need your thoughts on custom order

V

=Voodoo=

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Sep 6, 2003
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almost 4 years ago...over 3, less than 4 I ordered a custom mammoth bark mnandi with damascus blade. I specified the color for the bark as mainly ivory with some blues or greens and bark. and sent them a pic of a different makers handle for a general theme/idea on colors.

after 15 months from order I got my 1st email with a couple pics of what they were offering and were not even close. no ivory/creme color and almost solid dark brown.

I said no thanks and restated what I was wanting and will wait.

almost another year passes and I get another email with 1 pic of what they were offering along with it was a bad year for mammoth... this time it was same as before except instead of all dark, it was lighter brown...almost like a walnut. I again said no thanks, will wait.

1.5 years goes by and get an email asking if I still wanted this knife. I responded of course. do you have something close? and havent heard back...

I know, should just call...but I really am in no hurry and have since bought a half dozen other knives.

but what is the basis for this post is the 6 previous purchases I have of CRK and the fact he has what seems like hundreds of awards...and I gave them my credit card info to lock in purchase(it was never charged)

I feel dissed or not important. I guess business is good for $1k knives in todays times.
 
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You are the buyer, and should be offered what you want, if it becomes available.
Someone at CRK should step and try to keep up with your order. :thumbup:
 
That is surprising as all my dealings with CRK customer service has been taken care of promptly. I dealt with Heather when I was customizing my engraving for my large sebbie and she was great. I know damascus takes quite some time to get and I have heard people waiting over a year just for blades. And with that, CRK is waiting on someone else to get them the blades. Of course, they could go elsewhere, but devin thomas is widly known for having the best damascus around. As for mammoth ivory, I am not sure if there is delays with that or not. I emailed Heather and Anne quite often and they respond quickly.

Nothing against you, but what you tell them you want and what they interpret what you want will always be two different things. And with something like mammoth ivory, your dealing with a material that no two will EVER be alike. My dream CRK would be one with mammoth ivory, but I will never spend $1K for any knife. I would rather buy 3 or 4 other CRK instead, but thats my preference.

I would just look for one and not rely on a custom order. I doubt you will ever find the "perfect" mammoth ivory as I have never seen any two alike other than the plain white ones. Bark mammoth ivory will never ever be the same, so expecting that is futile. Its unlikely they will be flying off the shelf. CRK has Many dealers and I am sure you would find something to your liking.

Your best bet is to call them. I can see from your post your just sending emails and havent called yet. A phone call will always get the ball rolling quicker than an email.

Good Luck and let us know after you have called them !
 
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I'd say you can't be THAT picky when you want natural materials.

They have more then stepped up tp the bat, they have kept in contact two years running. I have learned never wait for the perfect knife, it's not ginna appear, buy the one(s) you most like now, and then the ones you like most later too.
 
I would guess that the problem is the bark -- this stuff has such huge color and pattern variations. Every batch is different, and CRK has no way of telling what the color will be until they start machining it. They allocate different pieces to the different knife inlay types (Mnandi, large Classic 21, small Classic 21, large LE, small LE), and THEN they start machining. It has been my observation that blues and greens are very much in the minority amongst all of the colors that result in MIB. You don't have to be a statistician to get the feel that the chances of getting a desired rare color in a given knife model is slim. I've seen color variations coming out of MIB in 2001 that haven't shown up since. I also know that there are several customers that have put in special orders for blue/green hues, so when these come up, CRK needs to figure out how to allocate to these orders.

The CRK staff (Heather specifically) has her mind wrapped around the special orders, and if she can fill an order, I know she takes every opportunity to do it. Even so, I would encourage you to call CRK and as nyefmaker suggests, make the parameters of your request very clear. Heather will have a very good idea of the rarity of your request, and may be able to suggest a slight loosening of the requirements in what you seek to give you a better chance of getting something sooner.

Best of luck with your pursuits.
 
Maybe start shopping and find the inlay material you want yourself and just send it in. Often you can find materials from vendors at the larger knife shows. Seems like the only way you will get what you want at this point.
 
I have always had great service in the past from crk and really have no real issue with them now. I just feel they wrote me off. and they have every right to do so. I just hate talking on the phone. would rather write letters....and emails are good too.

I still have the receipt from the email confirmation way back when posted on my corkboard.

I bet the prices have gone up since then...lol

I guess what really bugs me is they offered me 2 bark samples over a 2 year period and then got a 3rd email asking if I still wanted the knife and I replied yes and havent heard anything since...

I guess no news is good news

think I will send them an email on monday
 
I know CRK will honor the past price, that will never be an issue, especially since you have the email confirmation. Its not your fault it took them 2 years to get a mammoth ready. I would call them though. Its a $1000 knife, Talk to them on the phone.
 
I have ordered two Sebs: 1 w/ Ivory & damascus blade and one with ivory bark, plus a mnandi with Ivory bark. All three took over a year wait. The pricing changed mid wait time during my first order and they honored the former pricing. All three pieces were worth the wait. Have patience and try out what they send you. It will be beautiful.

Garciajr
 
What more can they do? They've contacted you twice with pics of what they had and you said no thanks. That's part of the difficulty with natural materials, it's not always what you want and you have to be a bit flexible.

Have you thought about maybe finding a piece of ivory to your liking and providing it to CRK for use in your Mnandi? CRK may not be able to find a specimen that you like, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. That color scheme is out there, but you might want to put in some leg work and procure it yourself. Here is a Bret Dowell Swayback that I got a month ago with the type of mammoth that you described.

img3311r.jpg


img3315z.jpg


img3316c.jpg
 
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Here's my thought...and I'm not taking sides, it's just my opinion.

Out of all the mammoth CRK knives I've seen, none of them have been as you described. It seems to me that CRK prefers to use the ivory/brown pieces exclusively, avoiding the more blue/green colors.

The way it sounds, your best bet would be to CALL them and make sure they know who you are, and ask if it would be okay for you to send in your own mammoth for use on your knife...and if they're alright with that, you need to ask about the size of the slab.

Good luck.
 
here is a pic I sent back in 2006

knifeart_2040_83261373.jpg


something similar

here is a reply I got earlier in FEB

Okay Jeffery I'll keep your order open but please know we may never be able
to fill it. Hope everything else is going good for you.

Enjoy your weekend.


the above knife was under $400 if I remember...should of jumped on it :)


I do appreciate the honesty.

still hoping and crossing my fingers they find something
 
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well it seems my memory is not as great as the hard drive on my computer.

Bark1.jpg

Bark2.jpg



these were offered in late 07

in early 09 they asked if i still wanted order open

i really want to clarify that I love their work and knives

just wanted to get some feedback if i was too picky/unreasonable for the most successful knife manufacturer in the last decade...

would it be unreasonable to have no problem waiting another 3-4 years...I dont have a problem waiting....but I worry I might be forgotten...and I dont care about the price increases...? to an extent :)
 
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here is one I truly love and always look at with a blued damascus

yes I am an active duty paratrooper for the last 17 years and looking forward to retirement :)

P4130032-1.jpg
 
I wish I got the opportunity to jump into a place like this....my closest experience was Alaska and the snowshoe march back wasnt as fun as in sand...but safer. :)
 
got a reply back saying they would keep my order

they also said bark mammoth wouldnt be offered on their annual limited editions anymore.
 
i thought long and hard about that 1, but it reminded me of a reptilian skin. i just couldnt do it.
 
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