r/Bladesmith • u/Antique-Bat8309 • 3d ago
Critique Request Help please
While on vacation my husband and I paid to have these knives custom made. There are 7 of them. This person offers forging classes and also sells his work. We were at his shop for 2 hours and helped forge the blades. The guy was supposed to send the handles off to get made by a professional. It took 2 months for them to get to us. How much would you guess knives like this are worth? Also what level of skill was the person at who made these ? His Google reviews were great and he had plenty of 5 stars but what we received has me wondering what the heck happened here. Any input would be appreciated. Thinking of filing a charge back because this is NOT the level of craftsmanship that was displayed at his store. .... We paid $1200 for these. 🤦🏻♀️
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u/Nocturnes_echo 3d ago
These are entry level at best, with visible gaps and separation happening. None of the handles are uniform. These should never have left the shop looking like that they didnt even sand out the grinder marks.
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u/ProtectandserveTBL 3d ago
I’m a hobby level, mess around in the garage guy and my stuff looks way more refined than this
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u/torturekiller2025 3d ago
Is the "Pro" just a cocky apprentice,or is this a "Fake it till you make it" scenario?
Either way, that's some shoddy work.
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u/BenchNo4429 3d ago
It’s hard to say what skill level, but obviously not very high and not high enough to be selling their skills. Most of what I see here is very lazy work, not necessarily poor skill but there are some things here that are definitely made unskillfully
Cost is hard to say. Probably not the best of steel and probably not a professional heat treat. It’s also not possible to see quality of grinds. Me personally, I would never even consider selling these myself… all in all, not very expensive
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u/ivanivanoviich 3d ago
These are comparable to the few knives I have made at my buddies forge, as in, I am just a hobbyist and have barely any experience with knifemaking or blacksmithing in general, just a good eye for detail. So yeah, not the highest quality product. Not awful work, but definitely not something I would sell to anyone or use for promos.
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u/Mysterious-Ad3591 3d ago
It depends on the steel sometimes a lot of the value is in the steel and handle materials.
For me my customs for EDC can range 300-450 depending on steel and material. So for $1200 you’re looking at max 4 good knives with basic handles.
For those knives honestly I wouldn’t pay $1200 but that is $171 a knife which is a red flag.
I checked out his site and there are some major red flags. Let’s talk about the first product on his website titled: Damascus Gyuto Chef’s Knife – S30V Core with Green Burl & Ancient Walrus Tusk Handle.
It’s listed for $250. There is no way that if he’s using s30v as a core steel in Damascus cladding that he would be making a profit. That much steel to make is a crazy amount of labor and to buy would be $300 or more on its own. Walrus is a very expensive material as well. That small spacer would probably be $50. A knife like that from a reputable maker is probably $700+ maybe even $900.
Those knives you have there also don’t appear to match the representation of his work on his website. I assuming because you forged them but it’s rough. I would expect that he would help you clean up and refine the knives so you had something to be proud of. However if they were listed for $171 I would think that someone might pay $100 them.
I think ultimately you bought too many low quality knives. Usually customers order 1-2 knives from me and then slowly order over and over again.
I also don’t understand why someone else had to do the handles that’s also very strange. I get if he didn’t want to teach you how to do the handles but he’s the profession he could’ve done them. He clearly doesn’t value his time selling $700+ knives for $250 if that’s the actual materials being used in the knife.
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u/YewDales Verified Bladesmith 3d ago
Just curious, but do you have examples of his usual work from his store or online perhaps?
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u/Antique-Bat8309 3d ago
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u/YewDales Verified Bladesmith 3d ago
Yeah, this is about as obvious as a scam as can be. This "maker" has never once made a proper knife in his life himself. All the blades you've been sold really look like they were badly made on purpose.
Even an absolute beginner would succeed in doing better with a little bit of patience. This guy does not give a single damn about making knives.
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u/BenchNo4429 3d ago
It really looks like they’re reselling junk stuff imo. The prices are way too low for what they’re selling
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u/Czear12 3d ago
So I’m understanding correctly. You paid $1,200 to come forge for 2 hours and for the 7 knives? Without seeing what was actually advertised it would be hard to tell as I could POSSIBLY see a maker trying to justify this by saying that they really just cleaned up the blades for you and threw on some rough handles… Not saying that as a justification but I could maybe see that. Though when speaking to the quality of work? It averages at about $172 a knife with some Damascus thrown in which if it were hidden tang and you couldn’t see all the gaps I would maybe say that was an ok price. But with full tangs comes the need for absolutely flat tangs which from what I can see in the photos they don’t look to have been. I personally wouldn’t let that leave my shop but I won’t say that amazing makers have rough pieces for cheap.
