Nathan the Machinist
KnifeMaker / Machinist / Evil Genius
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2007
- Messages
- 17,604
"Hi Jo,
I received my DEK2 today and the stamping on the blade is really weak. The D3V and LA stamps are the weakest. I figured that I would check with you to see if you want me to show this blade on the forum, or not.
Everything else looks great and the Osage is just gorgeous! I love the weight and feel of this knife.
Let me know what you want me to do. I provided a couple of photos.
Thanks for everything!
Take care,
------"
Hi ------,
I am glad you like it. The markings are all engraved, not stamped and there is a little bit of variation from one blade to the next. Of course you can show it on the forum.
Have a great day!
Jo
Hi Jo,
It looks pretty cheap to me. I've seen many, many photos of CPK knives on the forum and don't remember ever seeing the markings looking this bad. None of my other knives' markings look even close to as bad as this DEK2.
I figured that yall would be embarrassed that this blade made it through QC. I never thought that yall would do me like this.
I would like for you to cancel my Shiv order and refund my money please.
Take care,
------
Look folks. I have always told anybody who will listen that we make a high quality product with good bang-for-the-buck. It's high performance geometry, ergonomics and the best metallurgy that money can buy in a reasonably priced package that a person can justify buying and using. We cater to the users. I'm glad there are collectors who appreciate our work and want to buy it on its aesthetic qualities but the users are my focus. I don't cut corners, I spare no expense or effort to make the best product that I am capable of producing and I trim the fat so there is real value in the work. Everything I make is sold as field grade. There are visible tool and grind marks. The geometry and metallurgy are right, but it's not a decorative piece or a wall hanger. I believe we make the best knives of their kind that can be found. And, beyond functional considerations, the engraving depth is not a huge consideration for me.
Everything I ship is flawed. I'm not capable of perfect work and you probably wouldn't want to pay the cost for a 99.9% perfect effort, and that isn't how I want to spend my time on this earth. There are different definitions of perfect, and my definition is perfectly optimized. Perfect in every way is a fools errand. If your definition of perfect is perfect fit and finish, please find a maker who wants to dedicate his time in this craft towards that, because I'm focused on making the best knives in the world, not the prettiest.
We have pretty good fit and finish. I tell anyone who will listen, that is not, and never have been, our focus but it's an effect of being competent machinists with good tools and a refined manufacturing process. We're good at what we do and it shows in our work, but the good fit and finish is just a byproduct of quality workmanship, never the primary objective.
If you are a user who wants the best tools of their kind in the world, I am honored to make tools for your kit. That's why I do this. If you're a collector who's primary goal is to obtain outstanding specimens based on aesthetic appeal, you are (of course) welcome here, but if a baseball card collector opens a pack of cards and doesn't get the card he wanted (and that card was never advertised as being a part of that pack) you wouldn't complain about it. Not every knife we sell is a 100% visibly perfect specimen. I have always said these are user grade tools and I've never sold a tool knife based on its visual perfection.
That knife was competently machined and meets every physical and visual specification we have here. It is not defective, and I do not apologize for shipping it. I'm proud of that work. I give my work my best effort and when someone tells me that it isn't good enough, I internalize that as I'm not good enough. This complaint offends me. The truth is, perhaps the buyer of this work should find a maker whose objectives better align with this collector's requirements, because I have done my best and what I have committed to and if it isn't good enough, I really can't help this guy and I don't want his business, this really sucks the joy out of this for me.
I received my DEK2 today and the stamping on the blade is really weak. The D3V and LA stamps are the weakest. I figured that I would check with you to see if you want me to show this blade on the forum, or not.
Everything else looks great and the Osage is just gorgeous! I love the weight and feel of this knife.
Let me know what you want me to do. I provided a couple of photos.
Thanks for everything!
Take care,
------"
Hi ------,
I am glad you like it. The markings are all engraved, not stamped and there is a little bit of variation from one blade to the next. Of course you can show it on the forum.
Have a great day!
Jo
Hi Jo,
It looks pretty cheap to me. I've seen many, many photos of CPK knives on the forum and don't remember ever seeing the markings looking this bad. None of my other knives' markings look even close to as bad as this DEK2.
I figured that yall would be embarrassed that this blade made it through QC. I never thought that yall would do me like this.
I would like for you to cancel my Shiv order and refund my money please.
Take care,
------
Look folks. I have always told anybody who will listen that we make a high quality product with good bang-for-the-buck. It's high performance geometry, ergonomics and the best metallurgy that money can buy in a reasonably priced package that a person can justify buying and using. We cater to the users. I'm glad there are collectors who appreciate our work and want to buy it on its aesthetic qualities but the users are my focus. I don't cut corners, I spare no expense or effort to make the best product that I am capable of producing and I trim the fat so there is real value in the work. Everything I make is sold as field grade. There are visible tool and grind marks. The geometry and metallurgy are right, but it's not a decorative piece or a wall hanger. I believe we make the best knives of their kind that can be found. And, beyond functional considerations, the engraving depth is not a huge consideration for me.
Everything I ship is flawed. I'm not capable of perfect work and you probably wouldn't want to pay the cost for a 99.9% perfect effort, and that isn't how I want to spend my time on this earth. There are different definitions of perfect, and my definition is perfectly optimized. Perfect in every way is a fools errand. If your definition of perfect is perfect fit and finish, please find a maker who wants to dedicate his time in this craft towards that, because I'm focused on making the best knives in the world, not the prettiest.
We have pretty good fit and finish. I tell anyone who will listen, that is not, and never have been, our focus but it's an effect of being competent machinists with good tools and a refined manufacturing process. We're good at what we do and it shows in our work, but the good fit and finish is just a byproduct of quality workmanship, never the primary objective.
If you are a user who wants the best tools of their kind in the world, I am honored to make tools for your kit. That's why I do this. If you're a collector who's primary goal is to obtain outstanding specimens based on aesthetic appeal, you are (of course) welcome here, but if a baseball card collector opens a pack of cards and doesn't get the card he wanted (and that card was never advertised as being a part of that pack) you wouldn't complain about it. Not every knife we sell is a 100% visibly perfect specimen. I have always said these are user grade tools and I've never sold a tool knife based on its visual perfection.
That knife was competently machined and meets every physical and visual specification we have here. It is not defective, and I do not apologize for shipping it. I'm proud of that work. I give my work my best effort and when someone tells me that it isn't good enough, I internalize that as I'm not good enough. This complaint offends me. The truth is, perhaps the buyer of this work should find a maker whose objectives better align with this collector's requirements, because I have done my best and what I have committed to and if it isn't good enough, I really can't help this guy and I don't want his business, this really sucks the joy out of this for me.
