Market Research/Requesting opinions

Size? 7 inch (4 Handle 3 Blade)
Steel? D2, 154CM
Style? Recurve or Wharncliffe
Grind? Flat
Bolster or no bolster? Bolster
If bolster, what material? SS
Handle material? G10
Thong hole with tubing? No
Pin material preference? SS
Filework or no filework? NO
Tapered tang? Yes
 
Awesome, Jarret. Loving this thread.

I'm a maker, but if I put on my "buying hat" I'd go

Size? around 5 inches of blade, 9.5 to 10 OAL, maybe a bit more depending on handle design and presence/style of guard.

Steel? Maker's choice, carbon preferable. Toughness and fairly easy edge maintenance are good things.

Style? Utility/Field.

Grind? depends on steel, probably scandi or convex.

Bolster or no bolster? integral semi-guard to the handle or a seperate guard.

If bolster (guard), what material? bronze.

Handle material? osage, ironwood, highly figured walnut/birch/etc. Really, as long as it's a durable and matching choice for the blade, I'm good with wood.

Thong hole with tubing? Yes

Pin material preference? bronze, stainless.

Filework or no filework? Not too much, if any- up to the maker

Tapered tang? No.
 
Thanks Gary, Spiralarchitect, and Koyote!! Good stuff again.

Tomorrow morning when I have a moment, I'll compile the info and post the stats, for example, Bolsters, 15 yea, 2 nea, etc. We'll need to get a lot more responses if we're going to try to see any real trends but I think we can get there. I'm game to keep track of it, if you're willing to give us your opinion.

Keep it coming!!!
 
Jarrett - the most important item for me is design, and value or name recognition. All the rest is subordinate to this. With this said, NiSi or brass furnitures are often a deal killer if not from a top name maker.
 
Size? 5-6" blade
Steel? D2/1095
Damascus? Sure or differential hardened
Style? Clip
Grind? Flat
Bolster or no bolster? Not needed
If bolster, what material? Small SS
Handle material? micarta
Thong hole with tubing? sure
Pin material preference? SS if bolster, else brass if matches handle
Filework or no filework? if it stays in the price range
Tapered tang? no.

Greg
 
Jarrett Knives said:
And James - don't just watch...jump in here brother! The water's only waist deep at this point! ;)
Click to expand...

Oh, I thought this was like Kevin's thread, just for the collectors and buyers. (which was a great idea and I appreciate all who responded to it civilly.) But since you invited me... :D

From what I'm seeing here, I'm certain I could meet that price point with the options most people are looking for. (I'm not into the stag and damascus game yet, that might be a little different.) In fact, being an unknown, I will likely have to keep my prices below that limit for quite a while.

I do have a sort-of on-topic question... speaking of unknowns like myself, would you prefer to know that the blade had been HT'ed by a respected pro such as Paul Bos or Peter's? That's the route I'll be going until I really learn what the heck I'm doing and get a bunch of testing done. Does that make sense?

Here's what I like, and struggle to make:
size: 4-5" blade, 4 1/2" minimum for handle... must balance at or reasonably near the ricasso
steel: 1084 or O1, CPMD2 or CPM154
style: mild drop-point/utility
grind: full-flat w/convex edge and micro-bevel, no choil, minimal ricasso
bolster: no; single guard for hidden tangs (stainless or N/S... mild steel or wrought iron if it's a carbon blade, especially one with a "rustic" look to it)
handle material: stabilized highly-figured wood, or G10/micarta
thong tube: not a deal-breaker either way
pins: stainless, no more than one mosaic pin
filework: maybe a mild set of thumb notches
tapered tang: although I'm not very good at doing them yet, yes... they help a lot with balance and look really nice. Especially with liners.
 
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Joss - you picked up on the elephant in the room as this exercise is sort of a objective in nature. I wondered how much the subjective side would play into this. Thanks.

jja367 - perfect info. Thank you.

James - Yes, this is primarily for the collectors and buyers but you did well. You voiced your opinion from a buyers standpoint and didn't grandstand or make a commercial for your wares. Great contribution. Thanks.

I'll get to work compiling what we have so far and post it here shortly.
 
Here is where we are so far...

MarketResearch.jpg


If answers were unclear or off topic I did the best that I could.

Please keep it coming. This is becoming very interesting. :confused::eek::D
 
Joss said:
Jarrett - the most important item for me is design, and value or name recognition. All the rest is subordinate to this.
Click to expand...

Jarrett Knives said:
Joss - you picked up on the elephant in the room as this exercise is sort of a objective in nature. I wondered how much the subjective side would play into this. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Josh, you make a good point.
Design, value and name recognition are all extremely important when determining a collector's wants and needs in a knife. Though Wayne hasn't covered these attributes specifically in his list of questions, I believe the results of all the feedback will to some degree.

Design preference will be addressed to an extent as a result of Wayne determining the most popular design elements from the list (size, style, handle material, tapered tang etc........).

Value will be addressed as we get an idea as to how many and which makers produce a custom knife at $300 with the most popular attributes.

