Wannabe knifemakers on Ebay

[tendy]

I am getting very frustrated by what I see as a veiled lie going on in the sale of "custom" knives on ebay. Maybe I should ask for clarification though first. Is a knife in which a person buys a blade blank and then puts on his own handles a custom made knife??? I have seen many knives, some quite nice, most not, that fall into this category. The seller than goes on to say these are his hand made knives. I always thought a custom blade was one the artist made from blank stock. I may be wrong but you thoughts would be welcome.

 

[Fort Henry Custom Knives]

There are a couple of fairly well known "Makers" that have been doing this for years. They have a Website, they also sell on Ebay - they simply purchase stock blanks from a Knife supply warehouse and then label themselves "Makers".

There are also "Makers" who have been in the business for years that pay someone else to grind for them - their design sure but not their work.

NO - neither of these are Custom knives by any stretch of the imagination. But its been going on for a long, long time. Caveat Emptor

 

[biggerjon]

it is unfortunate that one must be so careful. it makes it even more difficult for a real knife maker to succeed in a very difficult business.

 

[hardheart]

Depends on what you call a custom knife. It seems custom and hand made are confused terms for knives. A custom knife is not one I can order off a website every couple months cause he maker churns them out from a specific pattern with a couple options he decides on before I commit to purchase. Hell, I can get a production knife with or without a blade coating, in plain, combo, or full serrated edge. That isn't custom.

If the maker gets his blanks abrasive-jet cut by Great Lakes, get's the heat treat done by Pete's, uses wood scales stabilized by WSSI, and has sheaths from JRE, is it custom, semi-custom, handmade, mid-tech, small-batch production, elaborate kit knives, etc? Are they custom if ten of them go up on his site, and no potential buyer ever heard of them? Are they custom if he had the blanks ready to go and just waited for an order specifying the handle material?

So, for the ebay knives, what is the origin of the blanks, how much work did the 'maker' do in finishing them, where was the heat treat done, how was the handle made, who did the sheath, etc.

 

[richard j]

a buddy bought a knife from fleabay once and had me take a look at it. i told him the color of the steel looked like it came from pakistan. there were no marks visible to the naked eye but with a magnafying glass i could see where it once said "made in pakistan".
he only paid $20. for it which i told him that was a good sign it wasnt a good knife. its always a good idea to ask the seller questions about how the blade was made. if he cant tell you how it was heat treated, the type of steel or anything else, i wouldnt buy from them.

 

[on_the_edge]

if he cant tell you how it was heat treated, the type of steel or anything else, i wouldnt buy from them.

I agree, except that if the seller is willing to lie or stretch the truth as to who made a knife, there is really nothing to prevent them from continuing the lie for all questions that may be asked.

 

[Cougar Allen]

Richard J is right -- some of those guys can't answer questions like that because they didn't know there was more than one kind of steel, and they never heard of "heat treat" -- is that something they have at that spa my girlfriend wants me to pay for her to go to? Seriously, some of the guys advertising themselves as custom knife makers don't even assemble kit knives. They buy a Pakistani junker, reshape it a little, polish it up nice, put their etch on it and call it a custom knife. A fool and his money are always welcome on ebay....

 

[T.A.DAVISON]

Richard J is right -- some of those guys can't answer questions like that because they didn't know there was more than one kind of steel, and they never heard of "heat treat" - A fool and his money are always welcome on ebay....

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Knowledge is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation. Philosophical debates in general start with Plato's formulation of knowledge as "justified true belief". There is however no single agreed definition of knowledge presently, nor any prospect of one, and there remain numerous competing theories.


Knowledge is power, not just for the maker but also the collector. - :thumbup:


.

 

[John T Wylie Jr]

On ebay maker has in his listings:

I don't make the blades myself yet, however that is my next mission. I don't just put a knife together, I look to find the best match between the blade and the material that I will use for the handle. I also make the sheath that is custom made for each knife.

so he is honest on that part , but then also says

The knife up for bid is a custom handmade stag handle high carbon 440 c stainless steel DROP POINT knife

So while he is honest about not making the blade , the custom handmade description doesn't fit , not sure what it should be called , hand assembled ? partially hand crafted ?

His work appears really well done , especially at the price ( around $75 ) , but certainly not custom and not handmade either. But perhaps we all (myself included ) get a bit to hung up on the naming , people who use them might not care as long as they get their $75 worth ?

 

[Ren the devils trailboss]

Simple solution from the WWRD department of BFC.

Dont buy knives on Ebay...

there done..

 

[Lee Bray]

So, if Howard Clark(for example) makes a katana bare blade then another guy, Keith Larman(for example) then makes the koshirae(fittings) for the blade, is that not a custom?

I don't see a difference from that to one guy selling hand made blades to a guy who makes handles and sheaths then selling the result.
Sure, it's not sole authorship of a blade but it's still completely handmade, one off and certainly not production.

 

[John T Wylie Jr]

the guys on ebay are buying the blades from places like Jantz , knifekits , etc , I highly doubt those blades are hand ground , there is the difference.

 

[SShepherd]

if all the person does is gather pieces, and fit the handle/put them togather it's a kit knife
Seems to me that person is no more a knife maker than someone who works for case putting knives togather.

 

[3_hard_boiled_eggs]

swords are made in japan differently.

most swords makers make only the steel. they do not polish or put the handle on. they do not make the fittings.

on the sword the steel maker puts his name on the blade. there is also a small place on the handle where a polisher can put his name. but no where that i know of that a handle maker or saya maker puts his name.

but with swords the steel is the heart of the sword. the handle and fitting are like clothes and jewelry on people.

but its only my guess. someone more learned can tell this better than i

So, if Howard Clark(for example) makes a katana bare blade then another guy, Keith Larman(for example) then makes the koshirae(fittings) for the blade, is that not a custom?

I don't see a difference from that to one guy selling hand made blades to a guy who makes handles and sheaths then selling the result.
Sure, it's not sole authorship of a blade but it's still completely handmade, one off and certainly not production.

 

[Lee Bray]

the guys on ebay are buying the blades from places like Jantz , knifekits , etc , I highly doubt those blades are hand ground , there is the difference.

If that's the case, then I agree.

If the blade is completely handmade though, I don't see a difference.