Why do slipjoints cost more?

bodog

bodog

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Pretty self explanatory thread title. I've been watching the custom folding knife makers for awhile and even with equivalent materials, slipjoints cost more. Why is that? Are they harder to obtain a great build quality or something? For instance, a folder with a locking mechanism, some kind of high quality handles with some kind of really high quality inlay, titanium liners, 1 1/2 wide x 3 1/2" long x 3/16 thick blade of some super great steel, timascus bolsters, great looking mosaic pins, etc etc costs like 5-600 bucks. A slipjoint with the same handle material sans timascus bolsters, titanium liners, etc with a tiny ATS34 blade costs 800+. I don't get it. Can someone explain? Thanks in advance.
 
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Things are worth whatever someone is willing to pay. If the market for slip joints and traditionals will support knives in that price range, that's a logical place for makers to price them at if they're of a popular design with higher end materials.
 
Doesnt make sense to me either.
But since when do custom knife prices make sense?
Some makers are popular and can charge much money for any type of knife.
 
Because old farts like slip joint knives, and typically the old farts have more $$$. So with supply being more limited these days toward the slip joint crowd, they demand a higher premium. Most makers are building more tactical style blades these days to appeal to the younger generation. Supply and demand.
 
Slipjoints may seem simple but they can be very tricky to get right, especially because they tend to be smaller with multiple blades nested together in a small trough. With incredibly precise standards of manufacturing from the best makers, all that attention and detailed handiwork can command high prices.

Like any custom knifemakers, the really good ones make a name for themselves and then they can command even higher prices. Nothing new or unusual there.
 
Based on conversations that I have had with various makers, slip joints are difficult to make well. You have very small margin for error to avoid things like gaps in the back spring and a spine that is low or sits proud when the blade is at one of three possible positions (open, closed, half stop)
Plus your prices are not always true.....think about makers like Emerson, Hinderer, or Estrella. Their knives can cost in the thousands but I can get a nice custom slip joint for 400 from top makers like KR Johnson.
 
They tend to be more complicated to make - and usually require more hand work per knife. Multiple blades, more parts, hand peened pins rather than torx screws, custom matched springs to each blade (or multiple blades), a premium on jewelry like fit and finish (not just overbuilt strength), etc.
 
I'd like to know where you are getting a custom knife with timascus bolsters for 500-600 bucks.

The custom knives in the 500-600 range are usually done with the use of CNC, waterjetting, store bought hardware. All that brings the costs down. The slipjoint maker you are quoting makes every one of them by hand, with no templates so every one it unique. Just like in custom tacticals, the more embellishments you add the more the price goes up. Liners, coining, bolsters, shields all add up. You can get a linerless knife from him with no embellishments for like $400.

You can get custom slipjoints cheaper if you look.
 
Just Google the steps involved in making a slipjoint and you will have a better understanding. Throw that on top of notoriety and you have one expensive knife.
 
Quick search= http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...O-Hare-Orion-Folder-Carbon-Fiber-and-Timascus

and another= https://www.arizonacustomknives.com/f2k-with-timascus-bolsters-by-sean-ohare-147971.aspx

Posting those just to show they're out there, not to advertise.

Scurvy092 said:
I'd like to know where you are getting a custom knife with timascus bolsters for 500-600 bucks.

The custom knives in the 500-600 range are usually done with the use of CNC, waterjetting, store bought hardware. All that brings the costs down. The slipjoint maker you are quoting makes every one of them by hand, with no templates so every one it unique. Just like in custom tacticals, the more embellishments you add the more the price goes up. Liners, coining, bolsters, shields all add up. You can get a linerless knife from him with no embellishments for like $400.

You can get custom slipjoints cheaper if you look.
Click to expand...
 
Sometimes I wonder if folks really know how much work goes into a custom, hand-made knife. Even the very high-priced knives often translate to very low hourly rates of compensation for the amount of work that has gone into them.

I've been toiling away in an attempt to perfect my folders. In my experience, they are much more difficult to get all the tolerances just right, and not as easy to disassemble to make adjustments. A framelock or liner-lock can be disassembled with a torx wrench, not the case with a traditional.
 
I didn't spend but maybe 2 minutes looking. those were some of the top results of the search I performed. one was 400 and the other was 675, I said 5-600. you don't need to nitpick, timascus wasn't even really the point of the original question, I feel like the point was made regardless. I guess I could've said in the range of around 5 or 600. would that have helped? Anyway, all these knives look great, I was hoping to get into a tolerances and superb craftsmanship discussion, not bickering about how you can feel like you defeated me because of a 75 dollar difference that I failed to include in the original post.
 
Thank you, exactly what I was looking for. Basically just the nature of the knife itself makes it a pain in the ass to work vs the locking folders, then? If an adjustment needs to be made, do you have to drill the pins out?


RSKT said:
Sometimes I wonder if folks really know how much work goes into a custom, hand-made knife. Even the very high-priced knives often translate to very low hourly rates of compensation for the amount of work that has gone into them.

I've been toiling away in an attempt to perfect my folders. In my experience, they are much more difficult to get all the tolerances just right, and not as easy to disassemble to make adjustments. A framelock or liner-lock can be disassembled with a torx wrench, not the case with a traditional.
Click to expand...
 
Slipjoints have a lot of steps done by hand, not CNC machines. They aren't two handle slabs screwed together. I'm more inclined to wonder why cnc made knives are so expensive rather than why custom handmade slipjoints are expensive.
 
Billyboyr6 said:
Because old farts like slip joint knives, and typically the old farts have more $$$. So with supply being more limited these days toward the slip joint crowd, they demand a higher premium. Most makers are building more tactical style blades these days to appeal to the younger generation. Supply and demand.
Click to expand...

Watch it with the insults. I don't call you, "punk kid". You should not call me derogatory names either.

You should also understand the technical issues before you make assumptions.

Slip joints cost more because more parts have to fit together in tight tolerance, and they have to fit just exactly so in both open and closed position. It takes longer to build, so it costs more.
 
knarfeng said:
Watch it with the insults. I don't call you, "punk kid". You should not call me derogatory names either.

You should also understand the technical issues before you make assumptions.

Slip joints cost more because more parts have to fit together in tight tolerance, and they have to fit just exactly so in both open and closed position. It takes longer to build, so it costs more.
Click to expand...
This is exactly right. Let's not also forget that adding things like a half stop that has a flush back spring is also more work. Not to mention adjusting things like the spring tension on every knife to create the desired lock up and walk and talk.

Also thanks for responding to the childish remarks. I was just about to say something and I'm not even 30. Obviously there is a demand for traditional knives among the "younger" generation as well :D As a mater of fact I don't even consider buying modern folders anymore (with a few exceptions of course). My hobby/addiction encompasses all types of knives. Traditionals are not just an older persons "thing".
 
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