New custom is dull - definitely a downer

I'm pretty sure that there isn't a knife maker alive who looks back on their early knives wishing that they never sold some of them.
 
Lorien said:
I'm pretty sure that there isn't a knife maker alive who looks back on their early knives wishing that they never sold some of them.
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I agree with you 100%.
However my above posts are not directed at maker's early knives created while they were perfecting their skills or even where they had made mistakes (like forgetting to sharpen a knife), but more where they just cut corners, trying to get a quick payday or even being distracted by other things in their life.

I've had so many knifemakers tell me and have demonstrated how ever knife they create (at their current skill level) is the same quality no matter how simple or how complex. That's the way it should be and what collectors should be able to expect.
 
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In my opinion, this didn't need to be posted, there's no need for groupthink here. The op should have gone directly back to the maker and worked it out the moment he discovered it was dull.
 
David Stifle said:
In my opinion, this didn't need to be posted, there's no need for groupthink here. The op should have gone directly back to the maker and worked it out the moment he discovered it was dull.
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I feel both newer collectors and makers may have benefitted from this thread as is often the case. For example, I feel some newer collectors not as savvy as Ken may have just accepted the poor example of a custom knife he initially received, as opposed to informing the maker is was not acceptable. Some makers may have learned that it's a very good idea to give a knife one last 'once over' like checking the blade for sharpness before sending it out.
 
I didn't mean to stir up any controversy with my post. I just wanted to try to encourage the OP to feel comfortable contacting the maker, which he said in his original post he was not comfortable doing.

I do understand Kevin's and STeven's perspectives here.

I guess I did not want to go into this, but maybe it will shed some light on how something like this could happen. This particular maker informed me that he was experiencing some serious medical issues at the time. I think one could reasonably say that maybe a maker should not produce knives under such circumstances. but I think some things like serious medical issues, family deaths or tragedies, a broken relationship, etc., can cloud folks' judgment, too. That was what I meant about none of us being perfect. Although I am generally very much a results oriented person and not real big on giving or getting excuses, in light of the circumstances and my personal beliefs, I could not and do not hold feel any bad feelings about it.

Anyway, back to the OP, even though this is something easily correctable, I still think that everyone would benefit if you politely let the maker know, even if you just decide to sharpen it yourself. You are not the only one who would be dissatisfied with a dull knife. I would be, too. A knife should be sharp. The maker should know that his customer was unhappy to receive a dull knife. What he does with that information . . . well, that is up to him. JMHO. And good luck!
 
Kevin Jones said:
I feel both newer collectors and makers may have benefitted from this thread as is often the case. For example, I feel some newer collectors not as savvy as Ken may have just accepted the poor example of a custom knife he initially received, as opposed to informing the maker is was not acceptable. Some makers may have learned that it's a very good idea to give a knife one last 'once over' like checking the blade for sharpness before sending it out.
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+1

And really, what is the possible negative to this thread? Don't like the subject? Just skip on past and don't read it. Problem solved.
 
The Virginian said:
I didn't mean to stir up any controversy with my post. I just wanted to try to encourage the OP to feel comfortable contacting the maker, which he said in his original post he was not comfortable doing.

I do understand Kevin's and STeven's perspectives here.

I guess I did not want to go into this, but maybe it will shed some light on how something like this could happen. This particular maker informed me that he was experiencing some serious medical issues at the time. I think one could reasonably say that maybe a maker should not produce knives under such circumstances. but I think some things like serious medical issues, family deaths or tragedies, a broken relationship, etc., can cloud folks' judgment, too. That was what I meant about none of us being perfect. Although I am generally very much a results oriented person and not real big on giving or getting excuses, in light of the circumstances and my personal beliefs, I could not and do not hold feel any bad feelings about it.

