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Who is Your personal favorite custom knife maker?

bodog said:
So many shades of gray. I'm just really curious as to what qualifies someone as a custom knife maker and if some of the makers mentioned are actually that. The OP mentioned Big Chris and Big Chris has said he doesn't take custom orders anymore, so he's not really a custom maker. His knives may be very high quality but if he's not a custom maker of his own accord, what is he? And is that what the OP was really talking about? The best independent, small batch, handmade knife maker? I can wrap my mind around that kind of question and it's a very valid one that I think people would probably like to see the answers to.
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My sole purpose right now is to be a Stay at Home Dad to my 4 kids aged 5, 4, 3, 4.5 months.
I have quit taking custom orders currently because my backlog is out past 2 years and I don't want to have people waiting years to get a knife made.
I have a stable of knives that I make multiples of, but I will also customize any aspect of a knife that someone wants altered.
I will also take a customers design and make it exactly the way they want it. Most all the patterns I make started as an idea in anothers mind that I sketched out and brought to life in steel.
 
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Most everyone seems to refer to any non-production knives as custom knives.
I choose to happily not overthink it. ;)
 
Laci Szabo. Not a maker, but a designer who contracts out everything I ask him for. He's made me everything from specialized knucks to jo staffs to standalone knives designed by him and built to my specs. Amazing experiences every time.

Other than that, Jason Wilder has been extremely accommodating to my requests. There are a couple others as well, but I don't need their wait times to be any longer than they already are, so I'll leave their names unspoken.

In all I find the best way to maintain a good relationship with a custom knife maker is to know what you want but leave the details to them. Jason Wilder made me a bowie, for instance, using a farrier's rasp I sent him. I asked him to make the handles "coffee with cream" colored, and he went with it from there. Give them room to perform their artistry and don't bother them while it's in process, otherwise making knives for you will seem like a chore, and they won't want to take your orders.
 
Surfingringo said:
I think that many simply use "custom" knife to refer to a handmade knife. Most makers will allow you to choose handle material, edge thickness or make other requests even if it is not a never before seen model. I think that is why folks refer to handmade knives as custom. It may not be technically correct but I think that is the most common nomenclature. It seems to be for most people anyway, since everyone else who read the op posted pictures of their handmade knives. Not saying you are wrong with your opinion, you simply appear to be in the minority.
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I guess. When I see a guy who says hes currently taking customers' unique designs and making knives from those designs, I think "that's a custom knife maker" but when his tag line says he's not accepting custom orders, I don't know what to make of that.

What the hell is a custom knife maker? Someone who doesn't produce more than 10,000 knives a year? 5,000? What about 100? Or 5? What if those knives were all exactly the same? Or the guy produced 1,000 knives a year and 500 were of 1 design and the other 500 were of another? What if one of five made were exactly the same but one had a small swedge cut into the blade because the customer asked for it? Is that a custom maker? What about someone who farms out everything about the knife except the grinding of the blade and attaching a handle but he'll add orange G10 instead of his usual green micarta? This boggles my mind, seriously. I know what I think a custom maker is but i guess I'm wrong. I guess it doesn't matter. Either someone is good or he isn't. Either he produces a knife you like or he doesn't. Maybe that's what the OP meant: name a maker you like who isn't one of the biggest producers of knives. Is Ken Onion a custom knife maker? Farid Mehr? Andre de Villiers? Eugene Solomon? My mind is swimming with what a definite answer may be.
 
bodog said:
Can you tell me what "non-production knives" are?
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I have neither the time or inclination. Not to mention....I simply don't care how you define production or non-production knives. I guess for some, starting an argument is an acceptable substitute for nitpicking. ;')
 
ichor said:
I have neither the time or inclination. Not to mention....I simply don't care how you define production or non-production knives. I guess for some, starting an argument is an acceptable substitute for nitpicking. ;')
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Asking for you to explain what you mean is starting an argument? I have no idea what "non-production knives" are. Every knife is produced. You mean knives from anyone but the 5 biggest names in the business? The 10 biggest names? Man, this whole thread is confusing. The OP asked a question which was legitimate enough and then people start naming names that don't answer the OP's question and then I ask for some clarification on what people are talking about other people start talking about knives that aren't produced. This whole thing is really making me laugh a little. Can someone, like the OP, please be a little more specific. Can I take a benchmade and spray paint it and be called a custom knife maker? What do any of these terms mean?

