New custom knife came bent to the right?

After reading all this I truly believe at minimum the maker should pay postage and refund some money. One look at the knife could have prevented this, but it obviously never happened. Just as good business I would want to make this up to my customer. I hope in the end you feel satisfied, and I commend your patience and maturity in dealing with it.
 
One thing I learned from another maker to help prevent this situation. Take multiple pics from various angles to the best of your ability, and send them to the customer. When the customer looks them over that's when the deal is done. The camera will show any little or unacceptable flaws, that may have been missed.
Also, no matter what the price or makers pedigree the majority of buyers want a flawless knife. I have seen this happen first hand from a maker/friend of mine who got a deal with a big knife company. The makers handmade pieces sell for 300.00 + the factory version 50.00 yet people complain because the factory knife doesn't have as good fit and finish.
 
I see a lot of times new makers using fancy filework and expensive handle materials (burlap micarta) on very poorly made knives. Lots of gaps, laughable attempts at a plunge, uneven grinds, off center edges, poor handle shape, pins proud of the handle surface, and mirror buffed scratched up blades are very common. Folks eat them up because of the low price point. Then they get a really crappy knife, and sit wondering what happened. Ask yourself, am I getting more features than I am paying for on this piece? Is there a stabalized burl handle on a $200 knife? Then you're getting a $150 knife. This is an intro knifemaker pricepoint. Can the maker not compete with other knifemakers that are using those materials regularly? You get what you pay for. I'll wager the edge is a mess on this knife, and I wonder if the piece has a tip.

I have this piece of ivory that was given to me by a customer who was on his deathbed. I'd only made a few knives when I received it, and thought, my work isn't good enough for this material yet. I still haven't used it because I'm still not good enough. Someday I will be good enough. Only then will it get cut.




Leethal Cutlery said:
"I've seen sub $200 fixed blades made out of garages that were better fit/finish then some pieces being put out by mastersmiths for nearly a grand."

I find that kinda hard to believe. Just sayin
Click to expand...

I believe it. Hobby makers are killing this industry by charging pennies an hour for their time with only the intention of paying for their supplies. The $1000 knife from the mastersmith was probably priced correctly while the $200 knife from the hobby garage was a giveaway. This practice by the hobby makers makes it very very challenging for someone to profit from their knives. It is so common it is sickening. Folks, stop supporting this!!!! The knife industry will only consist of these hobbyists before long unless this happens.

Leethal Cutlery said:
He should pay for shipping IMO. I'd pay shipping to keep my customer happy if I missed something like that.
Click to expand...

He should cover shipping home. Additionally, he should have given you a choice of a refund instead of a 'maybe I have one here'.

Tell us his name now and show us a full compliment of pics too. He had his chance to make it right.
 
I don't doubt the price aspect of the comment. But he said fit and finish and in my experience I haven't seen a sub 200$ knife from a hobbyist maker with a better fit and finish then the master smith knives I've seen.

I agree! It's time to show the whole knife and tell who the maker is

" Folks, stop supporting this!!!! The knife industry will only consist of these hobbyists before long unless this happens."
100% AGREED!
 
Last edited:
Just gonna ask as I am not sure if I totally understand the last couple of comments. Are you saying guys shouldnt be selling there blades if they are hobbiest or just that they should be turning out a quality blade and charging accordingly?

Just wanna make sure I understand where you guys are going with your comments.
 
No not at all. Every one starts out as a hobbyist. But they shouldn't be selling crummy work. They should wait and refine their skills before trying to sell. Instead they sell right off the bat and sell cheap flawed knives and its watering down the market for makers who put out good work. In my opinion anyway
 
umm... I hate to say this as I'm far from perfect, very far.... But I would never send out a piece like that, and blades will sometimes get bent after HT and anyone doing HT in-house should observe this.. I also hate to bash another maker but this sometimes leaves a bad taste for people buying 'handcrafted' knives, I WOULD BY NO WAY ACCEPT ANOTHER KNIFE FROM HIM, GET YOUR MONEY BACK!!!!!!

if anyone lets something that BAD "Slip" by them, they are a joke of a maker....

sorry for the rant but this rubs me sideways, bigtime..... unacceptable...........:grumpy:
 
Have you given the maker a link to this thread. He/She can see why their rep ends up trashed or at least reply. ...Teddy
 
quint said:
Just gonna ask as I am not sure if I totally understand the last couple of comments. Are you saying guys shouldnt be selling there blades if they are hobbiest or just that they should be turning out a quality blade and charging accordingly?

Just wanna make sure I understand where you guys are going with your comments.
Click to expand...

Everyone starts this as a hobby for the most part. I did. What I am saying is that selling knives where your labor rate is $5/hr hurts this industry. And also that buying a knife that should be worth $1000 for $200 from someone who is obviously just trying to pay for belts hurts this industry. Both actions by both folks in the transaction are painful for this industry. If a skilled hobby maker makes a fine mamoth ivory and damascus steel knife and gets $1000 for it, then good for him. But if he is selling it for $200 to cover costs, then why would anyone choose to buy a more expensive and much more basic knife from someone striving to make a fair living doing this?
 
I can see that side of it. Dont want to derail this thread too much and I agree this blade is pretty bad and not something I would ever send out of my garage.