Anyway, back to the OP, even though this is something easily correctable, I still think that everyone would benefit if you politely let the maker know, even if you just decide to sharpen it yourself. You are not the only one who would be dissatisfied with a dull knife. I would be, too. A knife should be sharp. The maker should know that his customer was unhappy to receive a dull knife. What he does with that information . . . well, that is up to him. JMHO. And good luck!
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Good post Ken. I was probably more me stirring up controversy. What you went through just struck a nerve with me as the CKCA sometimes gets brought into these types of unfortunate situations, actually too often. As you know, we are doing everything possible to retain and bring in new collectors yet we have (fortunately, a small % of) knifemakers who turn folks off to custom knives.
 
And I didn't mean to sound negative. Like the others have said, I encourage the poster to contact the maker to set things right.
 
The maker forgot to sharpen it? What else did they forget or screw up...the heat treat?

At fishing camp, a friend had a custom fillet knife that had a proud place in his kitchen, but now it was out with "the boys". The bolster fell off while being admired. It was only glued on!

Return the knife for a refund, if possible. Who knows what else is screwed up. Sending out a dull knife is a mark of idiocy, since it means the maker did not check the basic function of the product.
 
I think you should definitely contact the maker and let him know, it will give him the chance to make things right. People make mistakes, even knife makers :rolleyes:

It is always interesting to see which makers back their knives, if he/she is worth their salt they will go above and beyond to apologize and fix it! If not ask for your money back and move on.
 
collecting knives, for me at least, is all about learning. The day I stop learning about knives is the day that I lose interest in them.

If a person new to knife collecting is so put off by a negative experience that they pack it in, then they likely do that with other things as well.
Commitment is a rare commodity, and those who have it apply it to the things they love, no matter their experiences. In fact, sometimes a negative experience can forge a deeper commitment, especially if that negative experience can be applied as a tool for self education.
 
I'm sorry to say I have received more than one custom knife that had a pretty iffy edge on it. Somewhat disappointing given that 99% of production knives will arrive with 'scary sharp' edges. Due to my location its a very expensive exercise to return knives to the maker for a proper sharpening job.

Fortunately, I have a friend in Cape Town who is a real genius with putting a new edge on knives and he has top end equipment to work with, including sharpening stones that cost many hundreds of dollars. I can say that after he puts an edge on the knife it is a whole different animal. And he charges an extremely modest fee. I do wish that custom makers would invest in these dedicated sharpeners. I know they can be expensive but I feel its definitely worth it the results.

My belief is a custom knife should be tempered and sharpened to the point where all you have to do is strop it on some cardboard occasionally to maintain the edge. Unless of course you are doing some really aggressive cutting, but I feel if a knife is tempered and sharpened properly it should cut for a LONG time before it requires sharpening.
 
I don't think a public forum should have been your first stop. Your first course of action should always be to contact the maker and give him the courtesy of letting him know there is a problem with his product. As others have said, there are any number of reasons why this could have happened. Any reputable maker will make it right for you. Exhaust your options with the maker before you try him in the court of public opinion.
 
STeven got it right out of the gate and others have confirmed - you gotta let the maker know.

It could be a simple oversight. The knife I made for the "knife game" with Lin and Karl a couple years back: I had the knife complete and razor sharp, but there was a hint of a 2" mark on the blade that was bugging me. So I knocked the edge down to dull and went back to square one on refinishing the blade. Got it as close to perfect as I could - felt good that I had put in the extra effort - zipped up the knife in a padded case so nothing would happen to it. On the eve of Blade when the knife was to be presented, I took it out to make sure all was well. Wiped off the oil to admire the clean satin finish, thumbed the edge and..... oh CRAP - COMPLETELY forgot to resharpen it.

Thankfully, I was able to put a wicked edge back on the thing in time for the show - I would have been MORTIFIED if that knife had been displayed - and worse - delivered to a customer without a sharp cutting edge. But I would have been MORE mortified if that happened and I didn't know about it an wasn't given the opportunity to make it right.

Tell. The. Maker.
 
