Buying South African custom knifes?

Tarry said:
Bobobama.....Exzectly!!!!!

Get Rich fast approach.

Some knifes have issues.

For me to risky.

End result, buy locally.
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Translation: I used to buy South African knives because they were cheaper than US makers.
I like buying bargains, its my primary motivation when choosing stuff. I honestly don't care where it's made as long as it's a bargain.
Now SA makers prices have caught up and in some cases superseded US makers prices and that's just not fair! Why can't those pesky SA makers continue their low prices so people like me can get bargains. Damn even the Chinese are beginning to charge more for their top end stuff!.........Absolutely ridiculous!
So I'll start a thread on Bladeforums asking stupid questions about SA makers when really what I want to do is complain that I am not getting my bargains anymore. No I am not a troll.
 
Tarry said:
Just remembered Doctor Frunkey in one of his reviews mantioning, that with regards to South African custom knifes their always seems to be something just a little wrong with them? He seems to have a lot of experience with them.
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That’s been my experience. They aren’t beginners idiot proof knives I would say. The ones I have seen have needed a little tlc.

My experience is very limited though.
 
A knife is a tool. Who made it, and where, are just details. The only thing that is important is that it not fail in its intended role, whether as an art piece or as a serious using knife. Most Americans buying SA knives buy them for reasons other than price. Nothing wrong with getting a good deal, but if you really want the knife, you'll pay for it, won't you? Unless you are really collecting ooohs and aaahs from your friends over your collection of knives and how you talked the makers down in price, 'cuz you just won't pay full price for anything. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, but not a valid reason to trash an entire countries good work.
 
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Steven65 said:
Translation: I used to buy South African knives because they were cheaper than US makers.
I like buying bargains, its my primary motivation when choosing stuff. I honestly don't care where it's made as long as it's a bargain.
Now SA makers prices have caught up and in some cases superseded US makers prices and that's just not fair! Why can't those pesky SA makers continue their low prices so people like me can get bargains. Damn even the Chinese are beginning to charge more for their top end stuff!.........Absolutely ridiculous!
So I'll start a thread on Bladeforums asking stupid questions about SA makers when really what I want to do is complain that I am not getting my bargains anymore. No I am not a troll.
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I don’t think it is a hit against SA makers as much as a few bad ones have soured some people; which in itself is unfair because really they should be treated on an individual basis.

If I lived in Germany and every American made knife I bought had issues I might form the wrong opinion thst American made knives all have issues.

Unfortunately a few of these no scruples SA makers are quite popular so that is many people’s experience.
 
Alot of the SA makers come to America at the knife shows to buy the high end materials we have here. This is one reason why prices gone up.
 
My view : A few are really really good eg Thorburn, Des Horn and a few others that deserve the prices they ask for their knifes. The rest, in my view are just taking chances to monopalize on the US market.

This has been discussed 100 times before, all of them seem to be following the design elements of one maker, Andre Thorburn. This haven't changed then, an obviously haven't changed now (small T5 screws still been used) All the knifes look the same. Not creativity, except with the change of materials used and higher prices asked for their knifes.
Some are designed horandis.For eg one maker Ive seen designed a knife calls it exclusive but uses the choice of materials he uses eg Nabula damescus as a key selling point for his knifes, but in essence his knifes actually has a blade shape similer to that of a butter knife ie Anton knifes and is painted.Price point of this 1000 dollers an up.
For me this is a no go. I'm not belittliling anyone or any makers ,this is just facts and a discussion. So basically in my view if you own one good one you've covered your basis with regards to the whole SA knife thing.
 
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Tarry said:
My view : A few are really really good eg Thorburn, Des Horn and a few others that deserve the prices they ask for their knifes. The rest, in my view are just taking chances to monopalize on the US market.

This has been discussed 100 times before, all of them seem to be following the design elements of one maker, Andre Thorburn. This haven't changed then, an obviously haven't changed now (small T5 screws still been used) All the knifes look the same. Not creativity, except with the change of materials used and higher prices asked for their knifes.
Some are designed horandis.For eg one maker Ive seen designed a knife calls it exclusive but uses the choice of materials he uses eg Nabula damescus as a key selling point for his knifes, but in essence his knifes actually has a blade shape similer to that of a butter knife ie Anton knifes and is painted.Price point of this 1000 dollers an up.
For me this is a no go. I'm not belittliling anyone or any makers ,this is just facts and a discussion. So basically in my view if you own one good one you've covered your basis with regards to the whole SA knife thing.
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It's true, South African makers tend to have a particular 'style' or aesthetic to their knives which can make a lot of them look similar. But I'd argue that it's the same just about every where, including the US, China, and Europe. It just may not be as noticeable, especially if you started out seeing them as the norm and were later introduced to SA knives. But that's quite surface level. Once you look deeper and find makers like Corrie Schoeman, you may realize there's plenty of makers doing unique work, just like in the US.

