What are custom knives? Who are custom knife makers?

PI2DMP

PI2DMP

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I'm relatively new to the knife community, going on not even two years now, so I am learning a bit each day, much of it from forums such as this one. Before I got into knife my focus was primarily firearms for many years. One of the major differences I see between the two is the use of the word "custom". When I originally heard of custom knives I assumed that similar to firearms, at one point the knife had been made "custom" for an individual with the specs of his choosing. However, as of late, I am finding out that a lot of customs never were made for an individual. It seems that the term custom in the knife community simply means a knife made outside a production line. I found this out several times over the past year or so when I contacted custom knife makers about availability for their books. Many like I had expected explained that their books were full, or two years backed up, etc. This is how I assumed custom knives were sold. But I've also heard recently of several of what are considered today's custom knives never really were made custom for anyone. That they were made by the maker who only sells through auctions or dealers ONLY. Now I have no opinion on whether this is how custom knives should be sold and I am all for makers being able to act freely and put their own artistic touch on knives. But if the knife maker never truly allows their potential customer to customize it to their liking, should it be called custom? I am interested in your opinions and learning more about custom knives. Thx guys.
 
This topic has been discussed more than one time.
In the forums you can find tons of information.
To be happy with the knife should be the ultimate goal.
red mag
 
In the knife world Custom only means not produced by a manufacturing company and even that line gets blurred. For example, some custom makers have their blades, handles etc. cut by machines and they and their helpers finish and assemble them, others make the whole thing by themselves, but with cnc machines for the parts, and some do it all by hand. Some custom makers will "customize" any of their standard models, some will build to your design/material specs and some make unique pieces that spring solely from their imagination. You need to ask the maker about their processes and decide for yourself.
 
I think it is so people who use CNC machines can still claim they do the same kind of work as a person who hammers the steel out by hand-- any work done by a machine enmasse is not custom, no matter how you cut it. I personally do not consider busse, esse, spyderco or any of those as custom knife makers-- they are production knife makers. as they do nothing but assemble a product made by a machine. they may hand assemble it with the parts of your choosing, but they do not create custom knives, custom assembly sure.

even a custom from one of these "big names" is just them saying "what color handle do you want" it is absolutely nothing like what you would expect a "custom" knife maker to offer.

that being said there are many true custom knife makers on the forums as service providers
 
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To me it is not so much how a knife is made but the honesty of the maker in telling how and why they make it. A good blade is good, whether it was banged out in a forge or milled to shapec with a CNC.
 
PI2DMP said:
I'm relatively new to the knife community, going on not even two years now, so I am learning a bit each day, much of it from forums such as this one. Before I got into knife my focus was primarily firearms for many years. One of the major differences I see between the two is the use of the word "custom". When I originally heard of custom knives I assumed that similar to firearms, at one point the knife had been made "custom" for an individual with the specs of his choosing. However, as of late, I am finding out that a lot of customs never were made for an individual. It seems that the term custom in the knife community simply means a knife made outside a production line. I found this out several times over the past year or so when I contacted custom knife makers about availability for their books. Many like I had expected explained that their books were full, or two years backed up, etc. This is how I assumed custom knives were sold. But I've also heard recently of several of what are considered today's custom knives never really were made custom for anyone. That they were made by the maker who only sells through auctions or dealers ONLY. Now I have no opinion on whether this is how custom knives should be sold and I am all for makers being able to act freely and put their own artistic touch on knives. But if the knife maker never truly allows their potential customer to customize it to their liking, should it be called custom? I am interested in your opinions and learning more about custom knives. Thx guys.
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Might want to check these forums out, there are a lot of good Custom Makers here on BF..

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/forumdisplay.php/767-KnifeMaker-s-Market-Knives-amp-More-for-Sale
 
I m sorry for jumping into this thread but can someone also explain to me ˝Custom˝ in knife companies like: Microtech, Strider and other companies?
 
"Custom" means one knife, made specifically for one client, to his/her specs.

Finishing a standard/production knife to a higher level, or putting better handle materials on it, or using a different steel, or slathering it with engraving and jewels and whatever-else-not does not make it "custom". Those are options.

That's it, there's no grey area, despite what various makers and manufacturers may want you to believe.
 
What matters more than anything is a Maker/Companies TRANSPARENCY.

That the do what they say and mean what they say.

I consider my knives custom. They are all my designs. I have the profiles water jet cut to my specs of steels of my choice.

I then have them professionally heat treated by Paul Bos/Buck Knives. I then do all of the grinding and finishing of the blade and match the handle to my customers wishes, choice of stabilized wood and sized to their hand. This is what I tell ALL of my customers.

Some people buy already ground blade and just put the handle on and call them hand made customs. I don't think so.

There is nothing wrong with putting handles on pre ground & HTed blades or many other processes of making knives. Just be honest about your process so that the customer can make an informed and accurate decision on what they wish to purchase.
 
james terrio said:
"Custom" means one knife, made specifically for one client, to his/her specs.

Finishing a standard/production knife to a higher level, or putting better handle materials on it, or using a different steel, or slathering it with engraving and jewels and whatever-else-not does not make it "custom". Those are options.

