Why did you buy a custom knife?

My latest custom was bought because it was so beautiful, and smooth operating, and the design was unusual (to me, anyway) and I just couldn't bear to put it back on the table. I tried several times and each time I was afraid that someone else would pick it up!
Now I carry it daily, use it very lightly, and enjoy having artwork in my pocket that I can take out and admire anytime.
It's a bit like my Rolex. Originally bought to keep me safe underwater, it has been a constant companion and a joy to see for 35 years.
Greg
 
I have always loved knives, and customs seemed to be a natural progression of my collecting. I collect hand thrown pottery, handmade split oak baskets, hand carved dough bowls, and paintings done by "unknown" artists. All these things are one of a kind, and can never be exactly duplicated. I have also found that custom knives can usually be bought for the same (or less) than mass produced items, and they are always of superior fit, finish, and quality. Over the last year, I've sold or traded almost all my production knives, and now concentrate only on customs. Bill.
 
My uncle was a NYC police officer and started giving me knives he took off people in the street. He'd also show me his personal carry knives. This got me interested in knives. My first custom was made by an Amishman from a saw blade and I bought it at a vegetable market for $25 with sheath. Although crude, it was good looking and highly functional. It is still used in my kitchen today. The L6 tool steel is excellent, flat ground to a zero bevel, and after 20+ years, it has only about a 1/32" bevel from sharpening. It's touched up once a year. I bought it because it attracted me and that's why I buy customs today.
 
I agree with Keith, about getting to know the makers IS the best part! I have some new friends because of it.

I LOVE Tom Mayo's knives! He doesn't ever make the exact same knife twice. So, you always have something unique. there is nothing like having a knife made just for YOU! Custom knives are useable art. I have always said this.
 
For me, I bought my first custom because I had never seen a knife I liked better. For a while after that, I was buy what caught my eye and it just seemed that customs fit the bill more often than not. At this point, I have been collecting for a few years and the materials, fit, and finish of a custom far outweigh the cost difference to me. Plus, there are so many good looking customs to me and fewer and fewer production knives that I like.

Nick
 
I bought my one and only custom because I deserve it. I also decided that there was nothing on the market that made me happy. I contacted the maker (Bob Cumming) after visiting his website. His style and execution were exactly what I was looking for. His short biography also showed that he was worthy of much respect. First by email and then by telephone we cussed and discussed what my use for the knife would be, how it would be carried, and such. What I recieved is the most elegant bird and trout knife that actually looks better as I use it. I'll probably buy more customs in the future, as I develop the need.
 
David,

Good thread! I started down the custom road looking for the attention to detail and QC that a production piece cannot match. I can't say that I've been pleased with every custom that I've bought but the best are one of a kind pieces imbued with a little bit of the maker's soul<figuratively>. At some point it might be more knife than you need, or more knives than you can use, but the best are also works of art that you can collect and not get enough of.

I'd also like to add that for me it's never really been about having something made exactly to my specs. I tend to admire a maker's work and buy an already made piece that I like or just give him a general idea of the type of piece that I'd like to order. Sometimes you need something specific but I've never been disappointed with a maker's work when he's given the freedom to follow his own ideals to make the best piece he's able to.
 
2knife said:
The latest question, Which production knives make knives that rival the performance of many custom knives. Or are there always advantages to well made customs? ..one of the questions i have lately. The cost factor w/ many production knives is minimal but often there is no individuality, you get a clone.

David
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This last sentence seems to answer your question. Total performance? Does a custom .270 rifle outperform a factory made .270 rifle when they both center the same bulls-eye at 200-yards? I think there are many factors involved besides that result when a custom rifle is ordered. The same with custom knives. If purchased for a certain use, why does it have to outperform another? The purpose of a custom is to have input into what you want. Use may or may not pertain.

