Trying to find more information on knife maker

Alamor

Alamor

Joined
Jun 24, 2015
Messages
196
Hello everyone,

I luckily found this forum recently. I must say, it's AMAZING!!!! I recently started buying knives for hunting. I somehow went from wanting one knife to owning 5 knives in less than 3 months. And I can tell you I will be buying a few from some knife makers here once I save up a little more cash.


Anyway, on to my question. I recently bought a knife online from a person who said he was making knives in the Philly/NJ area for the last 30 years. He recently retired and was selling all of his display knives. I was wondering if there is anywhere a person can go to learn more about a knife maker and the knives he makes. The knife I bought was a damascus hunting knife with a cape/gut hook. The knife maker said he was a master Damascus steel maker. It's beautiful, and sharper than anything i've ever had in my life. I was wondering if I was to post the knife descrption and the sellers advertisment, if some of you masters could tell me whether or not I bought a quality knife.

Also, if I posted in the wrong area feel free to move to proper forum.
 
Welcome! The photo would definitely be necessary…..and a shot of the maker's mark if possible.

Paul
 
sheathmaker said:
Welcome! The photo would definitely be necessary…..and a shot of the maker's mark if possible.

Paul
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Paul,

thank you for the reply. I will try to get a picture uploaded (if I can figure out how.) Also, I didn't notice any makers mark on the knife blade. I will take a closer look though. The only thing I noticed was the back of the sheath was stamped with his intitials and business logo.
 
Be very careful, an unmarked blade is not good. There are a lot Pakastani made blades being sold by unscrupulous folks, saying "I made it". I'm from NJ and don't recall any maker doing Damascus blades for the last 30 years!!
 
Win Heger said:
Be very careful, an unmarked blade is not good. There are a lot Pakastani made blades being sold by unscrupulous folks, saying "I made it". I'm from NJ and don't recall any maker doing Damascus blades for the last 30 years!!
Click to expand...

Would it be ok to say the knife makers name? I don't wanna break any forum rules. He said he made knives for 30!years and was retiring.
As for the makers mark, there might be one and I just didn't see it? I am not a knife collector or expert, I just use them for hunting. I liked
the way this one looked, and when I researched the materials he said was used to make the Damascus I read that it was good steel (5160 and
15N20)

Here is a link to the knife.

http://imgur.com/FfGOEkn
 
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IMHO, a 30 years experienced knifemaker will be proud to put his name on every single blade that he/she made. After seeing the pic, something came out in my mind :D
 
I am going to post the sale listing below:

For sale is a Custom Damascus Knife. This knife is a medium Cape/Gut Hook knife. This knife has not been used but it has been in a display case for several years. Blade length is 4" and the overall length is 8.5". The steel used is 5160 (Spring Steel) and 15N20 (High Nickel Contrast Steel). This pattern is a Firestorm pattern. Included is a premium custom leather sheath made from heavy leather and fitted to this knife. Handle material is Walnut with a Damascus steel finger guard. No File work, rare if ever on my knives. The knife has been tempered to 58c and has approximately 180 layers. The hollow ground blade was done on a Bader 3 and an 8" contact wheel. This knife is a caping knife that is designed to make the proper cuts in game hide that is planned for taxidermy. People today call it a gut hook but if you look carefully you will see the hook is flush with one side of the blade unlike a gut hook that is center ground. I am a retired knife maker and started my business many years ago grinding and selling finished blades only and sold them mostly through a broker in England and New York but have sold hundreds of knives in the past 2 years and I have dismantled one more display case which housed 30 or so knives so they will be offered for sale because my knife shop and equipment have been sold. I include a signed card with each knife. These knives are priced to sell. I need to be in an RV this time next year.
 
Hi Alamor,

You want to find more information on a knife maker, then state his name. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience from the members.

Why are we being coy? Are you protecting his identity?

It looks like a nicely made knife. A true 'Master' of anything wants this to be known with identification markings. It's been this way in the knife world since the 40's.

Forgive me for being direct, but we need facts.

Coop
 
SharpByCoop said:
Hi Alamor,

You want to find more information on a knife maker, then state his name. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience from the members.

Why are we being coy? Are you protecting his identity?

It looks like a nicely made knife. A true 'Master' of anything wants this to be known with identification markings. It's been this way in the knife world since the 40's.

Forgive me for being direct, but we need facts.

Coop
Click to expand...

Hey Coop....the seller is on the 'bay.....he doesn't state his name....the knives look good, but they are incredibly inexpensive....all the models I saw were under $100.00.

They do look well made, I just want to know how a "maker" can sell a decent finished knife for less than it would cost in time to produce the billet and put everything together....that raises all of my alarms.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
SharpByCoop said:
Hi Alamor,

You want to find more information on a knife maker, then state his name. There is a wealth of knowledge and experience from the members.

Why are we being coy? Are you protecting his identity?

It looks like a nicely made knife. A true 'Master' of anything wants this to be known with identification markings. It's been this way in the knife world since the 40's.

Forgive me for being direct, but we need facts.

Coop
Click to expand...

