Roll'n w/the punches.***updated pg 4***

NickWheeler

NickWheeler

Joined
Dec 3, 1999
Messages
9,437
It is what it is!!! ;)


***edited to add***


<<<<< I see that this came off as me being dramatic and even whining to some.... Oops... that wasn't my intent! LOL

I pretty much had to tear it off by the time I came to the decision to actually do it... so shooting it with the camera was just a way of saying, "Look, sometimes crap happens and you gotta grit your teeth and move forward."

That should have been included in my post and/or the video itself. >>>>>


[video=youtube;jAg4dQbB6xM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAg4dQbB6xM&feature=youtu.be[/video]
 
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This is why I love you and your work

PURE PASSION

I wish you would of gave it more than a day to sell thou :)
 
Hey Nick,
You should not be apologizing for that knife - it's a beauty. Maybe the handle is not the best for that type of knife. G10 or micarta might have been a better choice but that's part of the learning process. I'm a newbie and I just designed what I think is a great chefs knife. Made 12 blanks and was ready to grind. Went to see Dan Westlund about buying a grinder and he showed me a design change which makes a lot of sense - back to the drawing board. All part of the learning process.

You are a young man who has made a lot of beautiful knives and received a lot of praise on this site. If people pan the handle on one knife, don't sweat it.
Tim
 
I actually said "no! Don't...!" out loud here all by myself.
I woulda asked you to let me make payments on it if I knew you were gonna do that :(
Still think it's a viable and good handle design.
 
That was heartbreaking to watch, holy hell.

Ive been using my failures are throwing knives. :-) the other day a dude swung by to pick up one of his guitars, and inquired about one of the knives sticking out of the block... And he bought it.

This was a fluke for you.


Your anvil sounds wonderful, by the way.
 
I'm with Lorien, I yelled "NOOoo..." I have found that there is a buyer for every knife and a knife for every buyer. You are a man of immediate action and maybe lean toward immediate gratification. I hope you are not trying to please all of the people all of the time. We all ready know you are a man of high standards. My hats off to you me friend.
 
That seemed a little drastic, knocking $50 off what I already considered a good price or adding a sheath would have probably produced a buyer.
I've seen a lot of things in the world of custom knives, but that was a first. Anyway thanks for sharing it with us.
Looking forward to seeing version two.
 
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Good for you, Nick. I really liked the looks of that knife's blade, guard, and finish choices.

I think lots of folks who buy our knives don't think of how long and hard we makers critique our own work.

I know I've taken ivory handles off when something just didn't turn out right, and I can tell you that good as ivory can look, it doesn't taste at all good when you have to eat it.

One of the reasons Wheeler knives look so fine, is Nick's demonstrated willingness to only be satisfied with his best work.

Looking forward to seeing you in Little Rock, buddy,

John
 
I can understand your feelings Nick.
There have been times when I offered something that people told me I should.
Then when it did not sell right away I took it personal and got frustrated.
My wife asked what I was doing when put it in the wood stove.
My advice is "make what you are passionate about and don't listen to those who think they know better than you".
Be the Nick Wheeler that you want to be, not the Nick Wheeler that people say you aught to be.
Not sure if this makes sense. But I could see and relate to the pain you felt.
 
thing that kills me here, is that you were proud of your handle design and defended the characteristics which made it what it was. There was no mistake here, no void in the material, no defect.

I've got to say that this has got to be one of the most depressing threads I've ever seen on this forum. I don't know if someone tried to bully you into changing your opinion about your design, and if that's the case then someone needs their ass kicked- or at least tuned out in the future.

You didn't miss the mark, Nick. Not by a long shot.
 
Nick,
You are in charge of your designs and just because something doesn't sell at first doesn't mean you have missed the mark. People are general slow to take on to new and different designs because many are unwilling to take any chances in their own lives and it can be easier to scoff that to embrace something different.

I can feel your passion as was noted by another poster and all I can say is don't listen to the nah sayers and follow your hearts desire.

