Never??

[dhc4ever]

So whats the general feeling amounst the forum:
Are general reviews of customs blades worthwhile?
I'm not talking destruction tests here, general use, form ,fit and function of design and owners comments.
Or is the potential of damage to a realitively small group not worth it?

Thoughts?

[nightowl]

I think every knife, production or custom, could be reviewed by a new owner.

On the by now defunct ES forum, where we purchased via the sources on the forum, most every purchase got reviewed, not so much as to engineering of knife but rather as to personal like and use.

Reviews of knives inclusive of photos with knife in hand or as a still life were always a treat to look at.
Some people may take the blade through its paces and others just explain how it feels and handles in every day applications.

These reviews I believe help selling quite a bit and good photos attached even more so.

Cheers

[Waldganger]

I'd put in a review if I had a custom, actually I do have a custom but I haven't used it yet.

Its a slightly larger version on Peter Jensen's J.U.S.T

[Clive's Knives]

Hey,great, fellas,there has not been a lot of interest in custom knives of late and I for one would like to be involved in any way at all to prove that just because a blade is not stamped out in the hundreds in America it is not as good.
eg I have noticed dozens of times how a knife has it's balance point just behind the guard etc etc etc but does this make sense ? If a knife is going to be used as a chopper it will cut far better if it is blade heavy or used as a skinner handle heavy.
If any bloke wants to test one of my blades,against any others,for cutting and knife uses go for it [I will resharpen for you] and I think you will find there is !NO! knife that will outdo others at everything. eg a knife half a metre long and 8mm thick will outchop a skinner but try to skin a rabbit with it.
Hope a lot of you blokes come in to this and give some opinions.
Clive.

[warrigal]

I really enjoy the forum as a whole. I don't have much of a knife/or time budget so I live externally by those who do get out.
I really like the makers posting their new stuff. I would encourage them to post prices as well for when I do get those couple shekles together.
I did buy a knife from Stewart after seeing it through here. Very bloody happy with it as well.
Dhc4eva and Perksy are among the few I get to talk to (voice to voice) who know what the hell they are talking about. Unlike the current "long haired 21year old ex RAAF doggie that is currently under cover in the SASR that is try to tell me the virtues of Excaliber" that I'm trying to avoid at work.
Got some definet opinions out of some of those threads that Noble Warrior has started. And learnt some good stuff from other discussions as well.
As for testing go for it. Chopping concrete blocks!!!! Why??
Bending in a vice!!!!
The most destructive thing I've seen done to a knife that I would consider doing myself was a demo I saw years ago in a Blade Magazine where they got a old car and a MAD DOG ATTACK they basicly had a race against a Truck load of Fireies to get a cas. out of a car wreck the fireies had a nominal response time( 7min) handicap. The guys with the knife Punched a series of holes throught the roof then joined the holes belting the knife with a baton. The fireries won but only by seconds. Untill then I would never of thought of trying that with a knife. Did it shave hair afterwards? Of course not and who cares.
Carl

[Stewart Townsend]

So whats the general feeling amounst the forum:
Are general reviews of customs blades worthwhile?
I'm not talking destruction tests here, general use, form ,fit and function of design and owners comments.
Or is the potential of damage to a realitively small group not worth it?

Thoughts?

Thoughts in no order -

The BIG thought, I make a knife, I give a warranty, I sell it. When I put my mark on the knife I am putting my name on it (well actually my initials in runes)

I have lost sales by telling the truth - eg I have made knives for a particular purpose. The customer likes it (first look), talk to them and it might not be what they want eg carbon v stainless, the grind eg scandi, flat or hollow. I prefer that the customer is aware of what they are buying, it should pay off in the long term IMO. eg knives marked ST work.

In my "perfect" world I would just make knives after I had an order. Because my idea of custom is it fits the hand and uses the appropriate steel and grind for the the job. But I make them with a view to get to my perfect world. A 1/4 inch or 6mm in handle length can make a difference in 2 knives (I have made them that way). So a review of a knife could say that the handle is too small/too big but I could make one perfect too there hand.

Clive has good points regarding the "balance points". But as a caper or bird/trout knife where is the point of balance with 7 1/2 inch knife with a 3 inch blade for a guy with a big hand.

There is some potential of damage to a realitively small group but then there is potential to enhance a realitively small group. Certainly here, there is the ability for the maker to reply.

Probably my answer is - When I put my mark on the knife I am putting my name on it.

[Stewart Townsend]

I did buy a knife from Stewart after seeing it through here. Very bloody happy with it as well.
Carl

You could have been the "First Reviewer" here. LOL

[john foxwell]

As a maker I have no problems with reviews.

One of the problems makers in this country face, is the limited opportunity for potential customers to handle and examine their knives before buying and if a review is going to maker a buyer more comfortable about a prospective purchase, that can't be a bad thing.

As a relatively new maker, I haven't attended a lot of shows,(there's not a lot to attend :D) but it's very satisfying to have a customer come up tell you how happy they are with the knife they bought from you last year. If a maker is serious about what they're doing, any feedback good or bad will be useful.

With regard to the potential damage to a small group of makers, I'd like to think we're not that fragile or precious that we can't deal with someone reviewing our work and any criticism that may come from that process.

John

[MikeF]

Speaking of putting a name on a knife ...

I'm curious about your mark, Clive. I notice that your's reads corectly when the blade is pointed down. From memory, every blade I own, and every blade I've seen has the mark along the blade (e.g. John F's), or is read with the blade pointing up.