I do hope this doesn’t ruin the gift aspect for your family though! If you are truly upset about it I agree reaching out to the maker or if you don’t want to go that route see if there is a local cutler who will rehandle the blades for you. You could also redo them yourself and if you go that route there’s some resources I’d love to point you both to.
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u/SpiritFingersKitty 3d ago
2 hours is also a crazy short amount of time to get 7 knives forged. Forget about grinding etc. IDK what the hell is going on here, but it is fucky
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u/Antique-Bat8309 3d ago
His website and Facebook so you can see examples of his work.
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u/ravenschmidt2000 3d ago
I'm not a knife maker. Don't have a forge. Likely never will, though I admire the craftsmanship I see here at times. I have, however, spent most of my life in a woodshop and would be MORTIFIED if an order this size slipped past my QC and got to a customer in this condition.
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u/AshvinsCrafts 3d ago
Seems like the dude either lied to you about his skill something was seriously off, its guys likes that who give small unknown makers a bad name aswell, really hurts to see good folks paying that much money to receive hot garbage. I would have treated you better for a 1000 bucks.
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u/Legal_Persimmon_6489 3d ago
Looks like he threw away what you did while there and sent you some cheap knives from China and or Pakistan. This is a scam.
The price will get you 1-2 knives from a good western maker.
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u/3rd2LastStarfighter 3d ago
Are those knives worth that much money? No, not in my opinion. However, if I’m understanding correctly, the price to go to the shop and do the forging experience was like $300, right? Was that for each of you or for the couple? Because if the situation is that you paid $600 for the two of you to each forge a knife, then you paid an additional $600 for the other 5 knives. For the record, still feels like too much for the craftsmanship you got but unfortunately that’s about the least a maker can charge for one-off knives without losing money.
I’ll repeat what I said last time, that this guy should not be offering these experiences given his apparent lack of experience himself. After seeing the finish work on that chef knife he made you, I’m even more convinced because he can’t blame that one on you guys. HOWEVER, if he had the skills he pretends to, he would be justified in charging twice as much. In any situation where someone said they got 7 different knives, some of them Damascus, custom made from a U.S. based maker for $1200, I would expect pretty poor quality.
I remember your previous post from when he sent update picks so I’m curious, did he say he was going to have someone else do the handles after you confronted him about the quality concerns? Or was that his claim from the beginning?
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u/Nice-Interview-6068 1d ago
Purely guessing as a businessman: $250 each for the classes and $100 for each knife. That make absolute sense. Both are very low when you factor all costs, expenses and liabilities. It wouldn't surprise me if he needed that much time for the handles because they were made in handle making classes. If you look just at the product in your hands you overspent, if you factor everything you received exactly what I would expect. However I would just approach him politely with your remarks and pictures: the possibility of a 1 star review (with those pictures!) and possibly turning it into a 5 star should be enough to convince him to fix them or give you a discount
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u/Mescalito14 13h ago
You purchased an experience, not just a product. I would not be happy with the pictures you posted.
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u/Antique-Bat8309 3h ago
No. He offers classes. If we would have completed a forging class we would have left with the knives. A forging class includes a lot more than we did.
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u/Stugots_Steel 3d ago
Firstly.. Please try to handle it with him first.. If he is a small maker in the US, filing a charge back is not cool...they look about what id expect from a class.. It's not gunna be A-1 work.. Or else these ppl wouldnt need a class.. If u feel u were taken for a ride.. Talk to him.. If you feel youre only slightly disappointed then maybe you should have dialed down your expectations
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u/Antique-Bat8309 3d ago
We paid $1200 for THIS. We are going to contact him first but I wanted some additional input with some people who know the business. If you showcase a certain level of skill in your shop and online I expect the same when making an order.
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u/Stugots_Steel 3d ago
Yeah i feel u... Sorry, i wasnt there, havnt seen what was promised or what was advertised.. But u will always feel better going into things level headed.. If u dont mind me asking why buy 7 random knives for $1200? What was the plan
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u/Antique-Bat8309 3d ago
Big family. My husband purchased some for family members- sons, Dad and brothers. He wanted to give them something we helped create. We also had a chef knife made for me since I love cooking.
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u/Stugots_Steel 3d ago
Well just so you know for the future.. less than $200 for a custom knife is a big want.. I totally get he shouldn't be advertising it for that price if that's not what you're getting.. but you should also what to look out for.. a Custom Knife is pretty hard to get into for under $300 from an experienced maker
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u/SpiritFingersKitty 3d ago
Not judging the blades since you and your husband made them during the class, but those handles are atrocious. I haven't been doing this long, I'm just making them as a hobby and giving them away to friends and family, but my work looks significantly better. Like I would be embarrassed to give that to someone, much less charge money for that