All About Pocket Knives

I have been working on cleaning up a couple of rough knives and have been made aware of how much time the process takes. I am going to end up with several hours of work in these knives and arms like Popeye. Saw this on the Internet and looks like they provide a good service at a reasonable price. Has anyone ever used this service or know of a better one? I have heard of a guy in southern Indiana that will put a mirror finish on a knife for $20 a blade. At the rate I'm going that would be about a dollar an hour and a real bargain. Sad fact is neither knife I'm working on would be worth investing $20 a blade in for repair. Better options?

http://www.sharpeningshack.net/recondit ... nives.html

No offense to anyone in the knife repair business but I just saw this and with a $200 start up fee it seems to me like 95% of all used knives wouldn't be worth repairing. Maybe a few fit for a museum but I'll bet these guys don't get much business from the EDC crowd. Do they get any business at all?


http://ajh-knives.com/prices-1.html

Bob it is an arduous process on a knife that's pretty far gone. I have started to be more careful about what I buy and and just leave the rough ones alone. Also taking an old knife to a mirror fish is something I no longer attempt. Leave a little character on it I say!

I now offer that service. Have a waiting list of 6 knives right now.

PM me fort details if interested.

Here's the post on my blog:
http://pocketknivesblog.com/vintage-kni ... t-removal/

I especially like the #5 example Case stag handle knife. They took all of the original chrome finish off the blade. I wouldn't do this even if someone wanted to pay me for it. Ruined the knife. The before knife looks much better to my eyes.

That's harsh....but, probably true

I clean knives at a flat rate of $30 per knife 1-4 blades up to a 5.5" blade.

just bob wrote:No offense to anyone in the knife repair business but I just saw this and with a $200 start up fee it seems to me like 95% of all used knives wouldn't be worth repairing. Maybe a few fit for a museum but I'll bet these guys don't get much business from the EDC crowd. Do they get any business at all?


http://ajh-knives.com/prices-1.html

Holy crap!

Seems I am selling myself extremely short.

I read a lot of pure BS on that site as well.

just bob wrote:No offense to anyone in the knife repair business but I just saw this and with a $200 start up fee it seems to me like 95% of all used knives wouldn't be worth repairing. Maybe a few fit for a museum but I'll bet these guys don't get much business from the EDC crowd. Do they get any business at all?


http://ajh-knives.com/prices-1.html

I would bet he doesn't get much business. I know enough about cleaning knives to know those prices are crazy.

I agree with both of your statements Kaleb!

The $35 minimum shipping price seems excessive to me even considering that he is located in British Columbia, Canada.

He is located in Canada but once payment in US dollars. The minimum price to work in a knife is US$200, which is equal to C$265.69. That price might not be excessive if he were installing exhibition grade mammoth bark ivory on each knife he repaired but I’m afraid that isn’t the case.

So he lives out of town and has to drive to the post office and has to pay for fuel for his vehicle and wear and tear on his vehicle. I think that’s his problem, not my problem as a potential customer.

He is right about one thing, it takes far longer and far more effort than most people realize to repair a knife, but I think his pricing is more like wishful thinking. I think he must be the guy on eBay that adds two extra zeros to his by it now prices!

The work on that site is terrible!
He has ground/polished half of the knives away.

Can you imagine me charging $20.00 per knife and producing results like this.



BTW, the knives aren't ground/sanded to 50% loss......maybe 1 millimicron of a 16th of an inch is lost.
Very, very, very little "actual blade loss happens....
I know, I do it every single day and have been for almost a year.

I just had my will updated and got a statement from my attorney. He charged me $300.00 for 2 hours of his services. He didn't even charge me for walking to the mail box and mailing the letter or the shipping material (envelope). When I remit the payment I am going to suggest to him that he give up that legal gig and go into the knife restoration business. It is far more lucrative. Businesses stay open due to supply and demand. If you are providing a good service at a reasonable price you'll do well. I thought the knives in the first post were ok, he even says if you have collectable knives not to send them. In the second link if you look at the bottom of the page he has a before and after section. If you go to page 3 there is an Old Timer 340T. On it's best day that is a $40 knife on Ebay. Even if that knife had a pick up truck load of sentimental value I don't see how you could justify the repair bill. That is knife repair 101 he took 2 knives and made 1. He just put the original blades in the new frame he found. That entire process cost less than $25 and took less than an hour. He didn't build a new frame. Some of the other knives he has pictured in that section are beautiful and he did great work. I have no idea of the value of some of those but the bill must have been shocking. Makes you appreciate the AAPK knife mechanics.

Triple F, I wasn't referring to you. Your work looks fine.
Properly refinishing knives takes time. I can guarantee you that Kaleb isn't getting rich at $35!

Bill DeShivs wrote:The work on that site is terrible!
He has ground/polished half of the knives away.

What made me cringe was the randall model 2's on page 2

I've sent knives to Triple F (Scott), Muskrat Man (Kaleb), Orvet (Dale), and glennbad (Glenn) I can attest that all 4 of them are excellent at what they do. I wouldn't hesitate for a second about sending any one of my knives to those guys. I know there's a few more "mechanics" on this site but I haven't dealt with them yet even though I most likely will in the future.

I for one am very thankful to these guys.

_______________
Mike

XX Case XX wrote:I've sent knives to Triple F (Scott), Muskrat Man (Kaleb), Orvet (Dale), and glennbad (Glenn) I can attest that all 4 of them are excellent at what they do. I wouldn't hesitate for a second about sending any one of my knives to those guys. I know there's a few more "mechanics" on this site but I haven't dealt with them yet even though I most likely will in the future.

I for one am very thankful to these guys.

_______________
Mike

It's quite an honor to be mentioned with this class of craftsmen.

I second the motion by XX Case XX, I've had the pleasure of working on projects with all 4 of those mentioned and they are professional, courteous, and treat your knife better than they do their own. I'd like to add Elvis (Bob P.) to the list. Bob has been away from the repair scene for a moment but thankfully has hung-up his "Open For Business" sign once again. My guess is that all of these fine craftsmen charge below minimum wage and are driven by bringing an old vintage knife back to life - they are the angels among us!