That's it, there's no grey area, despite what various makers and manufacturers may want you to believe.
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I'd personally rather have "bespoke" used to describe a knife made to a single customer's exact specifications, and "custom" used for a menu-like selection of predetermined parts, or engraving, or "customization." I think that would remove a lot of ambiguity from both situations.
 
Please can someone give me more specifical answer to my question, what does custom mean when it is used by big brand knife companies like Microtech, Strider and others. Ex. Custom DOC.
Thank you and sorry for hijacking the thread.
 
Well, I had always been under the impression that a knife made entirely by a human being was a custom knife. There are plenty of knives for sale in the "custom knives for sale" section of this very forum that were not in any way predetermined by their owners.

They are only there for the simple fact that they weren't mass produced by a company. They were made by a person, and not necessarily to anyone's specs at all.

How's that for a grey area?

Maybe Bladeforums' definition of custom knives is wrong?
 
james terrio said:
"Custom" means one knife, made specifically for one client, to his/her specs.

Finishing a standard/production knife to a higher level, or putting better handle materials on it, or using a different steel, or slathering it with engraving and jewels and whatever-else-not does not make it "custom". Those are options.

That's it, there's no grey area, despite what various makers and manufacturers may want you to believe.
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This.

I don't think it has anything to do with how the knife was made. If I commission a maker to make something unique, I don't really care how he/she does it so long as it is realized into existence by the maker. In other words, the maker... made the knife. I find it odd how people can claim that knife makers who use CNC aren't in fact "knife makers". There was a time when mechanical grinders were not widely available and if you wanted to grind or shape a blade you had to use a hammer and file, ie handmade. But then, presumably, at some point, knives were considered "handmade" even though they were made with a grinder. Isn't the same thing happening with CNC? Perhaps there is a notion that CNC doesn't require any talent, and you need only "toss" your raw materials into this blackbox machine and press "Start", and like magic your finished product comes out the other side.

Now if the maker is outsourcing a process or two, or is using assistants in his/her shop, thats fine so long as he/she gives credit where credit is due. This industry is demanding perfection nowadays, and a small shop knife maker will not have the resources to build his products to 1/10th of a thou tolerances. If they have their blanks water jet and surface ground by a 3rd party capable of that kind of precision, I'd say go for it. It only means the end result will be that much better.

If a dude is making and selling knives for a living, he's a knife maker. Whether he makes them by hand, by machine, or grows them on a tree in his backyard, so long as it is through his efforts that the knife exists... I'd call that a knife maker.

The term custom used to mean the "customer" commissions the maker to make a custom knife to his/her specs. Nowadays, that doesn't happen among the big name custom makers. Rather they, the makers, are the ones to make a custom knife to their specs. It makes sense if you think about it. If I design a knife it'll probably be terrible. I'd rather leave it to a professional to design a high performance cutting tool, and I'll take my pick of what they came up with.
 
Then you're going to have to go tell all those guys posting their handmade knives in the "customs for sale" section they've got it all wrong......
 
No, as I said, the term "custom knife" used to mean "designed by the customer". Nowadays, it has evolved to mean "designed by the maker".
 
james terrio said:
"Custom" means one knife, made specifically for one client, to his/her specs.

....
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But would such a knife cease to be a "custom knife" were it to be resold to someone who had not supply the original specifications? If the answer is no, then how would that differ from the knife maker supplying the original specifications and then reselling the finished product to a client?

The way we use the term custom here simply implies that the item was not massed produced, but instead made by an identifiable sole author.

n2s
 
I have seen handmade knives described and labeled as "custom knives" for as long as I can remember. This phenomenon is not new.

The only conclusion I can come to personally, from my own experience, is that knives made by one person, and not companies or machines are usually considered custom knives. Have been for quite some time. Any other playing with the definition just seems like semantics and nitpicking.

Now if you have a knife made from scratch just for you, to your specs, by a single person, is it a custom knife? Sure it is.

If you buy a knife that was made by a single person, but not designed to your exact specs, is it a custom? I think so. It isn't considered a production, or a midtech, so where would you place it? What other category is left?

I think the term is definitely up for interpretation. I guess it depends on every individual's opinion?
 
AntDog said:
The only conclusion I can come to personally, from my own experience, is that knives made by one person, and not companies or machines are usually considered custom knives. Have been for quite some time. Any other playing with the definition just seems like semantics and nitpicking.
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Yeah, I'd agree with this. Although a private knifemaker can and often does use machines to create his products. When people get nitpicky about which machines are okay, and which aren't, then it gets kinda silly in my opinion. A power drill, a belt grinder, CNC... they're all technically machines.
 
Moxy said:
Yeah, I'd agree with this. Although a private knifemaker can and often does use machines to create his products. When people get nitpicky about which machines are okay, and which aren't, then it gets kinda silly in my opinion. A power drill, a belt grinder, CNC... they're all technically machines.
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Exactly.

Just as an example, if any of us saw this:

"Strider Custom SNG, nightmare grind for sale"

None of us would go "pshhh - that isn't a real custom", because knives like that ARE considered customs. Not because they were made to our own personal specs, but because they were made by a single person. Throughout the whole process. Knives like that command a premium price, and I think they rightly should be considered custom knives. Wether the definition is semantically iffy or not.
 
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