Is this accident, or design. Knives from "down under" perhaps? :)

[Stewart Townsend]

Interesting Farkles......... As I understand it the mark goes to the left hand side of the blade(looking down) Some folders (near my computer) are marked in the ricasso, Syperco, Buck, Gerber and Victornix are read point up. A Taylors Eye Witness is on the blade and read with point to the left. Clive is point down. I always mark them point down on the ricasso. I generally put Australia, steel and it's number (eg Australia ATS34 53) on the off side as well. John Jones does point down.

I have a reason why I do mine that way. That's what was on the John Jones video that I used to learn knifemaking.

[Clive's Knives]

Farkles,My reasons -and only mine- if the name is along the blade sooner or later some lousy knife-sharpener is going to make a mistake and grind part of it off.
I AM an authority on this after sharpening many hundreds of knives.
Then to take a good pick of a knife you want to be looking up the blade towards the handle, I believe,with regards shadows etc.and if it's upside down old fellas like me have trouble doing headstands just to proof-read it.
Cheers,and thanks for taking an interest.Clive.

[MDG]

I can see the point about being able to read it in a photo. I have noticed that many custom makers set their mark to read with the point to the left. Makes for easy reading in a photo in a mag or catalogue.

I thought I would add that the reviews I most enjoy are the using ones. JDee does good reviews and I always enjoy his. You don't have to destroy or mistreat a knife to do a review. I like to know if the guard gets in the way or whether the handle is slippery, etc.

[Easy Rollins]

Farkles,My reasons -and only mine- if the name is along the blade sooner or later some lousy knife-sharpener is going to make a mistake and grind part of it off.
I AM an authority on this after sharpening many hundreds of knives.
Then to take a good pick of a knife you want to be looking up the blade towards the handle, I believe,with regards shadows etc.and if it's upside down old fellas like me have trouble doing headstands just to proof-read it.
Cheers,and thanks for taking an interest.Clive.


Kiwis are just that little bit "different". :D

[CMOT]

While I'm not an aficionado on custom knives, I do have a couple thoughts on reviewing them here.

For one thing, given the inherently differing designs of a custom made knife, what Joe Sharp thinks about using his Custom-made knife, may bear little relevance to the one I buy from the same maker with the slightly shorter handle and more upswept blade (or whatever, as Stewart intimated).

Also there is an unavoidable psychological tendency to rose-tint our glasses when we have a considerable investment in them. The mere fact that we paid a considerable amount for a unique knife that is ours alone, will likely make it balance better, feel more comfortable to use, need sharpening a little less often etc. The only reliable way to get an unbiased view would be to give the knife free to a reviewer, for the purpose of reviewing it (PM me for my addy!:D). I believe many of JDee's reviews were initiated on this basis.

Reviews of production models are much easier to deal with generally - If I read a review of a production knife I know that whatever is said, good or bad, will be the same if/when I buy one. If I read a review saying the ST Custom that Joe Sharp bought is wonderful, I'm not sure that I will have learned anything new about the knife I may decide to buy one day... of course he thinks it's wonderful! If I pay a few hundred dollars for a custom made knife and it's not wonderful, then I've been very silly in my choices (despite warnings from the maker that boot-knife daggers don't baton well or whatever)

While I'm sure that most makers want honest feedback and are not so easily offended, another unavoidable human tendency is politeness in these situations. People probably wouldn't hesitate to say the latest offering from Pointistyx Knife Co. was a big disappointment and a waste of money here now, but if Mr. Pointistyx was a forum regular they'd find some good things to say about it and then gently suggest that there may be room for improvement in certain aspects because it's just not quite perfect yet... (see BF for examples!)

So there's my long-winded take on it, despite all that I still think it would be an interesting read if anyone is inclined... it's always nice to see and hear people enjoying playing with their toys... I mean using their tools :)

[Easy Rollins]

I think we need Cliff Stamp...now he could review. :D

[Jas]

I am all for having my blades reviewed and value feed back from the user.

But !

Details like the stamp is the wrong way or is different to other blades seems irrelevent to me. As a maker how the blade is marked is my choice and id's my work and style.

For feed back that is usefull . I would be looking for does the blade cut , does it stay sharp, No hot spots in handle, is it comfortable to use ( for the intended purpose) fit and finish acceptable for price range. Has the blade been matched to the users intended purpose at the time of making. As a custom maker I assume when a customer askes for a blade they have a clear understanding of what they want from it. All I can do is build it to perform the sort of tasks they required it to do as best as possible. If there are aspects that they wish to alter it will be on them to have an understanding that it might effect the performance of the blade from their request. For eg If a customer asked for a blade that would be required to carry out heavy chopping and need to " smash through stuff " but what they needed was an all rounder if the blade was reviewed as an all rounder it would obviously be found lacking. So for custom work things need to be kept in context and reviewed accordingly . Things like style ,unless it impacts function which the maker would appreciate the feed back, should be left to the maker . If you like their style you buy their stuff . If you preffer anothers you buy theirs. And that is where the review comes in does the blade cut ? Does it stay sharp? Was it comfortable to use ? Did they make me what I asked for ? Both initial impressions and once some time has passed and the rose glasses has come off.

Then all that info and feed back can be used by the maker to develop and refine their hand made lines of blades.

If a hand made blade is being reviewed then it should be done as a production blade would be. Then perhaps blades would be handed out free for reviews and pass arounds.


My rambellings on the subject :p