RWT said:
I have had it happen. Paid to ship it back. The post office lost it. I got lucky and they found it 45 days later. Reshipped and when I got it back it was still dull without any of the corrections I asked for. I had to send it to another maker and shell out another $85 total to have him polish a turd. I now have a working knife after a $400 total investment. Some days I can barely look at it.
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Sounds like one of my experiences... After all the cost and disappointments I ended up selling it for a huge loss! I had let the maker know and even sent it back to him... when it came back to me it was still dull and the edge geometry was horrible! Hence the reason I believe he's no longer making blades... The one I had wasn't even as sharp as our kitchen butter knives... :(

I agree the Maker should be contacted and try and work out the problems... but how can a knife maker not test the edge of his knife before it goes out to the purchaser? (Assuming it wasn't purely a decorative knife...)

I think custom knives should come SHARP! Some makers are a better than others, but they should all be sharp.
 
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David Stifle said:
The op should have gone directly back to the maker and worked it out the moment he discovered it was dull.
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I would certainly want to know immediately if it was my work.

The whole point of buying handmade/custom knives is that they should perform better than what's available off-the-shelf. There are a great many other factors of course, but that should be first and foremost. Otherwise it's just a polished/engraved/bedazzled KSO.
 
MDQBox said:
Letting us know and not the knife maker is pretty pointless, IMO. There's nothing we can do for you about the issue that you don't already know.

Let the knife maker know for his/her future reference and maybe they will surprise you with a partial discount or something.

Otherwise, what's the point of this thread other than venting?
:o
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With all due respect, I will decide for myself what is and isn't pointless and handle things my own way. And, I'm not venting. I've never been in this position before and I wanted to know if my feelings were off base or not. Confirmation from the many who posted here was very helpful in making my decision. Lastly, there is no way on Earth that I would drag a makers name through the mud here on a public forum. That's not the way I roll.
 
Guys, I want to thank you all for sharing your opinions. You were all very helpful in allowing me to gain perspective on this issue. I will definitely contact the maker and I feel pretty sure he'll do what it takes to rectify the situation. It is now time for me to move on though. Thanks again!
 
The Virginian said:
I didn't mean to stir up any controversy with my post. I just wanted to try to encourage the OP to feel comfortable contacting the maker, which he said in his original post he was not comfortable doing.

I do understand Kevin's and STeven's perspectives here.

I guess I did not want to go into this, but maybe it will shed some light on how something like this could happen. This particular maker informed me that he was experiencing some serious medical issues at the time. I think one could reasonably say that maybe a maker should not produce knives under such circumstances. but I think some things like serious medical issues, family deaths or tragedies, a broken relationship, etc., can cloud folks' judgment, too. That was what I meant about none of us being perfect. Although I am generally very much a results oriented person and not real big on giving or getting excuses, in light of the circumstances and my personal beliefs, I could not and do not hold feel any bad feelings about it.

Anyway, back to the OP, even though this is something easily correctable, I still think that everyone would benefit if you politely let the maker know, even if you just decide to sharpen it yourself. You are not the only one who would be dissatisfied with a dull knife. I would be, too. A knife should be sharp. The maker should know that his customer was unhappy to receive a dull knife. What he does with that information . . . well, that is up to him. JMHO. And good luck!
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I failed in my first business due to not knowing when to put in the towel due to some medical issues I was having. Several years later, I lost a good job because of the same issues. It's not something I can make go away, I just have to be extremely responsible with my management of the situation.

I've gone back to being in business for myself, because it allows me the flexibility I need to still be productive. That said, there were a couple of very hard lessons on the way to where I am now.

zippin44 said:
Guys, I want to thank you all for sharing your opinions. You were all very helpful in allowing me to gain perspective on this issue. I will definitely contact the maker and I feel pretty sure he'll do what it takes to rectify the situation. It is now time for me to move on though. Thanks again!
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If it were me in the same position, having been somewhat in the same shoes myself, I would absolutely cherish a chance to make it right. Either way good luck and I think you made a great choice! I hope you enjoy the knife.
 
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