Thoughts about pre-orders

Nathan the Machinist said:
It's an unfinished knife. A common element on a cheap knife. A rookie mistake (when unintentional). The only part of a well made knife that should be able to cut you is the edge. Everything else should be chamfered or rounded. Unless it's an intentional feature for throwing sparks from a ferro rod and scraping wood, which perhaps 1% of users might want. As an extremely judgemental knife snob, I see these on other knives and judge. Unless it's a bush craft knife. Then I get it...
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I agree on the bush craft example. Otherwise I wouldn’t worry about it Nathan, to the extent it causes you issues or disruptions. Though I do appreciate your desire to accommodate so many wants and requests.

I would think if someone is handy enough to have bushcrafting skills, they are handy enough to square off a spine themselves...a little time and some sandpaper.
 
I know a 90 degree spine can be used with a ferro rod ... and even scraping magnesium or wood ... but I guess I always was taught to use a tiny area of the blade ... and especially with Nathan's D3V ... it doesn't even show where I used a ferro rod ...

and I 99% of the time I carry an Alox SAK Farmer and use the awl or the end of the bottle opener to strike the ferro rod ... the awl works great.
 
About squared spines, the only thing I've ever used them for was magnesium firestarters.

As mentioned, CPK's D3V edges can hold up to both, scraping magnesium and the ferro rod, but these days, after trying the UST BlastMatch years and years ago, that's what I keep in the pack. Aside from the ease of use in a self-contained package, I really like the ability to use it 1-handed, just in case.

I also carry a butane lighter, just because it beats everything else for ease of use.
 
I like how this thread about a problematic subject for Nate went directly to another problematic subject for Nate. Is this all a cruel joke? Should I be laughing? If so, am I cruel?

Nathan, when will you make a bowie knife?
 
Lorien said:
I like how this thread about a problematic subject for Nate went directly to another problematic subject for Nate. Is this all a cruel joke? Should I be laughing? If so, am I cruel?

Nathan, when will you make a bowie knife?
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This is an all-time classic which ought to be taught at knife schools if there's such a thing and if there isn't, there ought to be one if for nothing else, other than teaching young knife-makers about Bowies as penned by professor emeritus Nathan the Machinist!

Always worth repeating once in a while:

https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/the-ask-nathan-a-question-thread.1425245/page-64#post-17599897

"A Bowie is an anachronism. An ill defined concept of a knife without real engineering or optimization. First of all, what is a bowie? The ABS style bowie looks and feels impressive at a knife show and feels "light and lively" due to a low moment of inertia from distal taper and a stick tang and feels like a "fighter" when you pick it up and wave it around. I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers here, but in my opinion some of these don't really work that great as knives, and I'll tell you why. It isn't relevant in a modern context (it's not very good as a modern fighter) and it isn't useful or historically accurate in a classical context (that ain't a bowie). It isn't a good stabber, and it isn't a good chopper (the point and the balance are wrong) and as a fighter many of them would perform poorly in real combat.

A classic fighter would be more of a stabbing weapon. These don't feel "light and lively". They have a higher moment of inertia from a reinforced point, a pommel and even weighted quillons and were more about straight line stabbing, resisting deflection and defeating various forms of armor or heavy clothing. They weren't light and they weren't lively and didn't strike you as weightless when you picked them up, they had stout points, weighted pommels and were made to kill, not wave around. Often they were a defensive left hand weapon of opportunity while the right hand held something with reach.

A modern fighter also has a reinforced point and is also a secondary weapon. The demands of modern combat dictate something that can pry in addition to stab, and the primary weapon is a firearm. Again they're stout and one of these modern bowies would loose their dainty little point pretty quick. Modern knife fighting principals where no one has a sword (this is the 21st century, no one has a sword) more resembles a fist fight with grappling than fencing. While a modern fighter still needs to work in a fencing grip with the blade held in the hand at an angle to project reach in line with the arm (not 90 degrees to the arm like most of these bowies are designed to be held, what are they stabbing their own face?) modern fighters also need to work in a reverse grip with the edge out and shielding the arm. When an opponent catches or dodges a punch they get the blade. Stabbing with a blade held in this grip (a motion like an ice pick) requires a handle shape and length where the thumb can go over the end of the grip to prevent the hand from sliding over the blade. The placement of any guards, ramps and grip swells need to align with a hand in this position. A modern "bowie" fails miserably here.

