The "Ask Nathan a Question" Thread

Nathan the Machinist said:
a few are destined for the creek bed but most are going to get reworked into some kind of a wacky Wednesday rework or similar. They're going to be good functional knives but they'll be out of spec. this will be empty space fodder for us to fool with at some point down the road for fun Friday sales. but it does mean we're going to have to stop doing our Friday sales on this double edge fighter so we can make sure we have enough to finish the pre-order.
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Gotcha! Those out of spec ones will still break the Internet ;)

Also, as you may or may not know, I marketed some of my spare and backup CPKs elsewhere (the Big by the Bay Site) as well as on here and discovered a few things:

- You are definitely missing out on a wider audience / potential customers who are not as hardcore as most / some of us in here. This includes international buyers who may not come in here!

- You are not as well-known as some of your so-called "competition" but you are no longer "unknown" like several years ago

- The wacky stuff or the semi-custom stuff works much, much better in here than the kinda places where less fanatical of the enthusiasts frequent.

- There is definitely a cross traffic of people on here who shop over there or sell over there. This has made your name better known by extension.

- Your natural buffed/unbuffed canvas micarta will be your best seller, IMHO, with the black as a distant 2nd. I would not go fancy if you decide to expand the operation/output to market directly or decide to get a dealer.

I wanted to post this in the Random Thoughts but it's not so random :)
 
Casinostocks said:
Gotcha! Those out of spec ones will still break the Internet ;)

Also, as you may or may not know, I marketed some of my spare and backup CPKs elsewhere (the Big by the Bay Site) as well as on here and discovered a few things:

- You are definitely missing out on a wider audience / potential customers who are not as hardcore as most / some of us in here. This includes international buyers who may not come in here!

- You are not as well-known as some of your so-called "competition" but you are no longer "unknown" like several years ago

- The wacky stuff or the semi-custom stuff works much, much better in here than the kinda places where less fanatical of the enthusiasts frequent.

- There is definitely a cross traffic of people on here who shop over there or sell over there. This has made your name better known by extension.

- Your natural buffed/unbuffed canvas micarta will be your best seller, IMHO, with the black as a distant 2nd. I would not go fancy if you decide to expand the operation/output to market directly or decide to get a dealer.

I wanted to post this in the Random Thoughts but it's not so random :)
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I'm thinking about doing a bunch of just standard basic configuration, like you said, with basic natural scales and distributing them through Amazon. It would allow people to get a basic knife without any fuss and reduce the burden on Jo. And then continue to do the fancy and semi custom stuff here.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
I'm thinking about doing a bunch of just standard basic configuration, like you said, with basic natural scales and distributing them through Amazon. It would allow people to get a basic knife without any fuss and reduce the burden on Jo. And then continue to do the fancy and semi custom stuff here.
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If you have an established eBay account, throw a handful of, I dunno, UFK/FK2s there too. Like Qty of 5 and no auctions. All Buy-it-Now. There's always the PITA factor which you don't get here in the community but at the same time, you are leaving some $ on the table.

#nathanneedsacrown
#abigailneedsbraces
#joneedsaporschegt3 :D
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
I'm thinking about doing a bunch of just standard basic configuration, like you said, with basic natural scales and distributing them through Amazon. It would allow people to get a basic knife without any fuss and reduce the burden on Jo. And then continue to do the fancy and semi custom stuff here.
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I think this is a really good idea, no matter which venue you utilize for their sale. And it's really good for everybody.....
 
I guess you won’t know til you try. But the Amazon thing still makes me cringe. I guess the sales interface being in place is worth losing a cut to them. But it’s all the crap you could deal with beyond that that makes me cringe. There are some pretty unscrupulous people out there, and Amazon’s “oversight” (I use that term loosely; there is little to none) of used/returned goods is getting worse by the day.
 
Casinostocks said:
If you have an established eBay account, throw a handful of, I dunno, UFK/FK2s there too. Like Qty of 5 and no auctions. All Buy-it-Now. There's always the PITA factor which you don't get here in the community but at the same time, you are leaving some $ on the table.

#nathanneedsacrown
#abigailneedsbraces
#joneedsaporschegt3 :D
Click to expand...
Only issue with eBay is that they’ll want a huge wad of money for their “services”.
 
mb> said:
I guess you won’t know til you try. But the Amazon thing still makes me cringe. I guess the sales interface being in place is worth losing a cut to them. But it’s all the crap you could deal with beyond that that makes me cringe. There are some pretty unscrupulous people out there, and Amazon’s “oversight” (I use that term loosely; there is little to none) of used/returned goods is getting worse by the day.
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It’s even more fun when you buy new stock from Amazon and the send you one of those used/returned items!
 
Standard78 said:
It’s even more fun when you buy new stock from Amazon and the send you one of those used/returned items!
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You too eh? I just tried an open box deal for a phone case for my wife. That’s a little different deal, granted, but I’ve had some good luck with those deals in the past. This freaking case came in the original box, but it was the most ridiculous, beat to hell, used, chewed up, cracked broken worn out thing you've ever seen. Condition was listed as “very good.” Lol :mad::thumbsdown::)
 
I'll be aghast if Nathan has not had oodles of inquiries from bigger knife dealers about networking with him but I have also come to know that he keeps his cards very close to his vest/chest (English/Yank-English). Seems like they wanna ago direct marketing as they venture out; maybe they prefer it more to have better control.
 
Nathan, I'm curious why you left about 1/2" of spine in front of the thumb ramp on the DEF, instead of blending the top grind right up to the front of the thumb ramp?
 
moparsbob said:
Nathan, I'm curious why you left about 1/2" of spine in front of the thumb ramp on the DEF, instead of blending the top grind right up to the front of the thumb ramp?
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The edge is taken up to where the grind starts to thicken at the upper plunge. Care is required to avoid a big dull spot there while also avoiding over grinding the edge and creating a drop or bump. Attempts to feather that edge up into the plunge (where it won't actually create a working edge) create some wonky lines because of the conic nature of the plunge. The termination I'm using is the best combination of functional and aesthetic that I can do. Part of the reason for this is because we're rigidly constraining the edge angle so there is no opportunity to cheat the blend. We normally use a sharpening choil or a dropped edge so this kind of termination is a little different than our normal work.
 
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