People who blatantly and fraudulently sell knives as hand made when they are blanks..

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That Mademan.com disclaimer is very telling. The author wrote the original disclaimer and Feinberg, Feinberg, Feinberg, and Feinberg wrote the newer, less uh...honest version.

Also, Karda FTW. This guy is slippery.
 
More than willing to allow Mr. Williams the opportunity and platform to explain himself and his actions regarding his business and/or his activity here. The community here is more than interested in objectively hearing any honest explanation he may wish to give.
His censoring of his posts, however, is not something that will be tolerated in light of the litigation factor.
Those reading this thread should be allowed to read the responses and form their own opinions regarding this matter.
 
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I hope people finding this thread in the future when searching for a review of the williams knife co will know this thread is about the Chris Williams from South Carolina.

The Chris Williams from North Carolina grinds his own knives and often opens his shop doors to strangers and can teach those who need it how to grind their own knife.
 
Spalted said:
I hope people finding this thread in the future when searching for a review of the williams knife co will know this thread is about the Chris Williams from South Carolina.

The Chris Williams from North Carolina grinds his own knives and often opens his shop doors to strangers and can teach those who need it how to grind their own knife.
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Thanks for posting this information about another maker with the same name. We don't want one man's actions to affect another in a negative way.

Laurence
 
james terrio said:
I am frankly sickened by what I've seen here.
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Please allow me to clarify that statement... I am sickened by shady business practices. Not by this thread or the discourse herein.

There is a great deal to be learned from this discussion, regardless of the personalities involved.

I am very pleased that so many people are sincerely interested in finding out what actually goes into the knives they buy. People who love high-end knives are better-informed than ever. Demands for quality and integrity drive this market, and push standards higher. That is a very good thing for buyers and independent makers and factories alike.

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of ethical custom/handmade knifemakers who are incredibly open and forthright about their methods and techniques. To a very large degree, their willingness to share their expertise has allowed folks like me to learn the craft, and has given us a tremendous head-start. I'm deeply grateful for that.

We are truly in a Golden Age of knives. Yeah, there's a lot of cheap junk out there, but there's also a whole lot of really excellent and affordable knives to which our grandparents simply wouldn't have had access.

Sorry for the "drift", but I feel all of that is germaine to this thread.
 
I wanted to point out that this thread has NOTHING to do with Chris Williams of Wilmont knives. Chris Williams of Wilmont Knives definitely grinds his own knives.
 
flatblackcapo said:
I wanted to point out that this thread has NOTHING to do with Chris Williams of Wilmont knives. Chris Williams of Wilmont Knives definitely grinds his own knives.
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I´ll just throw in this video for good measure.

[video=youtube;67mlIJKna7w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67mlIJKna7w[/video]


1234,,,:)
 
1234 said:
I´ll just throw in this video for good measure.

[video=youtube;67mlIJKna7w]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67mlIJKna7w[/video]
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It's worth noting that the gentleman in this video appears to be working with waterjet-cut blanks, seemingly of his own design, and then grinding the bevels by hand. That's a common and respectable practice. It helps keep prices under control and allows the maker to spend more of his time on the skill work - actually grinding bevels. (believe me, cutting out and drilling a bunch of blade blanks gets old pretty fast ;) ) My point is, I do not have a problem with someone calling those knives handmade. Just my opinion, of course.
 
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james terrio said:
It's worth noting that the gentleman in this video appears to be working with waterjet-cut blanks, seemingly of his own design, and then grinding the bevels by hand. That's a common and respectable practice. It helps keep prices under control and allows the maker to spend more of his time on the skill work - actually grinding bevels. (believe me, cutting out and drilling a bunch of blade blanks gets old pretty fast ;) ) My point is, I do not have a problem with someone calling those knives handmade. Just my opinion, of course.
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Perhaps I should have posted this one instead !

[video=youtube;T9Iyv9cg0Ps]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9Iyv9cg0Ps[/video]


1234,,:D
 
I agree with James Terrio Concerning Having your patterns water jet cut.

I am a full time custom knife maker and have been having my pattern profiles water jet cut for about the last five years.
It sure does cutting down on that mundane profiling and drilling as James mentioned. It allows me to focus on the bevel grinding, finish work and handle sculpting.
I don't think there is a cash savings, but there is a time savings.

I have communicated with Chris Williams of Wilmont Knives in the past and have the upmost respect for his custom knives and his machines as well, if any of you makers are looking for a new knife grinding machine?
He makes a fine 2 x 72" unit that works at 90 degrees or 45.

1234, The question here was about transparency of a knife makers process. There is nothing wrong with using pre made knife blades as long as you are telling your customers so.

The gentleman friend of mine that taught me a lot of basics of handle work years ago was a older gent that purchased pre-made knives and did the finish work and handles on them.
That is what he told his customers too!

Laurence
 
ChrisWilliams said:
As I leave this discussion, I do have one question I would like to pose to the “all knowing, what a “knife company” or “knife maker” should look and operate as, righteous protectors of the public consumer, freedom fighters of goodwill and grammatical absolutism” who have so effortlessly fallen in line behind the voice of their infamous leader, GrizzlyBear.

In referencing the linked screen shot below from the Grizzly Knives & Leather FB Page, knife company of Craig Collier also known on the BladeForums and inside this thread as…GrizzlyBear; and being his main means of marketing, advertising and “telling his story” (I can’t find where any “actual investment has been made” in any website of his own; thus it is my opinion that one would assume with his frequent posts, the referenced FB Page is the main means of marketing himself and his product); AND having select few of you mindlessly jumping on board to support his claims…I simply ask you this,

RwqbK1r.jpg


What kind of message is GrizzlyBear selling? Is he in fact the definition of a "custom knife maker" that himself and the self appointed "chosen ones" are so hard up to defend...heck, even Spark makes a statement in his post about "tak(ing) issue" with what is and what is not a "custom knife maker"? So tell me, what kind of Kool Aid is being served here?

And let me get one thing straight, if in fact, someone was using the same "knife blanks, blades and/or materials" that GrizzlyBear "uses" and "sees everyday" (according to his first post in this thread), then deducing from his "About" statement pictured above...they would be using the "finest of materials available"...
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Holy crap. Last I seen this thread was locked. Didn't know it was reopened and all hell broke loose! Spark, I apologize for any trouble this caused you.

To address the quote above... Chris, you want to know the difference between you and me? I tell my customers up front that I use blanks (and they're fine with that!) and I charge adequately as such.
 
All you did was connect some dots and present it to us. How it played out was not your fault and could have been avoided. But it wasn't.
 
Knife making is one of the true last frontiers were "backyard mechanics" and weekend warriors can still run the show. This was enlightening to say the least. And for every one dishonest handmade handle maker, there are fifty Terrios and Laconico's and Tom Mayo's.

Its a proud community and we clean up our own trash.
 
I just wanted to note that during the past 10+ years it is not uncommon for me to see 1 to 3 knife makers set up at a gun show selling kit blades that they put a handle on.

Each and every one I have asked what the blade material is, if they designed it themselves and if they ground the blade.

To date every one of them has lied on the last two points, I smile and walk away.
 
This actually came up today in a store I was in. Three ladies were there purchasing knives / oyster shuckers for their husbands. They said they were getting a deal on the knives they were getting ( also made from blanks) because they had seen an article in Blade and Barrel for soem others that were way more expensive.
 
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