A non-production knife
A custom knife maker who doesn't make custom knives
A maker who has only one design but will change one small thing to suit a customer.
Someone who takes a blade made by someone else and changes the handles
Someone who takes a blade, has someone else heat treat it, while they grind it
Someone who takes a knife made by someone else and then rehandles the knife and regrinds the blade.
Someone who doesn't design or fabricate a knife but puts their name on it.
Someone who designs a knife but has nothing else to do with its manufacture.
AND FINALLY, someone who takes a raw bar of steel some raw handle materials, and based on a unique design invented by each specific customer, makes a unique knife.

I guess if these were defined then I could grasp what people here are talking about. Some examples of each have been brought up, all listed as custom knife makers. That's a pretty broad approach.

Is a custom knife maker anyone but spyderco and benchmade? Spyderco, benchmade, and Kai? Spyderco, benchmade, Kai, and Cold Steel? Where does Chris Reeve fall? Does William Henry fall far from Chris Reeve? What about Olamic? What about Charlie Mike?
 
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bodog said:
Asking for you to explain what you mean is starting an argument?
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I guess I'm jut slow but....It's hard to grasp that you've been here long enough to make almost 1300 post and you need someone to break this all down and explain it to you. Do you just post, or do you occasionally read? Do some research for crissakes.
 
ichor said:
I guess I'm jut slow but....It's hard to grasp that you've been here long enough to make almost 1300 post and you need someone to break this all down and explain it to you. Do you just post, or do you occasionally read? Do some research for crissakes.
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I know what a mass produced knife is, if that's what you mean, but just because a knife isn't mass produced doesn't mean it's a custom knife. I know enough to know the difference between what an actual custom knife is and some of the people mentioned don't make custom knives. That's not a bad thing but then there are guys stepping in to say that those non-custom knife makers are, in fact, custom knife makers and that anyone who doesn't produce a knife is also a custom knife maker. Or at least people who produce knives in a way that can be considered a non-production way of producing knives is. But think about it man, none of that makes sense in the slightest bit. I'm just asking for you to make some damned sense in what you're saying. If it's not a custom knife maker, then it's not a custom knife maker. They may produce great knives but if they're not custom made to order then they're not custom. It seems easy to me to grasp that. Then you come along and say that some production method leading to knives with no production makes sense and I say that it doesn't and you call that nitpicking. Well, fine. I guess me wanting some accurate, sensible answers and real info is me nitpicking. I still don't understand how non-production knife production is performed.
 
bodog said:
I'm just asking for you to make some damned sense in what you're saying. If it's not a custom knife maker, then it's not a custom knife maker. They may produce great knives but if they're not custom made to order then they're not custom. It seems easy to me to grasp that. Then you come along and say that some production method leading to knives with no production makes sense and I say that it doesn't and you call that nitpicking. Well, fine. I guess me wanting some accurate, sensible answers and real info is me nitpicking. I still don't understand how non-production knife production is performed.
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"Then you come along and say that some production method leading to knives with no production makes sense "

Please show me the post in which I said that.

"They may produce great knives but if they're not custom made to order then they're not custom. It seems easy to me to grasp that."

There ya' go. You answered you own question. ;')
 
Bodog, maybe you should switch to collecting coins.

I enjoyed creating a knife of my own design with George Tichbourne. I also liked Kit Carson and Rob Simonich.

If I was going to create another one to my liking, I'd probably call Max Burnett and see if his forge is lit.
 
Velitrius said:
Bodog, maybe you should switch to collecting coins.

I enjoyed creating a knife of my own design with George Tichbourne. I also liked Kit Carson and Rob Simonich.

If I was going to create another one to my liking, I'd probably call Max Burnett and see if his forge is lit.
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Custom coins or production coins?
 
My three (fantastic) experiences have been with John of JK Knives and Milan Mozolic and Nighthaxan/Suwanee knife. Each one of them took what I had in mind and made it a reality.

Nighthaxan/Suwanee: I had "My" knife made. It fits my hand perfectly, and suits my needs from this knife directly. It may have taken a few weeks and drawings back and forth and one complete trashing of a knife that didn't come out right by Nighthaxan/Suwanee! How is that for dedication to a customers wants?!