On a lighter note, If you haven't had to rehandle any of your knives, You haven't made very many!;)
 
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I'm with Lorien.

Nothing wrong with that knife at all.

Just let it roll off ya - take a hike, work out, split some wood or whatever....plenty of time to get back to the old grindstone :D

Bill Flynn
 
Been there and done that. Sometimes we just have to go back and do something a bit different even if it hurts a bit.

Can't wait to see what the new handle looks like. I know it will be a dandy.

Robert
 
Lorien,

I don't know any more about Nick's decision path here than what I see on his video, and have no info about any comments that may or may not have been made about the knife, but there's nothing depressing to me about this story.

I see it as one of the best makers in the country examining every detail of his work, and making any changes he feels necessary, no matter what others say, good or bad.

This is part and parcel of doing your work with a passion. No need to talk of ass kicking. What we need is folks with this kind of dedication.

John
 
To me it seems that those complaining about the handles without having held the knife in their hand are full of it. Handles are meant to be comfortable first and aesthetic second, especially if it is designed to be used like Nick stated.

Bring the hell and hating if you want but there is no way in hell anyone can complain about anything but aesthetics by just looking at something. Not just in the knife world, anywhere.

I often find myself wondering why people take to criticizing things that are different. Im sure when the wheel was invented there was some primitive jerk saying, "dont be a sissy just carry it on foot". For all we know Nick's handle design could have been amazingly comfortable and useful and brought up a new standard for handles, we will never know...

I personally thought it was a well executed piece, if I had the funds I would have snatched it up and given my thoughts on the handle during actual use. Could have been horrible but also could have been amazing!

Jonas
 
Hold on guys, I'm not sad about it, and no need to kick anybody's ass. ;) :)

The only thing I'm depressed about with this particular situation is that I've lost 20# since Dec 17th, but I still look that fat on camera. :eek: :grumpy: :)


Nobody bullied me into the decision. I forced myself into that spot when my initial, less drastic choice didn't work.

Now, contrary to popular comments ;) the pin WAS centered in the handle, but I agreed that it looked too small and decided to put a bigger pin in the handle. I do think at the price I put on the knife it should have sold very fast, but that was just part of my decision making process here.



I fixtured the knife in the mill and tried to drill the pin out with a solid carbide, extra long length 1/8" endmill. That's about the only way you will cut through the pin AND the wood. A drill bit will just look for the path of least resistance and slip to the side of the pin. So in theory it would have worked, but it chipped the wood out on the top side of the handle (even with tape on the surface). Then I bumped up to a 3/16" endmill, but the tear-out extended out too far.

I fiddled around with it for a while, and realized whatever I did, I'd probably end up tearing the handle off anyway.



My original intent was a synthetic handle, and that's what most folks said they would have preferred... so the decision wasn't all that hard to make.

And with things like this, it's like a band-aide... just rip that bastard off and be done with it. ;)



The new handle is waiting to cure now, so no tears here... just moving forward. ;) :) Please don't be depressed. :D



Thanks guys. :)
 
I think, we actually only have a very small market here. I don't what other places Nick might have shown the knife but there could not have been very many people that have looked at that knife.

If you only make the same thing all the time and all the collectors in a small market already have an example of it, then you've got no one to sell anything to. I think that would have been a perfect knife to take to a show, let a bunch of new people look at it. The only way we get to see new, innovative stuff is when we try new things, but then you gotta let people look at it.

That being said, Nick gets to make all his own decisions about these things. He's the one that has to bear the repercussions of them. It was a pretty dramatic thing to see but you could tell he wasn't sure about the design himself by the way he stated his question when he introduced the knife.

I personally would have given it some more time but Nick's got to be Nick. Followers of this forum will know that I ain't scared to make mistakes (and show them). Some would say, that in itself, is a big mistake.

Whatever you say about the dude, you got give him his respect, he's a guy with stature.
 
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