As Navajo has been saying. If everyone complains about the same thing, as in "GIVE ME A SS PRODUCTION 42/3/7 AT A DECENT PRICE!!!!!!!!", maybe one day BM will listen. It won't happen if all you do is wait. We know they have the technology. We know they can do it. We may even be willing to pay a little more. But unless they get the message that there is a market for those SS handled 42/3/7, Limited Editons may be all the bali's you see with SS handles. Time to write BM.
I have no doubt that the balisong is still much loved in BM. The decision to invest so much money in the new Titanium handled series shows this. The love of Vance Collver to create the BM 43 shows this. That Rick Thatch would spend hundreds of hours to figure out the CNC programming of the 49's kris blade shows this. Roberta's personal crusade to put out those limited runs of Custom bali's in the ultra lean years shows this. But even you need to admit that there was a time when BM was giving the image to us bali lovers that their regular folder line was all that they cared about. And, as fast as they have rebounded with the new offerings, the orginal question still stands: Why did they chose Titanium as the new handle material instead of SS? A question that's greatly compounded by the handles in this release.
Yes, but with the initial investment in time and labor over, the cost to put out an additional batch of the same model will be further reduced. Those SS handles will be a big step in recouping that machine investment.
That statement disturbs me a bit. There is no reason they could not develope the CNC grinding using cheaper steel, and then tackle the damascus billets. The fact that they choose such an expensive, and nonconsistent material, to make their next production run of SS handles doesn't justify their exclusivity or their limited production price. What always makes me like BM so much is that they are willing to eat all that scrap cost, and stick with the price that advertised. If they keep doing that however, I doubt they'll continue making those limited runs, because as a business, those projects don't make much profit, have a high developement cost (those scraps), and only appeal the the same general set of customer (those that consistently buy limited editions from BM).
No question. Les didn't start three seperate companies because he loves liner lock folders.
No question there either. That's the beauty of CNC. Once it's stored, it's stored. You can even take that CNC program to any good quality machine shop and get the same results each time. BM don't have to depend on in-house CNC'ing for those handles if the demand skyrocket.
This series is not an issue. The Damascus blade is nice. But the fact that they have perfected the CNC program of the old style handles in SS is big news. That handle installed with a current production blade is that much closer to what we've been asking. And all what Pete, Navajo, and I have been saying is: Write them while you're waiting. Let them know those handles should be general issue, and not be found only on a limited run. Any one can plainly see that the SS handles can be easily become available if they decide to make it. If the 44/45/48's were any indication, they will again sell.
At present, they have an excellent dedicated team. They are highly skilled, and there's no question about the talent that resides within. Just looking at the 49's can tell you that much. CNC machines are tempermental, and they are high maintenance, but as you yourself stated, that's because owners typically overwork them to compensate for lack of additional equipment. I have never found a machine shop that maintains their CNC machines according to the manufacturer's maintenance schedule. That amount of down time is just not profitable. That is not the fault of the machines. Even if they were engineered with a level of abuse, those machines cannot maintain thmeselves. Yes that is the reality, but the other reality is, for production level handles, you don't need to have such high precise tolerances. If those Ti handles have taught me anything, it's that BM is willing to gamble a chunk of their money and customers when they went with a casting process. No casting will ever come closer in tolerance than a CNC machined part, even if it's 2% off. I've measured everyone of my 4x Ti series bali's, and the differences in measurement isn't anywhere near what any machinist would call "good tolerances". Going to CNC will be a big improvement over the existing Ti handles. And since theat first gamble has already paid off in spades, there's no reason why the second gamble would not work. Especially when you consider how many 44/45/48 users out there woulnd't mind having a replacement of their old bali. As Chuck said, BM sold a ton of those.
Except for the actual grinding setting and media selection, all this testing could have been done with lower cost metal.
My point exactly. There is no reason to have scrapped "tons of damascus". That is simply a problem of bad material resources.
Even though BM has been able to complete the CNC program of the handles, they have yet explored the MIM capabilities to manufacture the SS handles. There is more than one way to skin a cat. Maybe the CNC handles will be limited to the custom limited editons, as they are more costly to manufacture. But the simplicity of the issue is, there is a demand for those SS handles, and not everyone is willing to spend $350 to get it. BM charged $350 for the customs, but they gave you choices. They knew that the average person cannot afford $350, so they created the SS 4x series. As big or as small as BM wants to make those bali runs, there will always be a market.
They won't know until we write them. This is free market surveying we're doing for them. IF enough people commit, a limited run of 500 wouldn't be out of the question. I suspect this forum would account for a big chuck of it. There are a lot of new bali users that don't know how a SS bali handles. Time for them to learn.
As wonderfully as they have done with the existing crop of balisong, they are still missing some core elements that the old bali fan's crave for. One is SS handles, another is 3/16" blade (yes, that would be great), and another is custom choices. We're not telling BM how to run their business, we are simply asking them to entertain the ideas.