JK Knives: I own 4 of John's creations, one was of my design and 3 were modifications of his standard models to sit my needs and preferences. I currently have Another one currently in the works by John and one more on paper that I pitched to him and that should be completed around Christmas.

Milan Mozolic: I saw a model of his that was exactly what I was looking for at the moment, but I needed it changed around a bit for my jobs demands. He took what I asked of him and made it a reality and threw a hamon on it for good measure. Regarding the Hamon, I simply asked if it was a possibility to go ahead and he surprised me with what I had received in the mail. It was what I had asked for, while being that much more at the same time.
Fantastic!
----------------
What I think makes a Custom knife maker is someone who makes knives from scratch and is willing to take a customers preferences, wants and make them a reality. By taking the time to speak with a customer and find out what they are going to use the knife for and how they treat their tools to get the best lifespan and utility it of "Their" new knife.

To me, a Custom knife maker is only half of the equation and the Customer is the second half. When you take someone who makes quality knives and add to that the capacity to take an idea from a customers mind and bring it to life while keeping his/her own preferences secondary unless the customer wants the input.

There are Knife Makers and Custom Knife Makers, the only difference lies in the input from the customer on the design. Both Craftsmen are talented in their own right and neither should be looked at as greater than the other.
-I just prefer to have input on "My" knife.

Still looking forward
Big Chris, Backwoods Customs and Nathan the Machinist too.
 
If certain people continue to troll threads with their own brand of vapid questions they are going to find themselves gone. It's gotten old and everyone has had about enough of it already. The only thing impressive about the whole thing is the total abandonment of any common sense. Yes, a custom maker that does one offs/one of a kind and a custom maker that only makes their own designs can both be the same person.

There may easily be extenuating circumstances or just personal preference to make whatever they want to make at any given time. They are not indentured servants, nor do they have to do a "special snowflake" run to impress or prove anything. Or maybe they don't want to deal with silly hard to please, difficult people. If you cannot tell the difference or acknowledge that, then maybe collecting comics, coins, lunch boxes, or spoons might be a better hobby for you.
 
Big Chris
I've bought both his listed knives and two that were made specifically from my requests.
I've got a couple that he listed that I could have sworn that Chris read my mind. Even though they were not customs by definition, I just could not have ordered a better suited knive for me.
 
NJBillK said:
My three (fantastic) experiences have been with John of JK Knives and Milan Mozolic and Nighthaxan/Suwanee knife. Each one of them took what I had in mind and made it a reality.

Nighthaxan/Suwanee: I had "My" knife made. It fits my hand perfectly, and suits my needs from this knife directly. It may have taken a few weeks and drawings back and forth and one complete trashing of a knife that didn't come out right by Nighthaxan/Suwanee! How is that for dedication to a customers wants?!

JK Knives: I own 4 of John's creations, one was of my design and 3 were modifications of his standard models to sit my needs and preferences. I currently have Another one currently in the works by John and one more on paper that I pitched to him and that should be completed around Christmas.

Milan Mozolic: I saw a model of his that was exactly what I was looking for at the moment, but I needed it changed around a bit for my jobs demands. He took what I asked of him and made it a reality and threw a hamon on it for good measure. Regarding the Hamon, I simply asked if it was a possibility to go ahead and he surprised me with what I had received in the mail. It was what I had asked for, while being that much more at the same time.
Fantastic!
----------------
What I think makes a Custom knife maker is someone who makes knives from scratch and is willing to take a customers preferences, wants and make them a reality. By taking the time to speak with a customer and find out what they are going to use the knife for and how they treat their tools to get the best lifespan and utility it of "Their" new knife.

To me, a Custom knife maker is only half of the equation and the Customer is the second half. When you take someone who makes quality knives and add to that the capacity to take an idea from a customers mind and bring it to life while keeping his/her own preferences secondary unless the customer wants the input.

There are Knife Makers and Custom Knife Makers, the only difference lies in the input from the customer on the design. Both Craftsmen are talented in their own right and neither should be looked at as greater than the other.
-I just prefer to have input on "My" knife.

Still looking forward
Big Chris, Backwoods Customs and Nathan the Machinist too.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification.
 
Here's an example of a custom made knife.

[video=youtube;cKZ_UJ8q3CE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKZ_UJ8q3CE[/video]
 
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