Some makers are just jerks

I like R.W.Clark's take on judging people. What ever hapened to "3 strikes & you're out!" I've met a lot of people that seemed obnoxious & just plain jerks on first meeting but very few that remained that way by the 2nd or 3rd meeting.
 
Makers are human and like us all, we strive to be liked by 100% of the folks we deal with, this is the ideal. The reality is that if 51% like us and 49% think we are "jerks" we fall into that group called HUMAN

There is a Maker who is very select about who he calls his 'friend'. He is friendly with most, can be abusive to some, but simply refuses to acknowledge or treat all as a 'buddy' because to him friendship is sacred.

If you come on strong, you get it back ten-fold. Do not like his knives; DON'T BUY THEM, and if you ask him a question here, he might answer it a some point in between the 14-16 hours he spends on his profession: knife making. The man is a busy Human........

There is simply a minute percentage that are truly dinks. I would not buy one of their knives, accept it as a gift, or stop at his table at a show. If he treats all that way, chances are he is out the door in a matter of months. Remember the 51% theory

Just because I spend most of my day on knife forums or reading about knives and make it perfectly clear that I respect the work of certain makers, it is MY expectation of how that maker treats me that determines what I think of him. But by no means will I ever call a maker a jerk just because he will not kiss my A$$ or post directly to me as if we "are friends".

The bottom line of all this gibberish is that very few makers are truly jerks and sometimes it's simply a matter of perception without understanding what is happening at that moment in the maker's life.......Ira

*Edited to add that if I read R.W.'s post, I could have saved myself ten freakin minutes to type this!!!!!:footinmou
 
Originally posted by R.W.Clark
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I guess all I am saying is that even knifemakers are people....After all, we are all humans.
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I disagree - Tom Mayo, Jerry Hossom and many others are nothing short of divine.:)
 
I try to reserve judgement on a maker until I meet him or her in person. As has been pointed out some wonderful people do not have the skills to come across well in Cyberspace.

However, if after meeting the maker I feel that he or she is a jerk I will take my business elsewhere. As has be previously stated there are far too many talented makers who are wonderful people to do business with jerks.
 
I've got a knife from a dude that will not return emails if his life depended on it. Before buying it from one of the tremendous dealers I had a question. Gave up after 3 email attempts, the dealer answered my questions, bought the knife and it's rediculously great. I figure that the guy's a dick, but he makes one hell of a knife. Glad I got it.
 
Joss, I will bet the JERK is not from Arkansas!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
I was very interested in a certain model from a very well-known maker. I emailed him 3 times inquiring as to how to order from him, but never got a reply. Initially I thought of him as a jerk for this, but after rethinking the situation, I reconsidered. there could have been a number of reasons for lack of response that he had no control over. Water under the bridge, as my collecting has gone a different direction.

Another maker turned owner and principle grinder of knives made by a now defunct and very well known production knife company (begins with an R ) did act like a jerk to my son and I at show a couple of years ago. His true colors soon came to light with many prospective and past customers. I have since sold all my knives from that "company".
 
I gotta say, there are too many makers nowadays to buy one from a jerk. Though RW hit the nail on the head-we may just catch a guy on a bad day.
I'm at the point in my collecting that I buy knives from people I like and consider friends because it makes me feel good. I have 5 Carson model 4's, one in particular which I carry and use everyday at work. Kit is my friend, we speak often, and everytime I pull that knife out to use, I think of my friend.
Same goes for Ernie Emerson,Bob Terzuola, and JW Smith and a few others. When I look at my knives, besides them being of high quality, it reminds me of my friends. I am currently in the process of finally(hopefully) getting an Ed Fowler pronghorn, after about 15 years of wanting one. I really like Ed and Angie, and this one is gonna be special. While they're not custom knives, I feel the same way about Buck knives. I like CJ Buck and Joe Houser, they make a quality product for the price, so I own some.
The bottom line for me is if my knives dont make me feel good, I might as well use any old cheapie that can cut.
 
When I look at my knives, besides them being of high quality, it reminds me of my friends. I am currently in the process of finally(hopefully) getting an Ed Fowler pronghorn, after about 15 years of wanting one. I really like Ed and Angie, and this one is gonna be special. While they're not custom knives, I feel the same way about Buck knives. I like CJ Buck and Joe Houser, they make a quality product for the price, so I own some.
The bottom line for me is if my knives dont make me feel good, I might as well use any old cheapie that can cut.
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Dave, that pretty much summed up why I collect and enjoy knives.
Thanks for those words.
 
I agree with most of whats been said and have had a bad day or two myself on occasion. Once I had a guy walk up to my table and look at a piece of laminated steel on the table that had a famous rock bands name in it. He was having trouble reading it and I blurted out "Can't your read?" My wife looked at me like WTF did you just say and the guy walked away from my table and will probably remeber what a jerk I was for the rest of his life. The problem was I wasn't intentionally being a jerk my words came out all wrong. Sometimes you have to cut a guy some slack.
 
Lots of very good replies, I especially liked R.W.'s

Like that bad day thing... At the MKA show, my girlfriend got severe food poisoning and that put a huge damper on the show for us (obviously more for HER!) And I know that I may have been less friendly than I could have been.

I had lots of pre-concieved notions about makers. You know, ideas you get from magazines, threads, books. And a great deal of those ideas were WAY OFF. Some guys that I figured would be great have proven themselves as very hard to talk to and such. But for the MOST part, the makers I've met have been even better guys than I had expected.

Then there are always going to be the exceptions where you can treat someone like gold and they just are a jerk and they're going to tell everyone that YOU are the jerk. I've seen that before.

Cool thread Joss...lots of interesting replies!
Nick
 
Oh yeah, the MKA show...that Nick Wheeler guy was kind of a jerk...guess I won't be buying one of his knives :rolleyes: :D :eek: just kidding of course.

~Mitch
 
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