What do you consider a reasonable wait time on a custom knife?

Charlie Mike

Charlie Mike

Sober since 1-7-14 (still a Paranoid Nutjob)
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Messages
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Off the top of my head I have waited...

8 months... Burn 9" swing guard stiletto.

3 months... DDR HD Maxx (09) and DDR 4" DLC MOP Maxx (ordered while in Iraq 12-03).

1.5 years... Reese Weiland (12" overall) Ti fixed blade tanto fighter.

8 months... Demko Navaja
 
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I think it depends on the type of knife and popularity of the maker, I'd expect to wait a few weeks to a few months for a more simple design fixed blade from a newer maker that can start on your knife right away compared to a year or more where you're 50th in line for a more complicated folder. Of course availabilty of materials would also come into play as well.
 
I ordered a Demko Ad-10 the other day. He said 12-14 mo. I will wait... I want it now;) reasonable is relative to the individual and how bad they want it.
 
That sounds about right. Ideally, I'd like to promise 2 months turnaround from the time of order to receiving on a fixed blade assuming I have the material needed on hand.
 
My current projected wait times are
8 months for my two Direware solo v2s
2 years for my Kingdom Armory Samaritan and Super BTB-F which I am TOTALLY fine with because I was one of the last people on his list before he closed it.
4 months and counting on my Will Woods TiTan
4 months on my Les George VECP
1 year on my Crusader Forge FIFP

Hell I mean if you think about it, I have had a ZT777 on preorder since the day you could order one its been so long I havent even kept track.

Reasonable to me depends on the maker and the knife. I could have a lot of these knives immediately if I were willing to pay massive premiums, I however am not willing to pay someone double what something costs because they knew about it before me. I would wait a decade for a custom emerson rhino...
 
I've waited 4-8 months on each of mine. Well worth it once I got them though.
 
To me it's not the time, but that the maker keeps to that timeline. Nothing worse then being told "three months" and still be waiting six months later. I'm currently on a five year list for Kyle Royer. I don't mind, he makes great knives that are in demand. I did cut my order from a guy who told me "about a month." Didn't hear anything from him for about four months, when he told me he had to redo his kitchen, and it'd be one more month. Two months later I cancelled, it wasn't worth the pain.
 
Depends.

Too many variables to give a concrete answer.

I'm very picky about the knives that leave my shop. I'd rather have a longer wait time and have a better product.
 
Mitchell Knives said:
Depends.

Too many variables to give a concrete answer.

I'm very picky about the knives that leave my shop. I'd rather have a longer wait time and have a better product.
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I like this work ethic. This is the way to achieve quality work in anything. :thumbup:
 
I just ordered an Eric Robertson Patron flipper 3v with a few custom add ons.

Wait time is around 6 to 8 weeks which is extremely reasonable. I'm willing to bet wait time is going to increase since I've seen a few people talking about his knife lately on here and youtube. Great looking folder for-sure!
 
Zookie, that is pretty good for wait time. I had to wait 18 months for a custom from another maker. I must have fallen theough the cracks. :(
 
Zookie said:
I just ordered an Eric Robertson Patron flipper 3v with a few custom add ons.

Wait time is around 6 to 8 weeks which is extremely reasonable. I'm willing to bet wait time is going to increase since I've seen a few people talking about his knife lately on here and youtube. Great looking folder for-sure!
Click to expand...

Thats it?! Ill be in here tomorrow adding another one to the list...
 
Generally, not much, I'd say a couple months would be my max.

That is simply because when I'm knife shopping, it is because I need a replacement tool, ASAP.

If I wanted an heirloom or something nice.... I'd wat a year or more easy.
 
the longest i've ever waited for a knife was 8 weeks and counting for my Busse custom shop order... i hope i get it next week :(
 
Depends on the maker. Some people have tools at their disposal, they have milling machines and some even use cnc machines.

Then you have makers that do everything from scratch. Cutting with a grinder, sawing by hand, using minimal power equipment. Then the waiting time goes up....a lot.
 
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