- Joined
- Jun 4, 2001
- Messages
- 15,035
Hi Everybody,
I had a friend here in Utah come by the shop the other day with what I thought was a pretty sad deal.
I asked if he would mind if I posted this and he said please do, he wished he would have known before this happened to him.
So here goes
Sometimes Free is not worth it.
My friend traded for a Brand new Satin finish AK.
It was beautiful from the pics I saw.
Worth about 1200 to 1300 by itself.
For one reason or another the other party threw in a sheath for an AK.
Turns out it was one of the sheaths I made many many years ago, in fact it had to be one of the first 10 ones I made over 10 years ago.
I can tell by the way it was made and some of the materials I used back then.
Here is where it gets bad and why sometimes Free is not worth it at all.
My friend thought to check the fit and feel of the sheath with the AK.
The outside of the sheath looked as though it was clean so he went with it.
Once he began to put the sword in the sheath he noticed a problem with the fit, called me and I said bring it by.
He brought it by and here is what we did and later what I found.
He showed me the sheath then the sword.
The sword was nice and when looking at it noticed a few mars/scratches in the finish that should not be there nor be caused by a sheath made for it.
Next we looked at the sheath
1st as i said this is one of the 1st AK sheaths I had made over 10 years ago in 2005.
Those AK's where just slightly thinner than the newer ones.
I had a newer coated AK in the shop and put it in sheath and it was a bit tight on the last 6" or so of the sheath and that was strange but kind of makes since as the older AK's from 2005 are thinner.
Even though it was tight it should not have caused scratches.
Upon closer inspection I saw a bunch of grit at the mouth of the sheath (bad sign)
I recognize it though because my Oinkalibur's sheath has the same grit embedded in it from a San Diego trip when we went to the beach and even though the sword had sand on it, I still put it back in the sheath, thus embedding the sand in the plastic. Don't do that if you want your finish to stay nice. My sword is a beater so it did not matter to me.
This bad sign made me curious, more later.
So my friend got a new sheath I made with a new AK and it fit perfect.
Because he needed to sell the sword for personal reasons we decided to make it nicer/repair the finish so that it would sell better.
To repair his sword I carefully repaired the finish of his sword with scotch bright wheels and it is hard to tell it had the scratches.
It can and does effect the perceived value of his sword because he can not in good conscience say "factory satin finish".
How much that will cost him I do not know, but it does effect value all because of a free sheath.
The lesson is if you get a used sheath thrown in with the deal, get some history on the sheath, and make sure it is right.
Aftermy friend left and I had a break in sheath making I cut the sheath open to see what was inside.
What I found was;
1. Lots of grit, the sword that used to live in this sheath was put back in the sheath dirty and covered in grit over the years.
2. Rust spots because the sword had to be put in wet
3. Black marks from dirt and coating being left in the sheath.
Now this is OK if your sword is like my old beater or the user sword that used to be in that sheath, and you do not care about the finish or future of the finish, but for a 1200.00 satin finish sword, that old sheath should not have been used for it.
Bottom line
Any used sheath should be heavily scrutinized weather it is kydex, leather or nylon.
It should always be the sheath originally made for that knife or sword.
Unless you do not care about scratches or fit then shove the knife in anything that fits if you like.
here are some pics
Gritty
Rust spots
tip area
I had a friend here in Utah come by the shop the other day with what I thought was a pretty sad deal.
I asked if he would mind if I posted this and he said please do, he wished he would have known before this happened to him.
So here goes
Sometimes Free is not worth it.
My friend traded for a Brand new Satin finish AK.
It was beautiful from the pics I saw.
Worth about 1200 to 1300 by itself.
For one reason or another the other party threw in a sheath for an AK.
Turns out it was one of the sheaths I made many many years ago, in fact it had to be one of the first 10 ones I made over 10 years ago.
I can tell by the way it was made and some of the materials I used back then.
Here is where it gets bad and why sometimes Free is not worth it at all.
My friend thought to check the fit and feel of the sheath with the AK.
The outside of the sheath looked as though it was clean so he went with it.
Once he began to put the sword in the sheath he noticed a problem with the fit, called me and I said bring it by.
He brought it by and here is what we did and later what I found.
He showed me the sheath then the sword.
The sword was nice and when looking at it noticed a few mars/scratches in the finish that should not be there nor be caused by a sheath made for it.
Next we looked at the sheath
1st as i said this is one of the 1st AK sheaths I had made over 10 years ago in 2005.
Those AK's where just slightly thinner than the newer ones.
I had a newer coated AK in the shop and put it in sheath and it was a bit tight on the last 6" or so of the sheath and that was strange but kind of makes since as the older AK's from 2005 are thinner.
Even though it was tight it should not have caused scratches.
Upon closer inspection I saw a bunch of grit at the mouth of the sheath (bad sign)
I recognize it though because my Oinkalibur's sheath has the same grit embedded in it from a San Diego trip when we went to the beach and even though the sword had sand on it, I still put it back in the sheath, thus embedding the sand in the plastic. Don't do that if you want your finish to stay nice. My sword is a beater so it did not matter to me.
This bad sign made me curious, more later.
So my friend got a new sheath I made with a new AK and it fit perfect.
Because he needed to sell the sword for personal reasons we decided to make it nicer/repair the finish so that it would sell better.
To repair his sword I carefully repaired the finish of his sword with scotch bright wheels and it is hard to tell it had the scratches.
It can and does effect the perceived value of his sword because he can not in good conscience say "factory satin finish".
How much that will cost him I do not know, but it does effect value all because of a free sheath.
The lesson is if you get a used sheath thrown in with the deal, get some history on the sheath, and make sure it is right.
Aftermy friend left and I had a break in sheath making I cut the sheath open to see what was inside.
What I found was;
1. Lots of grit, the sword that used to live in this sheath was put back in the sheath dirty and covered in grit over the years.
2. Rust spots because the sword had to be put in wet
3. Black marks from dirt and coating being left in the sheath.
Now this is OK if your sword is like my old beater or the user sword that used to be in that sheath, and you do not care about the finish or future of the finish, but for a 1200.00 satin finish sword, that old sheath should not have been used for it.
Bottom line
Any used sheath should be heavily scrutinized weather it is kydex, leather or nylon.
It should always be the sheath originally made for that knife or sword.
Unless you do not care about scratches or fit then shove the knife in anything that fits if you like.
here are some pics
Gritty
Rust spots
tip area