No more TALONITE from me!!

Allan-your loss to the discussions here would be great. I don't have any idea about what you are referring to, but as one who really likes knives but doesn't have much of a budget to work with, I appreciate a maker with a non-price gouging policy.
I will say this, you are an independent businessman and an atrist. Noone has any right to tell you how to run your business, what to make, what to make it out of, or how to price it. Anybody who tries is entitled to nothing more than a wave of the hand and a giant raspberry. Please reconsider your decision. Good luck.

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The thorn stands to defend the Rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict
 
DON'T LEAVE ALLEN!!! Your work is AWESOME!!! If it's a pricing issue, screw em'!!! Your knives + your work + your materials that you paid for = your price. PERIOD. Seems to me that the only one's bitching about low prices are makers and collectors, and THEY are in the minority.
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Please, stay...

-AR

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- AKTI Member ID# A000322
 
Damn…this really is disturbing. I obviously don't know all of the circumstances involved with this situation, but I'm very disheartened that it has come to this. I would think that Allen Blade has the right to sell his knives at whatever price he desires. If he can make a satisfactory profit without violating any contractual requirements and the market will support his prices, more power to him! After all, this is a capitalistic society. I hate to see a guy get hammered for doing things the right way, and from a customer's standpoint that's exactly what Allen has done. I agree with what many of the others have said…there seems to be a disturbing trend in the cutlery community for "the powers that be" to try and intimidate and harass any maker who uses what they consider unconventional marketing or pricing strategies. It is truly a shame that they can't let these issues be resolved by the market…these situations just end up alienating a lot of knife enthusiasts.

Allen, please reconsider your decision…I've learned a lot from your postings here and I think the forums would be diminished if you choose not to participate. I'm still looking forward to owning one of your fine knives and I hope you have great success in all of your future endeavors.

Jim
 
Man up! Tell 'em to suck your D***.

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Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
 
Howdy,

You guys are a great bunch of people!!
I want to say right off the bat that this doesnt have anything to do with Rob Simonich,i consider him a good friend, and fellow knifemaker, Nor Does it have anything to do with MIKE or SPARK,as they have been very Gracious to me.

I do still plan on contributing on the forum,
I just have a few Crucial decisions to make concerning my Future as a maker, and what direction to take.

The no more Talonite statement was just the only way i could figure to alliviate any problems in the future.

I just didnt want to cause any hard feelings with anyone.

Sorry if this caused the Rumor mill to start flying,,which wasnt my intention.

Its just Kind of Scary to have knifemaking as your only means of support and your lifes work, and to have to be worried about providing for your family.

I think my prices are Low because i need to assure everything i make i can sell. I never Priced my work to "GET THE SALE" above everyone else,i just do it to survive as a maker.

Everyone on Blade forums has been more than Gracious to me ,an supportive and i appreciate it.

I`ll Continue to add what i can to the Knowledge base on Bladeforums where i can contribute or help others.

Take Care, Allen blade


 
Hi guys.

Just to help clear the air, I don't have a clue what went on. I was in Las Vegas for the last 10 days.

Now you don't have to wonder anymore, as some of the previous posts hinted.



 
Hi Allen!

A few points to keep in mind. If you come to face a big audience like here in the forum (or the internet in general for that matter) you’ll have to deal with people who have VERY different opinions from your own. That’s not a bad thing. The more information gets presented, the more information exchange takes place and usually everybody benefits from this. This of course doesn’t happen as easily as described here. Knife people (makers and customers) are very passionate about their hobby/profession. They tend to defend their opinion sometimes without gloves. I don’t have to give specific examples here but especially one maker of a differential tempered O-1 knife provides plenty of material for heated discussions. And while a lot of this is simply annoying and shows nothing but the immaturity of some people involved, the bottom line is that it DOES provoke the people to revise the opinions they have about knives and they way knives have to look or being made. As a result, makers and consumers are willing to try new materials, production methods and designs which can be better than the ones they used before.

The point is, if you do something differently from others, you’ll find resistance. If you challenge the way people are thinking or doing things they feel offended and will attack you. That’s simply the nature of humans. It does NOT mean that what you’re doing is wrong or shameful or whatever. A simple way to deal with this is to shut those hypocrites out from your world as much as possible and focus on those people who support your ideas. Keep in mind that you simply can’t please everybody (not even the majority). But if you think that that what you’re doing (your art as you name it) is right, you should follow it and give a flying rat’s ass about what some people say about it.

You state that you love Talonite yourself. Well, if that’s the case keep working with it. Do you as an artist really care what the industry tells you? If they think there feelings are hurt than mostly because it’s the money! They might think they are losing customers to you because you offer something they can’t. That’s most likely quality at a very good price. No wonder they are offended! If you go back to your shop and stop exchanging ideas with people who want you to communicate with them (like many forumites here) you did exactly what the industry wants you to do. To get out of there way and let them provide the customers with the standard stainless crap they are so famous for.

Ok, what I’m trying to say here is simple. Peace of mind is a very good thing and not much comes close to it as a goal in life. Question is if you can find that when working in your shop without feedback from people who like your work. If you think that’s the case, go ahead and do it. You might be right. On the other hand there are many people who would rather see you keep doing what you did so far and have you as a valuable member of the forum.

I hope your decision is right,
Ralf
 
I gotta jump back in here once more, and put in an apology. It appears that my first post above implied that Mike or Spark were actually involved in Allen's decisions, and/or implied that Rob Simonich was pressuring Allen. It was not my intent to imply either of those things; I did not at that time, and do not now believe that either of those things were/are fact; I did not want those things to become rumors; and I did not want/expect any of those three people to defend themselves, or need to.