- Joe
 
We are collectors. Art work of many forms including Original oil/watercolor painting, lithos, sculpture, glass, plates, jewellry, pottery, and of course Knives. At the Canadian National Exhibition which is held annually for the past about 140 years in 1980 we headed for the Arts and Crafts building (always our first stop) and once inside the door saw display advertising Canadian Knife Collectors Club featuring Canadian custom Knives.

That day I purchased 2 knives. One by Walt Stockdale and one by D'Holder (neither of which I have today). Joined the CKCC also. Having always been interested in knives as a young kid, this was just a natural progression and so back to the CNE a few days later and another three knives were purchased.

Three months later and now on the Board of Directors of the CKCC and 6 months later, President of CKCC for a few years and a board member for 17 years. I have since owned many hundreds of knives and currently have quite a large collection of both fixed blades of all types including hunters, daggers, boot knives, chute knives, fighters and Bowies and a couple dozen folders. The knives are from makers all over the world and I don't see stopping anytime soon.

All my knives are on a picture hosting site and are photographed by myself and often are posted in BF.

All the while collecting knives, our passion for other collectibles has also not abated so we do have a lot of fun with our collecting, travelling and photography. We just hope all folks that love to collect do so with half the fun we do.
 
I bought my customs based on the knife designs, the quality and craftsmanship and the name. I only have 3 but these are special to me. One in particular, the first time I saw it, I said to myself, I have to have that knife. It took a little while and I laid out some big $ (for me anyways), but I finally got it. From there, I bought a couple more designs from other makers. There's pride and satisfaction in owning a high quality custom handmade knife (if you're a knife person).
 
I just got my first one, and just barely finished posting pictures in the general forum:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=518335

I got it because I was really impressed by the quality of Ray's knives when I visited him (he lives a few miles from me). It far surpasses the quality of factory fixed blades that I have, and I have them from some of the top rated companies.
 
T.K.C. said:
Custom knives have a soul!! There is a part of the knife maker in each knife. I love the quality, fit and finish of a custom knife. Custom knives are special to me.
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That's exactly how I feel!

Now if I could only scrounge up enough money for a custom folder. Then again I've recently aquired an addiction to knives from Eddie White.

So that folder will have to wait!:D
 
I have been an art collector for years. My interest, without realizing it, started at a very young age. In the family was an artist, and I avidly watched as he created. It all began around the age of 6, hard as it is to imagine. Years later, that same desire to see beauty around me drove me to collect custom knives. The simplest of man's tools, elevated to it's highest form of creative art.
 
I only own a few maybe a half dozen or so and all of them are user, no safe queens.

Why did I buy 'em?:confused: oh yea, because they were the best at what they did, for the most money I could afford to spend at the time.

My Old Man always told me to buy the best that I could afford when buyin' tools and Cognac.;):D
 
For me, it has pretty much always been about the uniqueness of custom knives. The idea of a hand made product in a world of Popeil and Cutco disposable stuff always appealed to me. Higher end factory knives have improved drastically in the last 20 years or so and in many cases, that has been in part because of input from customs makers. Yet, that very fact may be what keeps me from buying reasonably priced modern custom folders. I would love to have a Don Hanson folder or an old Wayne Valchovic folder, but the bank account isn't cooperating. The modern stuff, and particularly the "tactical" folders just don't strike me as being all that different from the models sold by the factories. I still believe that many of the custom folders are superior to their factory copies because most custom makers are less likely to build to a "price point" and skimp on the materials. But they lack that uniqueness in my opinion.
 
The short answer is that I like the way customs look and feel better than production knives. In most cases, they are better constructed from a functional standpoint as well.
 
2knife said:
Why did you buy your first knife and second?
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The first because Justin made it just for me. The second because Shosui made it just for me. The third because Phillip made it just for me. The fourth because Moritaka made it just for me. The fifth because I just had to have a cooking knife with green linen micarta scales and a thinly ground blade of AEB-L hardened to RC63. I bet the sixth will be from Moritaka because I was an imbecile to sell the first Moritaka.
 
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