The other side of the coin

peter nap

peter nap

Joined
Nov 27, 1999
Messages
3,745
We've all talked about rude customers. Here's the other twist. I broke down and went to the show today after all. There weren't many custom knives there but there was one fairly nice table (at first glance).

I spent some time looking and listening to the fellow talk to other customers. The first thing I noticed was a lot of the knives he was selling as customs made from saw blades, had Taiwan stickers on the back. Very rough with the traditional globbed varnish on the whole thing.

He did have some nice knives though. One older gentleman who seemed to be fairly knowledgeable, was looking at a stunning folder. Ladder Damascus and Stag scales.

The fellow asked what was in the Damascus and the Maker (I later found he was not) said, how in the hell would I know. We don't make the steel you know. I'm a master blade smith, not a steel worker. We get it here...and he pulled out a Texas Knife maker Catalog.

Then the fellow asked what kind of stag it was. The a$$hole answered that it was Sambar Stag and they bought it on the black market.

That was pretty much the end for the buyer and I had had enough too.

I went to another table that had some unusual knives. They were finger hole skinners with a gut hook on the end and near the rear bottom. I asked what steel was in it and he said it was the best steel available but was a secret because he didn't want his competitors getting it.
I moved on and find any other tables that had customs.

Where do these guys come from?
 
Master Blade Smith? I think he should use just the initials of blade smith and he doesn't seem to be to good at that either.
 
I went to the Hampton, va Gun and Knife show last weeked. The same guy was there with the "Patented double gut hook" knives that had the "Worlds most ergonomical handle". He wanted over a hundred dollars for a knife that had a crappy finish on the blade and a dymondwood handle. I say no thank you. On a good note, there was three or four knife makers and one dealer that was selling some very fine custom pieces.
 
I doubt this very relevent but;

My Pop tried to teach me two basic and very important things about selling. I try to practice them. One is: when the prospect speaks shut up and listen. He is telling you what is required to make the sale. Number two, and equally important, is: when he says yes - shut your damn mouth.

I have actually seen sales been made (I have even done it) just to loose it by continueing the sell after it was done.

RL
 
peter nap said:
I'm a master blade smith, not a steel worker. SNIP
Where do these guys come from?
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:D That's a good one!! Reminds me of one of my favs from old Star Trek shows. Bones to Kirk: "I'm a doctor Jim, not a GOD!"
 
I've been setting up at gunshows for awhile and just watching some of the clownwells come in is worth paying the table fees. Most of the dealers are pretty good people. There are some that are bullsh--ers, but most are ok. The public on the other hand have got to be from another planet, some not all because I've made quite a few friends and regular customers at the shows. My friend and I say it's Halloween at the gunshows because of some of the outfits these people wear. They must have a spot in their closets where "gunshow only attire" hangs. Some of the people buying guns scares the hell out of me if you would see and watch them :eek: I say to myself, that dude owns guns :eek:
Scott
 
There is a fellow and his son who do many east coast shows.They tell everybody they make the damascus blade blanks they sell.The stuff is right out of India ( Atlanta cutlery type stuff). I once asked the son who made the damascus for them.He snapped back,"My dad makes it by hand on the back porch." I asked what kind of a hammer he had (referring to power hammers)and was told that he had a 100 pound anvil and a 4 pound hammer.They say that the blades don't need hardening,that they get hard when he hammers them. If you ask too much they stop talking to you.
Always good for a laugh. - SA
 
I love talking to "Makers" at the gunshows. I just let them drop their schpeal and laugh my butt off. Most are pretty good guys, but there are a few doozies.
 
What I really hate is when I tell someone I make knives and I get the "Oh, you're one of THOSE guys" look.

Guys like that give our craft a bad name :mad:
 
bladsmth said:
There is a fellow and his son who do many east coast shows.They tell everybody they make the damascus blade blanks they sell.The stuff is right out of India ( Atlanta cutlery type stuff). I once asked the son who made the damascus for them.He snapped back,"My dad makes it by hand on the back porch." I asked what kind of a hammer he had (referring to power hammers)and was told that he had a 100 pound anvil and a 4 pound hammer.They say that the blades don't need hardening,that they get hard when he hammers them. If you ask too much they stop talking to you.
Always good for a laugh. - SA
Click to expand...

