Knifecenter is showing S90V Gunhammers?

Scurvy092

Scurvy092

I wasn't aware that this was something coming up. I thought we settled on s90v because it was something it hadn't come in yet (and why we agreed to pay a premium for it over CTS-XHP which was announced to come out in that 600 piece run).

I'm not angry, just looking for clarification.
 
From the Original Group Buy Thread:

harkamus said:
When I mentioned that Elmax was the steel idea being tossed around, Darrel mentioned CTS XHP could also be a candidate.

I dunno about m390. m390 is pretty much a Knifecenter exclusive for HTM knives. I'm pretty sure Darrel will not agree to make an m390 run even if it's a sprint forum run. It would not be fair to knifecenter. m390 is available on custom knives, such as the one I have commissioned.
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From the 2nd Blade Steel Poll Thread:

harkamus said:
I want to point out that while you guys might pick a steel that's unique right now, nothing says that Darrel can't use that steel in some future order, or even if he thinks the Gunhammer line should move to that steel (doubtful, but possible). Yes, it's a forum sprint run and limited to, I dunno, 25 pieces or so, but if some other dealer wants to order a knife exclusive in the steel, I'm guessing Darrel would agree to that. What he won't do is offer the exact same configuration as the forum know, so your color choice should remain unique for example. But, you have to realize the nature of knife making is such that steels get upgraded over time. Perhaps, down the road, Darrel will find it necessary to offer "this" blade steel as a standard configuration.

The scenario is illustrated perfectly by the fact that he was allowing you guys to use CTS-XHP despite that being a 600 piece run.
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neuron said:
Of course. :) All that I, and I assume most others involved in the discussion, mean by "unique" is "unique at the time it's made".
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Scurvy092 said:
+1

If another knife gets the steel down the road, no biggie. It would just be nice to have THE FIRST GH in a particular steel.
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Just saying
 
Indeed. Would certainly have been nice to get a little more priority on these. Then again, the process did get delayed with the anodization fiasco.
 
Wow, thanks for the heads-up. I didn't know about this until you posted it, and I've gotta admit I'm not overjoyed about KnifeCenter "scooping" the steel of the forum knife.

My guess is that, like crimsonfalcon suggested, the delays associated with finding an anodizer who could get the color right are probably the reason the KnifeCenter S90V GHs beat the forum knife to the streets. I'm emailing Darrel right now to get the official word on what's going on.
 
Thanks for contacting him neuron. I know we all appreciate your help.
I've got to admit that I am more than a little annoyed at the situation. I am starting to regret having gotten in to this project. It looks like we are paying a lot of money for just having a green handle.
If I could get my deposit back at this point, I would.
 
So it seems that the pics of the handles being made, were more than likely for the KC run. I think it's a bit lame, but such is life. It does seem tempting to cancel the current preorder, black isn't a bad color for the handles.
 
I had a bad taste in my mouth the moment after I called in my deposit. I just didnt have a good feeling about this. I will never put down a deposit on a knife ever again! I will get this knife (someday lol) and it will go right up on the exchange. So if anyone wants to call dibs on my knife PM me! I won't make a dime on you.
 
Yep, I'm none too happy either about the rather massive premium being paid for a different color handle. While it was made clear up front that someone could scoop the steel, I'm not as happy that KnifeCenter picked that one. I blame KC just as much though. What do you bet they've got a presence on here? They could have easily picked a different steel and let us have our knives for a little while. Even with the unexpected delay, these would have hit just after the forum knife, and we still would have been unhappy.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Yep, I'm none too happy either about the rather massive premium being paid for a different color handle. While it was made clear up front that someone could scoop the steel, I'm not as happy that KnifeCenter picked that one. I blame KC just as much though. What do you bet they've got a presence on here? They could have easily picked a different steel and let us have our knives for a little while. Even with the unexpected delay, these would have hit just after the forum knife, and we still would have been unhappy.
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KnifeCenter is selling their S90V GHs for $325, so $360 for the forum knife -- a premium of only $35 -- is IMHO reasonable for getting a non-standard anodizing color and each person's choice of blade shape/opening mechanism options (KC, as far as I can tell, only has Torpedo blades on the S90V GHs on their site).

