Knife Values or Lack There Of!!!

[chopsknives]

So I've had several customers on this and other forums ask me to look at cheap knives posted and assess their value. Alright First let me start by saying I don't make knives in this price category so I really don't have a dog in THIS race. The issue is - all of the posts on several forums about all of the Damascus - 1084 and 1095 with 15n20 that is available for pennies on the dollar! Most of the listings I've ran across lately on several forums are the same story - "I acquired several pieces from a friend who makes them" Or "I am a collector and have many pieces in MY collection!" I thought I should share what I learned by being a member of The Knifemakers' Guild, The Professional Knifemaker's Association, The Texas Knifemakers Guild and a Pro Maker for many years! Also what I've been telling all of my customers that want to know. The term 1095 or 1084 has been used by everyone and most are Pakistani Knife companies -a lot of which are selling on ebay and other online sources through shell companies in the UK. Why? Because if you say made in Pakistan absolutely nobody will buy it! This describes what they are using which in most cases is leftover shipping containers from China or whatever mystery metal they can scrounge up. Firstly I would never make Damascus from either of these as they will both rust if you look at em crying!!! But since carbon steels like these rust easily they've learned to call magic mystery metal either one!! It's not only that they won't hold a good edge but they are actually dangerous. Why? Because when you heat treat mystery metal you never know how to temper it as the Temperature you temper, or draw it back is determined by the metal composition you are using. In the case of mystery metal they often just heat, quench and skip the temper! I mean afterall even real crappy slag steel will almost hold an edge if not tempered! Now that metal is still in stress - it has not been drawn back to a safe hardness meaning you have an accident waiting to happen... or not - you just don't know. I had a guy at a knife show tell me "I had a blade that held an incredible edge but I dropped it and it broke into pieces! I went looking for the guy to make me another and he was out of business!!" I told him he's very lucky it didn't shatter in his hands under pressure!! Remember too that these guys have taken knifemaking to a level of deceit in their countries that they almost can't give em away!!
Here's another thought I have sent every one of these poster's PM's letting them know all of this and have heard everything from "your just mad cause your knives aren't selling" to "can anyone really know what steel they're using" to "Gee I sure hope not I've been collecting his knives for a long time and have a whole bunch of em!!" Not one has ever stopped! I even offered to have a friend use a spectrometer to give the metal composition only to be told "you can test all of them after you buy them!!"
Best to remember this - if it seems too good to be true....
Yall do yourself a favor and when you see these remember we've NEVER imported guns or well I don't know of anything good from there for VERY good reasons! If you can't resist at least go to ebay and save yourself some moolah! Thanx for lookin and God Bless - Chops

[chopsknives]

BTW if it doesn't have a Makers Mark it aint worth nothin !! Just my two cents Yall!!

[TexaRican]

Sounds like good info, appreciate the education

[Leon County Slayer]

Chips and I are on the same page and I will attest too that the vast majority of these are mass produced with junk unknown steels in Pakistan or China. I'll add more to this in the days to come but thought I'd give a quick "amen" to the truth above.


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[Quackerbox]

BTW if it doesn't have a Makers Mark it aint worth nothin !! Just my two cents Yall!!

Id also like to add my .02, if you put scales on a bought blade and sharpen it, that aint a custom knife.

That said one day when I make it to Doc status I'll own a Chops folder. And I'll butter my Luby's wheat roll with it just to show that joker off!!

[chopsknives]

Id also like to add my .02, if you put scales on a bought blade and sharpen it, that aint a custom knife.

That said one day when I make it to Doc status I'll own a Chops folder. And I'll butter my Luby's wheat roll with it just to show that joker off!!

Ha! Ha! When I was at blade I went to the breakfast bar at the hotel and there's prolly 100 diff makers stayin there and I heard click! And told him "A Man after my own heart!! Cuttin eggs with a Switchblade!!!" He said you Texans and your knives - heck they been legal here for years!!

[Poco]

Solid info. Thanks guys.
[emoji6][emoji1417]

Ray


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[akey]

Id also like to add my .02, if you put scales on a bought blade and sharpen it, that aint a custom knife.



That said one day when I make it to Doc status I'll own a Chops folder. And I'll butter my Luby's wheat roll with it just to show that joker off!!

This x1000. If you are going to buy a "custom" knife at least ask the seller if they made the blade themselves. Most of the guys buying blade blanks and dressing them up with handles are buying cheap blades from overseas for under 20 bucks a pop. No way to know what steel was used but they will swear it's 440c, cryogenically treated of course. [emoji1303]

[SamHarper]

BTW if it doesn't have a Makers Mark it aint worth nothin !! Just my two cents Yall!!

Do you say that because you assume if there's no maker's mark, then it's probably from Pakistan? Or do you say that because having a maker's mark actually gives a knife value?

The reason I ask is because I haven't been putting my maker's mark on many of my knives because I always screw it up, and it's a lot of work to fix it once I do. But I get all my Damascus from Alabama Damascus, which I think is where you get most of yours from.

***changing topics***

I ran into a guy selling knives at a gun and knife show in Cedar Park a couple of years ago. They were beautiful Damascus knives, and he was selling them for dirt cheap. I asked him where he got the Damascus. He flat out told me it was from Pakistan. I almost thanked him for his candor but thought it might be rude.

[LHPanther]

Do you say that because you assume if there's no maker's mark, then it's probably from Pakistan? Or do you say that because having a maker's mark actually gives a knife value?

The reason I ask is because I haven't been putting my maker's mark on many of my knives because I always screw it up, and it's a lot of work to fix it once I do. But I get all my Damascus from Alabama Damascus, which I think is where you get most of yours from.

***changing topics***

I ran into a guy selling knives at a gun and knife show in Cedar Park a couple of years ago. They were beautiful Damascus knives, and he was selling them for dirt cheap. I asked him where he got the Damascus. He flat out told me it was from Pakistan. I almost thanked him for his candor but thought it might be rude.

No makers mark, no value. Is that to say your knife isn't high quality, no, not at all. However, in the custom knife world, knives have a habit of passing thru many collectors hands. If you aren't putting your makers mark on it somewhere, there is very little chance of the knife you made retaining monetary value over time. As an avid collector, I would not purchase a knife that did not have a makers mark on it.

[bphillips]

No makers mark, no value. Is that to say your knife isn't high quality, no, not at all. However, in the custom knife world, knives have a habit of passing thru many collectors hands. If you aren't putting your makers mark on it somewhere, there is very little chance of the knife you made retaining monetary value over time. As an avid collector, I would not purchase a knife that did not have a makers mark on it.

+1

I don't buy many but I don't buy any without a mark

[SamHarper]

No makers mark, no value. Is that to say your knife isn't high quality, no, not at all. However, in the custom knife world, knives have a habit of passing thru many collectors hands. If you aren't putting your makers mark on it somewhere, there is very little chance of the knife you made retaining monetary value over time. As an avid collector, I would not purchase a knife that did not have a makers mark on it.

I appreciate that. That makes good sense.

[Black Ice]

Chips and I are on the same page and I will attest too that the vast majority of these are mass produced with junk unknown steels in Pakistan or China. I'll add more to this in the days to come but thought I'd give a quick "amen" to the truth above.


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They do make some quality knives[emoji851]



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[be12hunt]

BTW if it doesn't have a Makers Mark it aint worth nothin !! Just my two cents Yall!!

I understand what you mean if you want to resell it, but if i buy something like this I buy it because I want to keep it. So the value is in the workmanship not the mark

[Razorback01]

Mark on the cheap because it's what I have.