Then there is the historical aspect. Even though a bowie knife is not optimized as a fighter compared to an engineered weapon, there is the nostalgic value. Except there isn't, that's false nostalgia, the real actual bowie knife was more of a big kitchen knife.

So, lets see: yes it is a knife and can be used as one, but compared to modern engineered alternatives it's not good at stabbing, chopping, cutting and fighting and the clip point is a hindrance skinning large game and it isn't historically meaningful, but it's pretty good at a snap cut, it looks cool and it feels"light and lively" in the hand at knife shows. I'm sorry, I don't mean to disparage those who make or collect these kinds of knives, but they're not very good in my opinion and there is no way I'm ever going to produce them."
 
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I've been out of the loop for the last bit, life's been crazy just started reading this thread glad business is going well. I like been able to order the custom stuff so I don't have a problem with pre orders, the rest I'd says dealers would take some pressure off clerically but it would probably come at loss of some profits . It's hard to win. Best of luck.
 
David Lennon said:
I've been out of the loop for the last bit, life's been crazy just started reading this thread glad business is going well. I like been able to order the custom stuff so I don't have a problem with pre orders, the rest I'd says dealers would take some pressure off clerically but it would probably come at loss of some profits . It's hard to win. Best of luck.
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I may be crazy, but I personally think that this basic configuration could be the “Field of Dreams” knife.
If CPK builds it, the dealer will come.

Any knife dealer with common sense and knowledge of how great these knives perform should be willing to negotiate prices so they can be an exclusive seller.
 
If not for pre-orders, you would only have 10-20 regular customers who are consistently the fastest responders and/or proxies on any given Fun-Friday or small lot offering. I congratulate that elite group on their consistent success. With that said, I have accepted the fact that I am not in that elite group and never will be. I don't even try on small lot speed based offerings anymore. Pre-orders and/or large lot offerings are what allows me to remain a consistent customer.

Thanks!

Phil
 
Comprehensivist said:
If not for pre-orders, you would only have 10-20 regular customers who are consistently the fastest responders and/or proxies on any given Fun-Friday or small lot offering. I congratulate that elite group on their consistent success. With that said, I have accepted the fact that I am not in that elite group and never will be. I don't even try on small lot speed based offerings anymore. Pre-orders and/or large lot offerings are what allows me to remain a consistent customer.

Thanks!

Phil
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Phil,

It had been discussed in more than a few occasions in the past that those of us in the West Coast, don’t really stand a chance of scoring on the very few and limited stuff unless we hook up with a proxy speedster located on the East-ish. The server lags don’t work in our favor and the extra second or two makes an enormous difference in the placement. Of course many other factors also weigh in but we start off at a huge disadvantage.

Pre-orders for the win-win unless you want the one of type of stuff. For those lotteries were suggested but at the end of the day, Nathan is the boss and he favors / prefers FCFS because the other methods can be too laborious and too arcane for CPK.
 
Casinostocks said:
Phil,

It had been discussed in more than a few occasions in the past that those of us in the West Coast, don’t really stand a chance of scoring on the very few and limited stuff unless we hook up with a proxy speedster located on the East-ish. The server lags don’t work in our favor and the extra second or two makes an enormous difference in the placement. Of course many other factors also weigh in but we start off at a huge disadvantage.

Pre-orders for the win-win unless you want the one of type of stuff. For those lotteries were suggested but at the end of the day, Nathan is the boss and he favors / prefers FCFS because the other methods can be too laborious and too arcane for CPK.
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Just a point of reference, I'm as west coast as it gets and I've scored multiple times for myself and proxies...that being said, I'll probably never score again;)

(Almost every time was on my cellphone data too:eek:)
 
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