I definitely agree about the second part, though. For KnifeCenter's S90V GHs to be showing up right now, they would have had to put in their order for S90V GHs almost immediately after we finalized the order for the forum knife. :thumbdn:
 
I agree that it would have been better for our forum knives to be released ahead of Knifecenter's S90V GH's. It seems like we're still falling within the estimated timeframe for the forum knives (if my memory serves me correctly -- which it doesn't always). It annoys me that KC would soop the steel selected here and makes it hard for me to want to buy from them in the future. They're kinda bitting the hand that feeds them.

Just as a side question, and this is just a minor detail, besides the green anodized handle, our forum knives will have different blade markings than the KC GH's, correct? I like the idea of being able to stand out from the KC GH's...
 
mjrobinson said:
Just as a side question, and this is just a minor detail, besides the green anodized handle, our forum knives will have different blade markings than the KC GH's, correct? I like the idea of being able to stand out from the KC GH's...
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Yes, that's correct. I don't remember off the top of my head the details of the blade markings we decided on, but at the very minimum the forum knife's markings will be different in that they're serial-numbered, while the KC knife isn't. I think the markings that one of the forum guys drew up also had some other stuff (logos, etc.) in different places from the standard markings.
 
I'd like to hear from Darrell before pointing fingers. We don't know if KC came in a scooped the steel or maybe Darrell put in a large order for S90V and decided to shop it around to the different dealers.
 
True story. Opening mechanism doesn't cost anything extra on retail ones though (and I was getting a Torpedo anyways). I'm okay with the timing. But I can't help but be skeptical of KC, especially because it seems like every time I hear about them, it's either a dull knife, or one with vertical play, or one with poor lockup. I know that some of that can be attributed to the old QC team, but I have to say, I've never gotten a dull knife from any company EXCEPT KC. I can't remember the last time I saw positive feedback for them. I guess we'll see.
 
Guys, just got a response from Darrel. Below is my summary of what he said.


On the KnifeCenter S90V knives:

1. The reason S90V is appearing in another limited edition is that it had to be purchased in a very large quantity -- substantially larger than what would be needed for just the 40-some forum knives -- in order for Darrel to be able to offer the forum knife at the price he did. Without the S90V being purchased in quantity, the price of the forum knife would have been significantly higher...so much so that it would have been unlikely that we'd get the minimum of 25 orders needed to make the forum knife happen in the first place.

2. As crimsonfalcon surmised, the anodizing delays were the cause of the KnifeCenter S90V Gunhammers arriving before the forum knife batch did.

3. Darrel emphasizes to us forum guys, as he did to KnifeCenter, that the combination of S90V and green anodized handles is off-limits to dealers -- it's unique to the forum knife.


Progress/updates on the forum knife itself:

4. They're now getting the forum knife's green handles back from the anodizer and inspecting them. The next step after that will be assembly. Darrel says he should be able to take some pictures early next week, which I'll of course post up as soon as they land in my inbox.

5. The steel junkies among us will be pleased to know that Darrel says the S90V at 60-62 HRC is some crazy hard stuff to work with. He mentioned it took them 6 hours to hand-rub one blade!


Anyway, like I said in an earlier post, I wish the KnifeCenter guys had held off at least a little while on ordering their S90V Gunnies, since they ended up "scooping" us once the forum knife got delayed by the search for a new anodizer. But from what Darrel said (see point #1 above), it sounds like while the timing and communication certainly weren't ideal, the use of S90V beyond the forum knife was a necessary evil in order to get an S90V forum knife made in the first place.
 
Thank you for the update! It would have been nice to have our forum knives before KC, but I completely understand Darrel on point 1. For me, point 3 helps out and that we'll have unique blade markings. Being first with the S90V would have been ideal, but oh well.
 
Thanks for the update neuron. I feel better esp seeing that the kc gh will be more expensive than the norm so our premium isn't as bad as I thought it was
 
I hate to say it but I actually agree with Striderco. I'm not too happy that we weren't told the whole story up front. If I would have known that I could have gotten the same knife, in a different color, sooner, for less money..... There is no way they would be holding my non-refundable deposit right now.
 
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