update on affordable customs?

Yup. I've been recently delving into customs myself, and since I just got a new job (A lucrative and easy one, at that ^_^), I figured I'd splurge a little bit. I've almost talked myself into paying Burt Foster for a custom that he and I sort of hammered out. It's real nice, y'all, I'm almost to the point where I'm guaranteed to say yes, even at $325, which is a little more than I was wanting to spend.

Slightly off topic... I've been in contact with four or five makers about this project, trying to see what they can do, how long it would take, and how much it would cost.

Is it normal to be looking around that much? And do any of you makers take offense if someone decides not to go with a project you've been discussing? I mean, it's not like I've formally made an order, and I haven't sent money and none of the makers have touched steel, but it's gotten to the point of sending requirements and sketches and such back and forth. Should I not be doing that?
 
Frank-H said:
This thread brought out more great options than I was aware of, that's a great thing! I think part of my perception re: where I choose to spend money on custom knives comes from my experiences with low / mid / high end on other things, pellet guns for instance.

I used to have a handful of various "pretty easy to afford" Crosman, Gamo etc. pelletguns, I'd not be happy with the accuracy or trigger or fit and finish but I'd buy something else new if "it didn't cost very much". Then finally I saved up and got a $300 used German high quality gun, and my collection rapidly got SMALLER but higher quality, and I enjoyed what I had a lot more, great triggers, great accuracy, great pride of ownership. (Gotta love those Weihrach's, FWB's and Walthers).

I had to sell many of those recently, and they brought good prices because they had good value, I lost money in a much bigger percentage on the lower end items that were cheaper to acquire. That all said, there's some great bargains revealed on this thread! Especially if a smaller knife is on the shopping list.

Being happy with what you have a year later etc I've found is at least as important a buying criteria than what it cost to have it today. If all that fits together, you found the right deal!

Frank H.
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MadCap brought up some valid points. I would like to make some of my own.

In 1984, $150.00 did not get you very many options.

Pretty much like today, small fixed blades.

What you give up is geometrically proportional. Things like bolsters of stainless steel, hand rubbed or flawless mirror polishes, tapered tangs, exotic handle materials....

If you want a pure using knife, do your searches, and go forth and happy trails.

If you are looking to COLLECT knives of value, and do well in the long run, both happiness and financial gain wise, $500 is a good median. There ARE folders that you can get in the $250.00 to $400 range that will make you very happy, but I have never seen new-from-the maker folders lately of better quality for under $300.00. Not saying that it does not exist, just saying that I have not seen it.

Custom knife collecting is NOT for everyone. I realised when I was 19 and started collecting customs that it could cost a lot of money. That is why they are custom knives.

MadCap, affordable is a relative term. I have been rich and I have been poor. Poor sucks, and "I want" becomes a mantra. "I got" is so much better.
Good luck.

"I mean, it's not like I've formally made an order, and I haven't sent money and none of the makers have touched steel, but it's gotten to the point of sending requirements and sketches and such back and forth. Should I not be doing that?"

Do you like people to waste your time? That is what you are doing if you are getting more involved than taking up 15 minutes of a makers time with e-mails/phone calls, and not placing an order. No you should not be doing that. Most makers are more than pleasant, but if you got to the point of sending sketches and stuff with me, and I was a full time maker, and you did not place an order, I would want to wring your neck, slowly, enjoying myself every step of the way, as you turned purple, and died.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Mad-cap... getting a knife from Burt WITH having your thumb in the details... at $325 is a smok'n deal. I feel Burt is one of the very best values out there. His work is absolutely top notch, everything you would hope to see from a Mastersmith.

I'm not saying that's not a lot of money. To me it is... BUT!!! For what you will get from Burt, that is very very cheap. WELL WORTH IT! :D

I know I'm not offended if someone cancels an order or doesn't finalize one. So long as there hasn't been hours and hours of work at that point anyway. I have had a few folks that went as far as requesting detailed, dimensioned drawings, sent them back and forth, etc. and then fell off the face of the earth. That kind of sucks. But I can't imagine spending a few hundred bucks and not doing some research first.

