Armory Sponsor
Posted: 1/6/2014 7:10:26 AM EDT
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Not naming names here. I don't want to out someone until there's something shady going on.
Last summer, I ordered (order in June, paid in July) a custom knife from a maker who said they'd start shipping in August. August came and some of the people ahead of me in line got theirs. That part was confirmed - I've seen the knives, so I feel pretty good that my bladesmith isn't an exiled Nigerian prince in his spare time. October came and I emailed him to ask for an update. The reply was just that there's another run in process, and it shouldn't be too long. It's now January. I don't want to be That Guy, since I know custom work takes a little time, but is it too soon to contact him again without being a pest? |
| I've seen many makers get into financial trouble taking payment for knives and then failing to deliver on time or at all. They have already spent the money and have a tough time refunding. I will not take any cash up front on a knife unless the customer has requested an exotic material and then I only take payment on what the actual material costs are. In my opinion if you have to take payment for a custom knife that is not using some sort of exotic material you shouldn't be making knives. Standard knife materials are not that expensive. Customers are paying mostly for my time and skill when I'm making working knives. I have the same philosophy when doing damascus pieces unless it is something very, very exotic. I know I can sell my stuff even if it's a custom order that the customer has backed out on. |
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I'm curious about the explanation "next run". Is this knife an actual custom knife, or a "limited production" knife?
When we were doing custom knife orders the forge was constantly burning & we would make the knives in the order received. There was no "production runs" since every knife was unique. |
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Quoted:
I'm curious about the explanation "next run". Is this knife an actual custom knife, or a "limited production" knife? When we were doing custom knife orders the forge was constantly burning & we would make the knives in the order received. There was no "production runs" since every knife was unique. That was me being confused. I don't play in this sandbox very often. It's a limited-production knife from a guy who I think usually does custom stuff. Anyway, I emailed him and asked. He emailed back and said that he had me on a list for the wrong product and mine will come in the next week or so. I guess we'll see. |
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Quoted:
That was me being confused. I don't play in this sandbox very often. It's a limited-production knife from a guy who I think usually does custom stuff. Anyway, I emailed him and asked. He emailed back and said that he had me on a list for the wrong product and mine will come in the next week or so. I guess we'll see. Quoted:
Quoted:
I'm curious about the explanation "next run". Is this knife an actual custom knife, or a "limited production" knife? When we were doing custom knife orders the forge was constantly burning & we would make the knives in the order received. There was no "production runs" since every knife was unique. That was me being confused. I don't play in this sandbox very often. It's a limited-production knife from a guy who I think usually does custom stuff. Anyway, I emailed him and asked. He emailed back and said that he had me on a list for the wrong product and mine will come in the next week or so. I guess we'll see. From smaller custom knife makers it is very easy for them to lose your order among others. Often times they are one man operations. They may have been waiting on the certain steel or materials needed and made other knives in the meantime. Often times their record keeping is literally a piece of scrap paper laying around. My suggestion is stay patient and see what happens in the next few weeks. |
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