What does "CUSTOM" Mean

nannybear

nannybear

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I have been reading a lot of threads and comments pertaining to custom knife makers and who forum members consider being frauds. One thread had people agreeing a certain knife maker wasn't making custom knives because he bought knife blanks then finished making the knife.

What I don't understand is there is one well known knife maker I know of who has someone else make their blades then they finish them. I haven't seen anyone say they were frauds. So I am wondering what is considered a "custom knife" and what isn't? Does a person have to take raw metal and hammer the hell out of it or maybe just getting steel rods or blocks and then shape/grind it?

If this should be in another area let me know....or if the moderator wants to move it, please do.


Any and all thoughts are appreciated.
 
Here's how I read custom. You tell the guy what you want and he makes it; I want a serrated ulu with red and purple scales and a gator hide sheath, and they make it.

I read handmade as no robots or assembly line. In between that there's a whole world of grey shades.

A lot of thee bladesmiths will have people working for them to build the blades so demand is met.

If you're looking for a blade made solely in house by a known name in the knife world you're likely in the 5-6 figures price range.
 
IMHO...
1. A true "CUSTOM" knife is one that is handmade to a customer's specification.
2. A true "HANDMADE" knife is one that is made by one person (or maybe 2 people). They may get parts from another source but they grind the blade, shape the handle, finish the knife.
3. Most people (especially on eBay) refer to all handmade knives as custom. Many others on eBay refer to pretty much anything with an edge as custom.
4. Knives made in a shop like Randalls or Chris Reeves are pretty much semi-production
5. Some well known knifemakers buy factory made kits, put them together, etch their name on the blade, and call them custom.

Again... just my opinion (which is subject to change at any time)
 
ltwright knives...someone else makes the blades and heat treats them...when they receive the blades they make their standard knives and will do a custom if the customer asks.

I love their knives. when I was reading a thread here some were saying that having another company produce the blades didn't make it custom....so, that's why I wanted some thoughts on what makes what....
 
It's not uncommon for some to have their designs water jetted or laser cut blanks, and have the heat treating outsourced. If that person whose name appears on the blade does the grinding and assembly, fit and finish work then it could be considered a custom. I can tell you what is NOT a custom, any knife that began life as a production knife. You can regrind it, add different color and shaped scales, even change the locking mechanism from liner to frame lock, it's still not a custom. That is a customized knife.
 
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Custom means different things to different people. To some it is the price tag, or the fact that it is not mass-manufactured on an assembly-line, or simply very high quality in terms of fit and finish. You will also see semi-custom, and semi-production thrown in the mix, definitions are left as an exercise to the reader given the fluid nature. For me, "custom" means a knife designed to my specs of shape, size, color, handle material, budget, and is typically one-of-a-kind. Given there are no legal definitions, feel free to make up your own. :-)
 
I can only speak for myself, but when I do a custom knife for someone, they draw me a rough sketch of what they want or verbally describe the profile of the knife then I re-draw it and give recommendations . I ask them what steel they want, what handle material and color. What type of grind, what type of finish on the blade.

I measure their hand or get dimensions of palm height, glove size, etc. Ask them if they want jimping, what type of fasteners, what color sheath, how they want to carry the knife, and usually if they're local they will be there as I refine the profile on the grinder to make any last minute changes. If they're not local, I will send pics and emails of the progress. That's not always possible, but when it is the customer gets a completely custom knife that is unique and one of a kind.

It is almost always more expensive than buying one of my handmade knives that are designed by me.

Custom knives can be frustrating and very time consuming to the maker which is why some makers will turn down custom work. On the other side of the coin though, creating a knife for a person that designed and imagined his own blade and seeing his or her face when it's complete is an extremely fulfilling feeling.
 
The meaning of the word custom has changed significantly over time and not just in the knife world. I think trying to nail it down too specifically is, honestly, an exercise in futility.

If we're going with dictionary definitions a custom knife is one built to a single customers specifications. But if I started a factory where all we did was customer specific designs and orders and had twenty employees and automated systems doing the work I doubt anyone on this forum would call the end product a custom knife.

Then we have the people that define custom as handmade. But then what do you call a one-off by someone like Nathan the Machinist who is, IMO, one of the finest knifemakers on the forum? He certainly does plenty by hand, but the signature of his work is his incredible talent and skill with CNC machining.