Those two clowns sound like they need to be slapped about the head and neck region repeatedly.
 
I expect I posted about the same guys 6 or 7 month ago.
Today I needed to get away from here. It's been a bad month and a bad week and I was shot. I needed mountains (sort of like a recharge)

I went to the Shenandoah valley with my wife and on the way, I stopped by the Frontier Museum in Waynesboro.

I spent a couple of hours talking to th blacksmith there and he showed me a lot of new tricks for making hatchets. Even let me pound on one until tourists started drifting in.

The point is....no matter how many aholes there are, there seem to be just as many good people. They just aren't as loud. ;)
 
I was at a gun and knife show last year and a "knifemaker" with a pile of junk that came from the far east told me he hammers out the blades and sends them to the far east, he wouldn't tell what country, because he was the only one allowed to do that. When they get to his un-named far east country they put the handles on and send them back. I asked why his name wasn't on them and he said it was part of the agreement. My 6' 3" son was laughing like hell and the guy was getting upset, so we moved on down the line. I saw some knives at a flea market in Mobile, AL about five years ago that were the lousiest pieces of junk I'd ever seen. The handle and guards were varnished antler and you could still see file marks all over them. To top it off he had another makers name on them. I knew the maker and called him when I got home. My son was stationed there at the time and I called and asked him to get me one of the clowns business cards. He said when he got there the next weekend the man was in cuffs. It seemed he had some real eagle feathers for sale. He also had some , according to him, antique Native American arrows for sale. A man standing next to me said they were a very advanced tribe for their time, they had plastic nocks (Spelling?) on them. They are entertaining at times.
 
Peter. Its lovely in the Valley.Thats a great museum,too.Take care and don't forget to relax once and a while.Life is for enjoying,not worrying. - Stacy
 
It never ceases to amaze and entertain me, the persona these scumbag vendors feel they must assume once they set up at a show. It's this funny faux-Italian-weird-carnie-kind-of-thing. They all have a certain look in their eyes. You guys know what I mean.

Its like after a while, you can spot 'em right off. Ever go yard sale-ing? You can spot the yard sales by the folks that do it for a living right off too. They just aren't humble enough. Most of them care less whether you are there or not, and wouldn't bother to un-ass their lawn chairs to collect your money. Their signs out at the street are too good for a casual yard sale, too.

These jerk knife vendors buy crappy stuff and try to pass it off on people who know little about knives.
 
Razorback - Knives said:
............... My friend and I say it's Halloween at the gunshows because of some of the outfits these people wear. They must have a spot in their closets where "gunshow only attire" hangs. Some of the people buying guns scares the hell out of me if you would see and watch them :eek: I say to myself, that dude owns guns :eek:
Scott
Click to expand...

Before my back was bad enough to be a knifemaker;) , I worked in a high volume gun store.
It was gun show day, every day.
The worst day I remember there were 3 accidental discharges, with the bullets missing me by less than a foot, the third one was shot between a coworker, and myself(at chest height) who were standing shoulder, to shoulder. Later, no one could figure how neither of us got hit, when re enacting the thing.
That same day, there were 5 people who pointed loaded guns at me, one guy squeezing the trigger repeatedly, one other one trying to work the slide of the 12ga, and pulling the trigger. I reached out, took the thing away from him, and asked him what the problem was. He said he had a live round stuck in the chamber:eek: .
I took the barrel off to get the round out, walked out the front door, and threw both halves of his S/G across the parking lot. he decided he didn't want to make anything out of it. ;)

I went next door that night, after work, with a coworker, bought a quart of CC, and proceeded to drink 3/4's of it sitting in my car in the parking lot, and never got a buzz. :eek: :D

To get back to knife related, and topic.:D
I think that there should be a sticky thread somewhere on one of these knife forums that lists the names of those clowns who misrepresent themselves, and their products. It could be added to as new names became available.

It might help save some new knife buyers some pain, but they would probably never see the list anyway.:( :confused:
 
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