the King Tut Dagger.

I'm curious, what is the collector view on this? As a knifemaker, I don't think I should ship a knife I'm not happy with. What do other makers think?
 
Interesting situation Matt.
As a collector my thoughts would tend to go along with the lines that I want to maker to be happy and proud of the knife they have made. (Not that they will ever be 100% happy and proud :)).

The problem with you folks that keep pushing yourselves is that you are constantly getting better and that many of you are way to picky about your own work. You see a great knife that you made a while back and all you see are the mistakes!

I guess it boils down to the work and it's reflection upon the maker.
No matter what a person does experience makes them better so cut yourself a little slack. If you have done that and the knife still bothers you, then I would not be too concerned about the picture pedigree.
 
I agree with Gus. Plus, there's really no reason you can't fix up the knife and make it look just like it did in the photo. It's then still the same knife, just touched up some. Kills both birds.
 
For what it is worth. I would want it to be as photographed and published.. I would NOT change a thing. The buyer, being informed of what you the maker believe the condition is, will make the decision to buy it or not. I would want it to match the photo in the Magazine so it could sit as a set in my showcase. If you re-did the knife, it would not match the published photo and I see that as a shame.....wolf
 
Matt, how about this idea: Get reprints of the articles to sell with the knife. Take one last quality photo of it before you do any work. Fix it the way you want it (take a few more photos in the process), and take one last pic when it's complete. I would think anyone would be thrilled to own that knife after having done that. Heck, you could even ask Tactical and Blade if they'd like to do a follow-up artical on the knife. Worth a shot.

-Al-
 
Thanks for the input folks. Gus hits it on the head, sometimes it's hard to tell if perfectionism is just driving me nuts or something is truely substandard. The funny thing is, in a lot of ways I am proud of this knife, but I truly am not satisfied.

I'm gonna take it apart. If the blade reappears, it will be in a completely different knife. I would never want to represent a rehandled knife as being the published knife. To me, it just is not the same piece. Alelser, nice idea, but just way too much fooling around for a little knife.

Here is the piece in question:

pinkthumb.jpg
 
That is a wonderful way to advertise Matt!
Click to expand...

How could saying "I'm gonna take it apart. If the blade reappears, it will be in a completely different knife." be considered advertising??? What is he advertising: The knife he is going to take apart or the completely different knife that he may make???


I found the post interesting. It is a shame to see a knife maker ask a question about a knife that isn't even for sale and be accused of advertising...:( :( :(

Michael
 
I don't think Matt's crossed the boundaries of either the forum or good taste in presenting his question here. Let's cut him some slack.

No need to apologize, Matt.
 
LOL! Gus, you are my kinda guy. I was telling myself the same thing before I finished reading the original post.

I'm not saying that good makers are entirely too self-critical. Honest self-critique is essential in this endeavor. I'm merely saying that I'd be happy with any knife a good maker isn't happy with.

That make any sense, or do I still have turkey on the brain?
 
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