I think, to most of us, a custom knife is one that is made by a single person, or occasionally a collaboration between two knifemakers, made either one at a time or in very small batches. It's already been mentioned that makers will have their blanks cut by waterjet or EDM, but many of them also farm out heat treat and that further muddies the waters.

Almost forgot the main point of my wall of text, in the end, does it actually matter? I honestly don't care if a maker straight up buys blanks for kit knives and finishes them up AS LONG AS THEY'RE UP FRONT AND HONEST ABOUT IT. I have literally never worried about whether a knife I'm buying is a custom, midtech, semi-custom, handmade, single maker or full on production knife. I just look at the knife, the materials, the design, the quality and decide if it's worth it. Then I buy, or don't, based on that.
 
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If you're a subscriber to the idea that words have meaning, then "custom" would mean that something was created for a particular customer with certain options on that creation being specified by the customer. If the customer specified each detail of a particular product from start to finish, that would be bespoke.

So going to Benchmade's or Buck's website and customizing a knife from their list of menu options would be a custom knife. Telling a maker that you want blade shape "C" with Steel "D" and handle material "M" finished as "G", that will be custom.

Contacting a maker and giving that maker a design, or collaborating with that maker to create a literally one-of-a-kind specimen, that would be bespoke.

"Bespoke" is a word that really, really needs to return to common usage.
 
A custom would be a one off product for a particular customer, else it isn't truly custom. I have some handmade knives, but only one of them is a custom knife.
 
I agree that these words production, mid-tech, and custom are too ambiguous. It leaves too much unknown for the customer. We often rely on price tags to insinuate the value of work being done and materials used, when in fact this is not a great predictor of value. When you can't get on a maker's books and have to go to retailers and secondary markets to procure knives it's hard to determine what you are actually paying for.

And the word "rare" is so over-used. If I had a nickel for every time I heard the term "rare' used to describe some high-dollar knife.
 
A "custom" knife is one you have made to your specs.

A "handmade" knife can be custom...or not.

Many great knifemakers will not do customs. Because clients can be a pain-in-the-ass. Pretty much.

What gripes my butt. And I'm pretty sure I know exactly who you are talking about(not gonna rehash that), are supposed"knifemakers" who purchase premade blanks available to anyone, add a handle and charge outrageous prices to unsuspecting buyers. Preying on peoples ignorance.

Hell. On the other hand, I suppose that's just Capitalism. I could do the same thing. But I have a conscience.
 
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I've been saying it for years...

It's the consumer's responsibility to do their homework, know how a maker makes a knife and use their own judgement as to whether or not it's worth it.
 
In my humble opinion, the definition of a custom knife is very simple.

It's all made by the "Maker".......(with two possible exceptions)

HT can be sent out, but everything else besides the hardware has to be made by the makers hands.

Once you send it all out to waterjet, and just grind blades, you become a manufacture.


That's just my $0.02.
 
I still consider outsourcing waterjet to be a custom knife. I don't think streamlining the processes that take little to no talent and just eat up time and money to be cutting corners. Anyone can cut out a pattern of flat stock. But not everyone can hand grind a blade.
 
PURPLEDC said:
I still consider outsourcing waterjet to be a custom knife. I don't think streamlining the processes that take little to no talent and just eat up time and money to be cutting corners. Anyone can cut out a pattern of flat stock. But not everyone can hand grind a blade.
Click to expand...

I disagree with the "little to no talent" part....

Making anything by hand takes talent, even a handle.

To get something like that perfect and even with your hands and a grinder is harder than you think....especially when the design gets more and more complex.

I personally want to pay for that, otherwise I am just paying for a knife designer, and not a maker.
 
JR88FAN said:
I disagree with the "little to no talent" part....

Making anything by hand takes talent, even a handle.

To get something like that perfect and even with your hands and a grinder is harder than you think....especially when the design gets more and more complex.

I personally want to pay for that, otherwise I am just paying for a knife designer, and not a maker.
Click to expand...


If you have your handle waterjet all it cuts is the outline and the lockbar cut. You are not getting a completed handle that you just bolt a blade to. The reason why makers use waterjet for the handle is its more precise, reduces waste and it still leaves all the same creative freedom you would have if if was completely handmade. If it were being done in a shop they still use a template and it gets traced onto a blank and then cut out. But that is what many would call the repetitive grunt work. You still have to do all the shaping and finishing you would normally do. Its not as if water jet spits out fully sculpted handles.
 
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