I brought up those two possibilities as absurd, extreme examples of the only things I could think of that would give Allen the real need to discontinue offering Talonite knives. I think now that I should not have written that post, or at least that portion of it. And, I would like to apologize to Mike, Spark, and Rob for even bringing up those absurd ideas.

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"Absolute safety is for those who don't have the balls to live in the real world."
 
Allen, I, for one, hope to see you posting as frequently as before. Whatever is going on in the background can stay there, because the friends you've made here on the forum will always be here. Don't let anyone's ego push you away from your online friends.

As for pricing, capitalism is still king in America, last I checked (federal regulations notwithstanding). Any griping about your pricing being low is probably deflection and obfuscation that the emporer isn't wearing any clothes! Knowhatimean?
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Don LeHue

The pen is mightier than the sword...outside of arm's reach. Modify radius accordingly for rifle.
 
Allen,

If it were me, considering my family depended upon my knifemaking as sole support, then I wouldn't care what anyone thought (as long as I was selling my product and I was proud of it). We would hate to see you leave the forum and worse yet retract your talonite art! I suspect that if you keep pumping out those talonite beauties, there will be people willing to buy them. If your quality goes down..I imagine your sales will also. That's the law of supply and demand. In short, GO FOR IT!
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Lead,follow, or get the hell out of the way!
 
There's almost 5000 people interacting here on the forums, no way in hell everybody is going to agree on stuff. This is for the most part supposed to be a place to trade ideas and info, not bussiness, so the forums themselves shouldn't have anything to do with competition between makers. I don't know what the trouble is about or who its between but you shouldn't let it stop you from coming here. There are a lot of people who were helped by your replies to their questions and as a maker you can get a lot of good feedback from the users. Keep your bussiness interactions private through your email and website as you've planned to do, but don't stop coming here. The forums wouldn't be such a success and all mike and sparks great effort to run such a great site would be for nothing if people quit coming everytime a disagreement came up.
As for your disagreement with another maker. Try and remember that they are relying on their bussiness just as much as you are. I doubt that it is anything personal against you or between the 2 of you causing this. Only a misunderstanding that left somebody feeling cheated. Try and work it out. If all the makers quit cooperating and make it a competition a lot will be lost in the art of knifemaking.

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Fix it right the first time, use Baling Wire !
 
I must confess that this entire thread is a mystery to me. It seems that Allen has offended people by pricing his knives too low, and Mad Dog has offended people by pricing his knives too high. Could anyone help me make sense out of this?

Dazed and confused, Walt
 
Allen:

Probably isn't any of my business but let me suggest to you that you need to make your business decisions based on what you perceive as your best business interests and try your hardest to ignore the forces that are trying to make you fail.

We internet dealers get pressure all the time from manufacturers to raise prices. Pressure is nice word. Attacks on our businesses would be more accurate in some cases. It comes with the territory. So I understand what you're going through, I think.

Do well what you do, make your business decisions based on what makes your business succeed and then go make some knives out of whatever materials you choose. If your work is worthy and your decisions sound, you'll be a success. To hell with what other people other than your customers think. Listen to your customers not to your enemies. Best of luck to you. Take care.

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Fred
Knife Outlet
http://www.knifeoutlet.com
 
Will someone please post the web site one last time so I can get it in my favorites??
So much for one big happy knife family.
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Blades
 
I say let Allen make and sell as many knives of any material he chooses,and sell for what ever traffic will bear based upon the wishes of the artist. The style and quality of Allens work will determine the popularity of the knives not the prices.


lbwheat
 
Allen,
I respect you as a Member here, and as a fine and talented maker, as well as what ever decision you come to. IMHO, if this is your final decision, you are short changing your clients and the folks that are your friends here. I don't know who's feathers you're trying to smooth, it's none of my business, you are upsetting a lot more people with this choice. Maybe you could rethink this, or get some help with other less drastic actions. When all is said and done whatever you decide is best, know that you have firends here that care a great deal about you.
 
Allen,

Call me
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I have an idea that will work for you. No you don't have to move in with me, look out for a white Mercedes and hope you don't need to use Chucky
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Best Regards,
Mike Turber
BladeForums Site Owner and Administrator
Do it! Do it right! Do it right NOW!
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW RIGHT NOW! YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID!
www.bladeforums.com/ubb/Forum8/HTML/001202.html
 
Wow. Now I'm totally confused, and I basically feel that this is being handled by greater minds than mine. I just wanted to say that this is twice now that I've read posts from Kit Carson, and both times I was struck by the thought that he seems to be a real decent guy, and a gentleman. Just thought I'd end this thread on a positive note. And thanks for deciding to stick around here, Allen. We're all the richer for it.
 
Well, if Ed Schott looked into the matter, actually knows what's going on, and advises those who don't to let go of the Talonite issue, then I'll respect that - except to say that, based on the incredible praise Allen Blade's knives have gotten on this forum - ESPECIALLY after his rocky start here - I'm really disappointed that he won't be making them anymore because one of his Talonite knives was definitely on my "when I win the lotto" wish list.

That said - hey Allen, derfinitely don't leave the forums over this! I have always enjoyed your posts, and I bet you enjoyed writing them, so "non illgitemi carborundum" or whatever. Best of luck. FF

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The beatings will continue until morale improves.
 
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