It's just that much more opportunity for you to get to know makers and get some "knifemaker ej-a-ma-cation" at the same time. :D

Get that Foster. You will be happy you did!!! :cool:
 
To me there's kind of a balance of respect for a maker, and how much of their time is "taken" by kicking around a deal.

If I'm not in a position to really move forward and be solid, I'd never make the phone call in the first place, just out of respect for the guys time.

If they are good enough that you'd like to own something the guy made, I figure he deserves my respect to not "at all" jerk his chain. Even 15 minutes can be jerking someone's chain, no doubt, if it's basically comparative window shopping, the window shopping I'd rather spend on my time (forum searches or whatever) not theirs just out of respect.

I figure what if a hundred people did what I did, how would that go. If it would drive the guy crazy, well, there ya go.

Seriously needing to check details etc. when ready to commit, and having the mindset that follows through and commits if all looks good, cool on that.

Share the pics and story when you get your deal nailed down, have fun,

Frank H.
 
madcap_magician said:
From a simply functional standpoint, I'd have to agree, but I think a lot of the reason we're looking for cheaper customs is because we'd like to own something a little more unique than a one out of two hundred thousand Spyderco Manix. There really is something special about something made by human hands.
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As an ABS Aprentince Smith I can certainly understand. I'd rather have something handmade, but I'm an extremely critical person. To me, the flaws you'd find in a cheap custom would far outweight the satisfaction of having a handmade knife.

I guess I should say that I'd rather save the $100 than buy a knife I wouldn't be absolutely happy with.
 
I don't toot my own horn in this area of BladeForums, Geno Denning makes affordable knives within that money amount and you won't spend a fortune to get an excellent, well structured and balanced working knife or skinning knife. Handle material is always a Black Micarta with satin finish from 180.00 to 160.00. You won't be disapointed. :)
 
Since Cindy won't do it, I'll toot Geno's horn! Geno makes a great, inexpensive knife that is of very high quality. Great, practical designs that work. Good leather, too.
 
madcap_magician said:
Is it normal to be looking around that much? And do any of you makers take offense if someone decides not to go with a project you've been discussing? I mean, it's not like I've formally made an order, and I haven't sent money and none of the makers have touched steel, but it's gotten to the point of sending requirements and sketches and such back and forth. Should I not be doing that?
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It depends on how much time you're taking up. If we're talking multipl e-mails and phone calls with a half-dozen makers where there is a possibility of placing one order only, you are probably overdoing it. Be respectful of a maker's time.

That said, I have seen a situation where a customer inquires about an order an doesn't follow through and place one decried as useless "tire-kicking". I have to disagree with that. If I inquire about a knife - cost given certain materials and delivery time etc. it is because I am genuinely interested in a maker's work. But I prefer to get most of my knives directly from the maker and experience has taught me that it is wise to only have so many irons in the fire at one time - particularly given that delivery dates a far from certain. I keep a short list (actually, pretty long :) ) of orders I would like to place next and work from it. I hardly consider my inquiries in this regard wasteful.

Steven Roos said:
As an ABS Aprentince Smith I can certainly understand. I'd rather have something handmade, but I'm an extremely critical person. To me, the flaws you'd find in a cheap custom would far outweight the satisfaction of having a handmade knife.

I guess I should say that I'd rather save the $100 than buy a knife I wouldn't be absolutely happy with.
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As others have mentioned there are inexpensive customs available that are far from "cheap" and certainly not "flawed". Two that I am familiar with are Ed Caffrey's EBK and Burt Foster's "Blue Collar" hunters. There's nothing fancy about these knives, but there's also no question that they are well-designed, well made and offer exceptional value. Both makers take a similar approach in making up a batch of a hlaf-dozen or so of these at a time and making them available on their sites directly to the buying public. Hardly mass-production, but the economies of scale are still such as to work to the ultimate benefit of their customers.


NickWheeler said:
Mad-cap... getting a knife from Burt WITH having your thumb in the details... at $325 is a smok'n deal. I feel Burt is one of the very best values out there. His work is absolutely top notch, everything you would hope to see from a Mastersmith.

I'm not saying that's not a lot of money. To me it is... BUT!!! For what you will get from Burt, that is very very cheap. WELL WORTH IT! :D
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Nick speaks the truth. ;)

Roger
 
Roger from many of your great posts showing "what came in", no doubt you've got the follow-through thing down!