As far as name recognition, many makers don't offer a knife in the sub-$300 range. If we do perform similar exercises at higher price levels, then perhaps maker recognition will come more into play. For the many makers who do provide knives at $300 and below, we can expect the knife's attributes to decline as the name recognition goes up.

I find it interesting here that different respondees seem to expect more or less for their $300. This could be a result of maker recognition in what they have come to expect from the maker's knives they collect.
 
Kevin - thanks a TON for your contribution to this thread. You're knowledge alone is SO helpful to makers like myself - but add the rest of the guys input - Priceless.:D

Let's keep it rolling here. Those of you watching (lurking ;)) need to jump in. There are no wrong answers.

Makers - if you want to join in, put on your buyers cap like James did and stay on point. I know we're a talkative bunch from spending so many hours alone in the shop. :grumpy:
 
Jarrett Knives said:
Kevin - thanks a TON for your contribution to this thread. You're knowledge alone is SO helpful to makers like myself - but add the rest of the guys input - Priceless.:D

Let's keep it rolling here. Those of you watching (lurking ;)) need to jump in. There are no wrong answers.

Makers - if you want to join in, put on your buyers cap like James did and stay on point. I know we're a talkative bunch from spending so many hours alone in the shop. :grumpy:
Click to expand...

I talked to someone outside of my family just yesterday!
 
4-5 inch hunter.edc blade
high carbon steel 52100 (SS is more$)
flat ground and belt finished (hand sanded is upgrade)
SS or copper guard (NiSi, dammy, wrought iron upgrade)
nice wood (fancy burl upgrade)
sheath kydex i would cover but since i dont do leather i would just pass on the cost of leather sheath
 
Jarrett Knives said:
If answers were unclear or off topic I did the best that I could.
Click to expand...

Hey, I resemble that remark. :D

I find it a little odd that the majority gravitated towards a hunter when (I thought?) the only parameters were: custom, affordable, fixed.

I also notice that the majority specified a tapered tang, which necessarily implies a full tang knife. To be brutally honest I'm not overly fond of full tang knives, but that's just me.
 
I'm partial to hidden tangs myself, and for a knife in the $200- $300 range I'd probably want that feature as well.
 
bluejaunte said:
Hey, I resemble that remark. :D

I find it a little odd that the majority gravitated towards a hunter when (I thought?) the only parameters were: custom, affordable, fixed.

I also notice that the majority specified a tapered tang, which necessarily implies a full tang knife. To be brutally honest I'm not overly fond of full tang knives, but that's just me.
Click to expand...

I don't find it odd but more expected as one can get more of the "bells & whistles" (perhaps a more premium handle material for example) in a smaller knife than a larger at $300 or less.

IMO, if we gravitated more towards the $750-$1000 range there would be more preference towards bowies/fighters, other methods of handle construction and perhaps even damascus blades and/or fittings.
 
blue jante - Hey, it's all love my brother. At least you're participating and not LURKING silently in the wings.

Lurkers, we know you're all out there and we're watching you. :eek:

Lorien - very good point. See, we're digging down and getting to the meat. I love it.

Kevin - when this thread "matures" I think we need to do a poll in the higher price ranges as you suggested. I'd really appreciate it if you would/could help me use the polling feature of BF so we can see a running tally instead of me putting it all into Excel. Maybe via email, we can come up with the attributes together so it's clean and complete. Whatcha think?
 
Well for me, an affordable, fixed blade with a max value of $300 would probably fall into the category of a user, hunting knife. For a user I want materials that are low maintenance and fairly resistant to the elements.

I like fighters & bowies, but I'm not likely to use one - so if it's going to sit on display I like more elaborate design & fancy materials.

Size - 4 1/2" - 5"
Steel - high performance stainless - CPM-154, S30V
Style - Hunter
Grind - full flat
Bolster or no bolster - No bolster
Guard - Yes, G10
Handle material - Canvas Micarta
Thong hole with tubing - Yes
Pin material preference - Mosaic
Filework or no filework - No
Tapered tang - Yes
 
In the price range you are speaking of I am in the minorate here. In my expierence a knife with a 5 to 7 inch blade is a compromise it does not have the power for the big cuts and is to big for the small tasks.

If I am reaching for a knife it usually a 3 inch caper style or a 9 to 10 inch blade

In yout price range I would go with a 3 to 4 inch tapered tang knife with a natural handle material

On a knife this size you imho do not need a guard

no file work

Differentally heat treated carbon

Flat ground or convex prefered

IMHO the only place for stainless on a knife is guard or bolster

In a larger knife that is inexpensive I usually have one of the Browning Crowell/Barker comp knives tied to my 4 wheeler for around the property

If you could make a knife similar convex edge differentially heat treated carbon blade tapered tang that would be interesting
 
Size? 3.5 - 4.5" blade
Steel? carbon
Style? drop point
Grind? convex or flat
Bolster or no bolster? none
If bolster, what material? NA
Handle material? stabilized burl uncolored
Thong hole with tubing? no
Pin material preference? mosaic if clocked
Filework or no filework? none, never
Tapered tang? either way
 
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