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Sketchen Scales Customs

Cf1969, I apologize for any misunderstanding. I did drop the ball on communications with you and for that I am sincerely sorry.

To clarify for others, this is a set that was made 18 months ago. I received it for what I thought was a simple repair in mid April. Upon inspection the first week of May I realized one scale was cracked at the bolster and needed to be replaced with a thicker liner. No charge for any of this.

Since discovering the need for replacement I have not accepted any more orders, but the dozen or so active orders I already had need to take priority.

Sorry to have missed your call yesterday evening, cf1969. I have sent another email your way and hope that we can work something out to your satisfaction. If you feel the need to continue this conversation publicly it would be best to have the mods move it all to GBU.
 
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Steve, what's the issue? Is it time, materials, more difficult than previously expected? All those are addressable the communication issue is important. If emails and PM's go unanswered it leaves people to their own imaginations. In a business like your's it's important to keep the customer updated and respond to inquiries, it only takes a few minutes.

I've done many home based businesses and no matter what staying in touch is priority 1. Communications keeps things moving forward, even if there's problems. I hope you tend to cf1969's problem, you've done a lot of business here and have a good reputation. Don't let your handling of this be how members see your future dealings. If there's anything that can be done to help expedite this let me know, I'm sure if it's a material issue or locating material there's enough members here who might be able to help out.

Steve I sincerely hope you do the proper thing and keep this as much of a priority as your other pending orders. Personally I'd rather get the scale issue outta the way before moving on. Otherwise you'll constantly be thinking about this and won't be able to put your full attention on the other projects. You do stellar work and I know you can resolve this, your feedback speaks for itself but reputations can go south quick.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I really hope you get back on track and would like the ability to do some business with you in the near future. I'll be paying attention to this thread as well as many others I'm sure to see how this plays out. Good luck and I'm certain we'll be talking again soon.
 
Cf1969-
I discovered the problem the first weekend of May. The blade hitting the backspacer was caused by the splitting scale. Thought it could be fixed and attempted to do so. I meant to email you that Sunday but simply forgot. I screwed up there and you have my apologies for that.

Tried to reassemble May 26th and realized that it would need to be replaced. I emailed then to explain and said I would make a new one at no charge as soon as possible. Judging from your recent statements, I'm now thinking this may have been misunderstood, which would explain your concerns.

Here is the email I sent:

"The backspacer is all set.
Unfortunately the lockside scale just isn't going to work out. Tried all my tricks to no avail. Luckily I have just enough of that same lava kirinite for a replacement so I will make one at no charge and get it back to you ASAP. "

June 10th and 12th I received emails asking for updates and didn't get to them until June 14th. If you were waiting for info and didn't realize I was planning to replace the scale, I can see how this would make you worried and angry.
From my perspective it had only been 2 weeks since I agreed to squeeze in a free replacement for one of the most complicated scales I've done. (Bolstered Spyderco military)

This is not a full time job for me, I get one or two days at most per week for knife work. Pending orders have no priority over this, but the active orders must. Your replacement is in the queue and will be given my full attention, same as all orders. Hope we can put this behind us and make you happy with a more sturdy replacement. No hard feelings on my end.


T. Erdelyi-
I appreciate your words and your loyalty to the good people in the knife community. Happy to work with you in the future. I will be reupping my Craftsman membership here when I'm ready to take on more orders.
 
This thread could use some pictures.
ZT 0909, pink G10 with black linen micarta bolsters, white G10 liner and pinstripe. Amazing work, Steve, so pleased with it. Thank you.
7ZQg3Rr.jpg
 
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Has anyone had any contact with Steve concerning scales or other mat terms. I am asking due to the fact that on May 8 he acknowledged that he received my GB2 and payment in full for a set of scales.

The last email I rec iv d from him was June 13 informing me that my knife would be finished on a couple of weeks. Since the I have sent him 3 emails June 18, July 9 and July 14 with no response. I am getting a real feeling that may have lost an investment.
 
Hmm any sort of word from Steve or anyone know if he is taking orders?! Would love some Tatanka Kevlar scales!
 
I contacted Steve in mid January to do some scales for me.In all of our discussions I would email him and have to wait 1-2 weeks for a reply.With this kind of time lag it wasn't until late February that we settled on what he was going to do for me.He told me I was in the que and it would be my turn in 1-2 months-April more or less.I have not heard a word since.I've been following this thread since January and it seems like I'm not the only one with a communication problem.

I'm really disappointed not only in the apparent disappearance of Steve but also the fact that I've seen no one that did the quality of work with wood scales he did.At this point if he emailed me today and said he was ready for me I don't think I would use him.

Good luck Ernest Wohleb
 
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Thanks for the reply Hawk4367. Wish I had had some of this info before I committed to using his services. I based my decision on the 40 some pages of stellar reviews and pictures of satisfied customers on this forum. At first communications with Steve were good.. he stated my knife would be ready in a couple of weeks in June and we were in discussion for a set of scales for my GB... then nothing no replies to my emails/.. I did write him a letter last week I will see if that shakes out a response from him. What really tics me off is that based on all the positives I read I sent a check to cover the job along with a brand spanking new GB2... dumb of me but like I said based on past performance he seemed to be a standup guy. Hopefully this issue will be resolved satisfactorily, if so I will post the results on this forum. In the meantime anyone trying to use his svc please be aware that all may not be kosher.
 
Ernest Wohleb,I don't think it was dumb of you at all.You were simply going by the history of Steve so there was no reason at all for you to be concerned.If he had told me to send in payment back in February I would have gladly done so and I would be in your shoes now.It seems the last time he logged on here was June 20th.I don't want to trash the guy without hearing his side of the story but short of being in a coma I can't see a legitimate reason why he has stopped all communication.Please keep us updated.
 
Hawk4367
I will certainly keep everyone posted on the outcome. I also do not wish to cast a dark cloud on someone who has done such outstanding work in the past and has a ton of fans. I am hoping that nothing like a medical event or family emergency has sidelined Steve. My concerns are that he seemed to abruptly stop answering my emails while on a positive note. Just don't want anyone else stuck until this matter is cleared up, hopefully on a positive note. But I will post the results positive or negative.
 
I am reaching out to anyone who may have a personal relationship with Steve. Reply can be private and can be sent to my email address sparkdogelw@aol.com. Following is the reason why.

On May 8 Steve acknowledged receipt of my Gayle Bradley 2 along with a cashiers check for $153.00 for the scales and preservation treatment. Also I did check with y credit union and the check has been cashed.

June 13 was the last I heard from him. He stated that my knife would be ready in a couple of weeks.

I have sent several emails with no response from him. I wrote him a letter giving him 3 methods,in which to contact me, no response.

At this,point I could vent, but after reading through 46 pages of people satisfied and extremely happy with their dealings with Steve I feel that this current situation is out of character for him.

Any help would be most appreciated.. I do hope that an emergency has not befallen him or his family. Thanks

Ernest Wohleb
 
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