I'm thinking serously about getting a knfe made to my desires, & I have a couple of questions about it.

1) Does it cost extra to explaine to a knife maker what you want & be involved with the planing stage as opposed to just picking one of their already made custom knives?

2) Do you anyone you recomend as a maker? & if so is there anywhere I can read up on the person?

I really like the Japenese style blades, with wrapped handles. That's kind of what I want.

Thanks for any help or input you can give me, Searcher out.

As a maker, I love it when the customer wants to be involved - to a point.  Some customers want a knife "exactly like" so and so makes.  Most makers, including me, will refuse to do that and tell you right up front that it will be close, but it will not be exact.  Such are the nuances of the hand made blade and the desire for a maker to show a bit of his/her own unique style.  Sometimes you will not be able to reach an agreement with a customer due to their demands or the incompatibility of the project with the maker's particular style.  For example, I do not make knives with gut hooks.  In those cases I politely tell him/her they will need seek another maker.  

Few makers charge extra for taking on a custom order that is out of their normal line of work, unless the job calls for a difficult design, special tooling or unusual materials, however, they will often ask for a deposit.  I usually have a customer make me a template out of mylar (the thick artist's stuff) or something similar.  Even artist's cardboard will work and in at least one case, a guy sent me the design on a piece of graph paper.  Sometimes it will take two or three renditions of the design and several telephone calls to get the project underway.

Search the web for makers in the Japanese style.  You will need to find a maker whose style you like, then you can begin researching the maker.

Thank you Fox.

At one point in time I actually worked for a place called Smoky Mountain Knife Works, it was kind of my first official job.  There was a guy that came in regularly, his name was Ken Largin awesome guy.  He actually had a setup like this.  He actually with me came up with a design and helped me build a knife (fancy letter opener).  I actually forged out the blade and everything,


The specs

About three inch bladed.

Hand Forged Damascus Steel.

Brass finger guard.

Genuine bone stag handle I will try to post pics when I unpack the knife.

Doing something like this I think would normally run about $300

Interesting.  Ken Largin makes a lot of blades for Texas Knife Makers Supply, and maybe a few others, like Jantz, Koval and K&G.  He grinds wonderful blades.

So where do I look for a knife maker to hire?

Try here or here and see if there are some Japanese styles you like.  The makers will usually be listed and have contact information.  You can then research them on the Internet or contact them directly via email or telephone and open a dialogue for the custom work you want.

Quoted: Interesting.  Ken Largin makes a lot of blades for Texas Knife Makers Supply, and maybe a few others, like Jantz, Koval and K&G.  He grinds wonderful blades.

Ken is an awesome guy, and his wife Paula is as sweet as she can be. It has been like 6 or 7 years since I have seen them though.  

here

I had a knife made for my father by Ed Halligan.  It was several years ago before Ed became famous for the K.I.S.S. knives.  
What  I wanted was a knife similar to my Randall "border patrol".  Ed was doing some scrimshaw work also at the time so I had the handle "enhanced".  
Unfortunately my father has passed away and the knife will never leave  my possession.
I really did not make any specifications about the knife so it is just Ed's freehand interpretation of what I had.  I do like it!

Quoted: Interesting.  Ken Largin makes a lot of blades for Texas Knife Makers Supply, and maybe a few others, like Jantz, Koval and K&G.  He grinds wonderful blades.

He also did a limited run of knives for Orvis.  I got one of his damascus ones.

www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=362137&highlight=chiro75

I have never bought anything from this gentleman, but he has a well respected rep on the bladeforums. His prices are also awesome for the work he does.