No doubt as well that an involved personal specs type of order takes time and two way discussion, & I agree completely with the "planning list and tackling that plan" aspect you described. You and Stephen F. are my heros LOL, man that Bailey Bradshaw Stephen has coming (the damascus being built thread) is something else. Thanks for sharing these projects guys!

Frank H.
 
Hmm, well, I suppose altogether I have wasted maybe an hour of somebody's time altogether, but... on the one hand, most of it was Burt Foster's, and I'm ordering the knife that he came up with, so I feel a little justified in that regard. Never sent more than two emails or three emails to anyone else, so I hope I didn't annoy anyone too much. :o

I'll get in contact with those who I did more than one question to and apologize.
 
madcap_magician said:
Burt Foster's, and I'm ordering the knife that he came up with
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That's bound to be a real pride of ownership piece, post the pics when it comes in!

Frank H.
 
Anza has handmade knives starting at $18. Or they can build you a custom knife for under $100. www.anzaknives.com These aren't investment-grade art pieces, but rather great using knives.

Kelgin Knives start at $149. Just send them your sketch and specs. I don't own one, but I have handled their products and the quality seems quite good. www.kelgin.com

Best Wishes,
-Bob
 
I forgot to mention Tom Krein!

Tom makes really great knives with plenty of models in the lower price range- such as this piece from SteelAddictionKnives that sold for a little over the $200 mark! :)

cocotk8.jpg
 
madcap I am sure you will enjoy that Foster. Care to tell us a bit about what you two came up with? I have a few of Burt's knives and each one is an absolute winner.

Frank-H - yes, Stephen's Bradshaw looks like an exquisite piece of work. He is seriously good with a camera, so I can't wait to see his photos of that knife.

Roger
 
RogerP said:
madcap I am sure you will enjoy that Foster. Care to tell us a bit about what you two came up with? I have a few of Burt's knives and each one is an absolute winner.

Frank-H - yes, Stephen's Bradshaw looks like an exquisite piece of work. He is seriously good with a camera, so I can't wait to see his photos of that knife.

Roger
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Well, I pretty much went a little nuts with requirements, and he wrote back saying... dude. That's not going to work. And then I sat back and went.... yeah. That's not going to work. He came up with some ideas basically just like his Blue Collar Hunter, but then I went back and rethought exactly what I needed the knife for, and sent him a list of the things I wanted it to do, instead. And would you know it, his sketch came back remarkably like what I had wanted in the first place, lol. Maybe I just suck at describing it.

Anyway, I wanted it for vertical upside-down-carry strapped to my LBE harness. The need for a FB sort of arose because I took my folders (Spyderco and Piranha) on my last Field Training Exercise, and they jammed up pretty good in sand and mud. I spent the day I got back cleaning them back out again. So I wanted something that I'd just have to wipe off, and could secure to my gear, since I didn't want to have to reach into pockets or my ALICE pack for a folder. It was meant for a lot of grunt work, not a whole lot of fine stuff, and it had to have a non-mirror finish so it wasn't TOO reflective, but it had to be reflective enough so that I could see it at night (I stabbed myself on that damn 'tactical' black finish Piranha while trying to open an MRE at night- Piranha's a good knife, but not in that situation) without injuring myself.

Basically, he came up with the following, which looks like a pretty standard design. It's going to be 1095 1/4" stock, 8.75" OAL, 4.25" blade, machine brushed, he's thinking copper for the guard, and I'm thinking Stabilized Maple Burl for the handle.

Knife.jpg
 
Yep, that'll be a winner :D

Glad to hear you went with Burt. Not only are his knives kick asss, he is one of the nicest guys you'll find.


Almost too nice. I have conspiracy theories, but this is neither the time, nor the place. MuHuHAHAHAHAA (just kidding :D )
 
Man, that is one fine-looking design. I'll bet the farm that you will be very pleased. Please take some pics of the finished product when you get it, or if you don't have a digicam, ask Burt to snap one before he ships it out. Congrats!

Roger
 
Yeah, I'm a terrible photographer and my digital is pretty bad, but I'll see if I can get him to post a progress thread or at least a final picture. I think I'll be happy with this one.
 
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