As far as the idea of someone making a couple hundred bucks on something they make to cover cost of materials not sure if I totally agree with that one. Sure if they are making say 10 knives a week and selling all those for a super cheap price then I could see that having some affect on the overall market. However most of the guys selling a knife to cover cost is more then likely selling a knife a week or something like that. Not to mention that these people are probably selling on ebay. etsy. a forum or two. If they go to the trouble of setting up a online shop or local store front then they are gonna have to make a business plan and look at hourly wage and what not, they are also going to be turning out alot more knives and thus actually affecting the market more.

I am not sure where you started out at, maybe you stepped right into the business with a shop and a large disposable income where you didnt have to aquire customers via lower priced items trying to cover your startup cost and what not. Saying that those guys that make a few knives here and there and try to cover cost of there supplies and that its killing the market is kind of well a little off in my opinion. To each there own though. I just hope that when I finally get to the point of being able to sell a few blades to cover the cost of my initial purchase of hundreds of dollars worth of supplies and equipment that you dont hold it against me. I will be sure to try and price them fairly with market value.
 
Hey guys,

Once I get my refund I'll be more than happy to post the knife/maker. I just want to hurry up and be done with this guy. His communication is horrible.
Originally I asked how his heat treat was as the blade I received is D2, he said "mine are furnace treated and end up with a 60 rating on the HRC".
Seemed good to me so I ordered the knife. Now I just want my money back. Lesson learned. Like someone mentioned above, pics before the knife is sent out would certainly help.

On a side note, D2 is some freaking hard steel! This thing took 4 times longer to strop than any of my 1095 blades!


EDIT: Here's an exert from the makers sight:
"We hand hone each blade to ensure quality on every knife"
Maybe this one was honed by his foot? Lol
Ok I better stop. I'll keep updating as things come along. Thanks again for all the support guys. My next knife will be through one of the makers here that's for dang sure! I'm not even a picky dude so I would be pretty much happy with a good blade so long as its not crooked!
 
Last edited:
My thought on this new topic we are on, is that some of us hobby makers have no choice but to charge bargain bin rates. As far as my knives go, I make each one to the very best of my ability and use quality materials in all my builds. The problem is that nobody knows who I am, and my makers mark means less than nothing to virtually everyone in the entire knife community. The only way for me to sell anything is to price it low to start with so that I can eventually build some name recognition and reputation. I have no intention of watering down a market or making it difficult for anyone else to sell a knife, its just that many of the small guys don't have much choice if they want to sell anything. I'm not trying to argue with anyone, I am just stating a point of view from a beginner like myself.
 
Svs said:
On a side note, D2 is some freaking hard steel! This thing took 4 times longer to strop than any of my 1095 blades!
Click to expand...

keep in mind though most steels can achieve an outrageous RC when heat treated though if not properly HT'd and tempered can be extremely brittle... 1095 can be HT'd to 66RC, is that workable?? hardly so, IMO 56-59 is in the sweet spot..

hope all turns out okay for you and you get your cash back...

I would also agree to send the maker this link so he could see what his malfunction is, "constructive" criticism may prove to be very helpful to try and salvage his reputation... doubt he would reply to this thread but if he did at least we would know who it is :)
 
Well, I have checked my email and my spam box, so I don't think it was one of mine. If it was, all I can say is "SCUSE ME".

One of the hardest things to figure out is "Where do I stand" in the knife-making market. I still struggle with this on a daily basis. Many of my "peers" say that I under-price my work, however, it seems that if I try to "BUMP" my prices to a reasonable level, the potential customer has a tendency to say "Nope, ain't gonna spend that much money for a knife from an unknown maker".

My best customers are repeat customers. Once they get one of my knives, they seem to be happy and order more

By the way, Andy, why don't you just say what you mean? :) You have pretty much nailed most of the problems and I agree with you 100%.

Robert
 
Svs said:
EDIT: Here's an exert from the makers sight:
"We hand hone each blade to ensure quality on every knife"
Click to expand...

With that clue I'm pretty sure I found who it was. If you look at the knives on his site, there are few with aesthetic issues from what I see. But then again, I don't know his price point. Every one sets their own expectations for the price they are willing to pay for a product.

To see the site I'm looking at, (and by the way, I'm not saying "it is" the maker in question, just that it very well could be), just copy the quote above, quotations and all, and paste into Google and do a search.
 
Wow. I am lucky to have bought from BF's finest. If I received that I would be PISSED!
 
I'll throw in my two cents. The bend in that knife is horrible and should be easily detectable by the knifemaker at any point in the knifemaking process. When you pay a low price you can expect poorer fit and finish, but IMO that's not even a fit/finish issue, it's just plain bad build quality. I think customers have the right to expect a straight knife; maybe not perfectly even grinds if it's a cheap knife, but a knife bent at the ricasso is unacceptable. The only way a consumer should receive a knife like this is if it's sold as a second.

Btw, one thing I always tell people is don't buy a knife of unknown steel. That maker lists their stainless knives as "440." that's as good as unknown to me. There's a big difference between 440a and 440c and not specifying means they're probably trying to hide the fact that it's the not 440c.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top