I actually wasn't trying to be coy. I didn't know if it was against the rules to post personal information. The knife maker is Don Long his company name was Longknife custom knives. He sent me a signed card with all the knife specs on it. He said he had a knife shop in the Philadelphia/NJ area.
 
Kohai999 said:
Hey Coop....the seller is on the 'bay.....he doesn't state his name....the knives look good, but they are incredibly inexpensive....all the models I saw were under $100.00.

They do look well made, I just want to know how a "maker" can sell a decent finished knife for less than it would cost in time to produce the billet and put everything together....that raises all of my alarms.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

Yea, I questioned him on how he was able to sell for the price he sold them for. He said it was a display knife and it has a fold flaw in the blade. He told me the flaw doesn't effect the blade performance,but it effects the pattern.
 
Alamor said:
I actually wasn't trying to be coy. I didn't know if it was against the rules to post personal information. The knife maker is Don Long his company name was Longknife custom knives. He sent me a signed card with all the knife specs on it. He said he had a knife shop in the Philadelphia/NJ area.
Click to expand...

I checked the Knives Annuals for 1986, 1994, 2004 and 2014 and cannot find anyone named Don Long.....that is usually a red flag right there.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Kohai999 said:
I checked the Knives Annuals for 1986, 1994, 2004 and 2014 and cannot find anyone named Don Long.....that is usually a red flag right there.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

So, after all the helpful tips I got from all you awesome members that know ALOT more than I do. I contacted the seller and asked him about the makers mark, and possibly being a Pakistan knife. Also, not being found in the Knife Annuals. Here is his response.

The reason the knife has no logo on it is because I have sold all of my knife making equipment but I still had a couple of hundred knives left over in storage that had no logos on them or sheaths with them and that Is why I send a signed card of authenticity to the buyer.
I started 3 companies called; Idaho Custom Knives, Wagg International Custom knives and Longknife Custom Knives. I have spent the majority of my life in Idaho and Nevada. I am back east because my wife was transferred back here so I have only used the Longknife Custom Knives in the past few years. We are returning to the Reno, Nevada area within 30 days as my wife has been transferred back west. (Thank God)
In my day I did special limited runs for Buck, Browning, Remmington and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. I have made over 20 thousand knives in my lifetime and in my heyday my companies had over 30 employees. The quickest way to see if you have a foreign built knife is to look at the flat portion of the blade (not the edge grind) and you will see a small valley in what would appear to be the flat part of the blade. This is because in Pakistan and India knife makers do not have quality plainners (mills) to start the knife with a perfectly flat piece of steel.
I have taught knife classes is both Pakistan and in India and they are getting better. I used to sell 500-600 blades a month to foreign builders but they lack the skills to finish the handles correctly so the knives look bad. I used to run a laser and would profile and cutout 300 knives per day.
The knife you bought I used to sell for 250.00. 10 years ago the influx of foreign built knives killed the Damascus market in the US. So as I clear out and sell the rest of my stored knives I am selling them at my cost, no profit whatsoever. If you are uncomfortable with the knife you purchased please return it to me and I will gladly refund your money.
Regards, Don
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I did find his name, I dont' know if this is reputable website or not but: http://www.knifemakersdatabase.com/CustomKnivesKnifemakersSites/CustomKnivesKnifemakersA-D.html

His name is almost at the bottom of the page. I mean, I own it now. Nothing I can do either way. I am going to use
it. And if it dont' work out, I will be on this forum buying one from one of the AWESOME knife makers (If I would have
known about this forum I would have bought a knife here to start with.)
 
Alamor,

I think you got a good knife for the money, and his explanations are plausible to me. He or his workers had crafted it and there is a LOT of work in the steel alone to get to this point.

Thanks for your diligence and allowing us to press you harder for info.

Jim
 
SharpByCoop said:
Alamor,

I think you got a good knife for the money, and his explanations are plausible to me. He or his workers had crafted it and there is a LOT of work in the steel alone to get to this point.

Thanks for your diligence and allowing us to press you harder for info.

Jim
Click to expand...

Coop,

That's what I figured. With the answers he gave, and all the help here I feel ok with the knife. I really appreciate you and everyone else here helping me out. I can definitely say that I will be buying all my knives here from now on. Matter of fact, I bought my first knife here last night lol. Thanks again!!
 
Doug C said:
Hope you get good results, do let us know.


Alamor,

What did you get ?

Doug
Click to expand...

I didn't get anything to crazy, I bought a fixed blade from hardedgeknives. Think it's called a twister. I love the
Look, and I'm gonna use it this year to field dress my deer and elk.
 
Alamor said:
I didn't get anything to crazy, I bought a fixed blade from hardedgeknives. Think it's called a twister. I love the
Look, and I'm gonna use it this year to field dress my deer and elk.
Click to expand...

I haven't hunted in years, but the Twister that I saw from a page posted by hardedgeknives is more of a utility/defense knife, it has a wicked long tip.

Now, just about any knife can be used to field dress deer and elk, but isn't the Twister a bit pointy for being optimally used in that application?

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
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