You also seem to believe that there's a number of people who are using the success of big name SA makers and their styles to introduce their knives at similar prices for a lower quality (I'm assuming you meant capitalize and not monopolize) . Again, that happens all over the world, especially when there's new trend that arises. For instance, take a look at the wave of overbuilt knives from a couple of years ago. So many custom knife makers popped up selling their bad/mediocre knives for obscene prices. And they could do so because a good number of people just wanted a beefy knife. Without dropping names, I believe it's not too controversial to say a lot of them looked similar, or at least were clearly inspired by others to some degree.
 
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Tarry said:
My view : A few are really really good eg Thorburn, Des Horn and a few others that deserve the prices they ask for their knifes. The rest, in my view are just taking chances to monopalize on the US market.

This has been discussed 100 times before, all of them seem to be following the design elements of one maker, Andre Thorburn. This haven't changed then, an obviously haven't changed now (small T5 screws still been used) All the knifes look the same. Not creativity, except with the change of materials used and higher prices asked for their knifes.
Some are designed horandis.For eg one maker Ive seen designed a knife calls it exclusive but uses the choice of materials he uses eg Nabula damescus as a key selling point for his knifes, but in essence his knifes actually has a blade shape similer to that of a butter knife ie Anton knifes and is painted.Price point of this 1000 dollers an up.
For me this is a no go. I'm not belittliling anyone or any makers ,this is just facts and a discussion. So basically in my view if you own one good one you've covered your basis with regards to the whole SA knife thing.
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Tarry said:
Exzectly all Thorburns Students wanting to kill us here.He himself confirms it.
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He's had apprentices and helped out other fledgling makers. Which is to be expected given how close all the SA makers are (they're all in the same guild and they interact a lot more than makers in the US). He says that helping others creates competition, that doesn't in any way imply that they're over pricing themselves or trying to take advantage of US customers.
 
I'm a South African knife maker starting out under a mentorship from a well known knife maker here. Yes, I have seen some seriously expensive knives, but most are quality materials that I am yet to afford. Something to consider is that most of the exotic materials that we source are pricey and most likely depend on the exchange rate. The steel, the titanium and the handle material. Our electricity is a big problem in this country too. We have to rely on generators during load shedding which drives our costs up. I will not say that my quality is better than a knife maker from the states at all. I will however state that in Rands, it costs us a lot more to make a knife. Especially art knives. We also have a saying here. You don't want to be the R2000 a knife guy. You will sell plenty of high quality knives, but you won't make it worth your while.
 
VDL Knives said:
I'm a South African knife maker starting out under a mentorship from a well known knife maker here. Yes, I have seen some seriously expensive knives, but most are quality materials that I am yet to afford. Something to consider is that most of the exotic materials that we source are pricey and most likely depend on the exchange rate. The steel, the titanium and the handle material. Our electricity is a big problem in this country too. We have to rely on generators during load shedding which drives our costs up. I will not say that my quality is better than a knife maker from the states at all. I will however state that in Rands, it costs us a lot more to make a knife. Especially art knives. We also have a saying here. You don't want to be the R2000 a knife guy. You will sell plenty of high quality knives, but you won't make it worth your while.
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This thread has been dormant for almost 4 years. Why bring it all up again?:rolleyes:
 
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But, now that it is up, I'm suprised no one's mentioned Chris Reeve: Ticks both boxes, SA and US. Quality knives.
 
I have two Tinus Stone slipjoints. Like them a lot - I consider them a bargain at the price I got them. If they were from a US maker of similar notability, they would have cost at least 1.5x as much, probably more after the latest run of price gouging *cough* margin expansion excuse me, inflation. If there has been a general cost increase in SA knives beyond global inflation caused by Various Unpleasant Things and follow-on greed, I've missed it, but then I can't say I pay close attention, either.

I do have a slight bias to buy American all else equal, just to keep money slightly more local. But it is slight, and with custom makers things are rarely equal. There are awesome makers and smiths everywhere, and I'm not political enough to let lines on a map stop me from enjoying the work of as many of them as I can.

Currently awaiting a knife I'm very excited for from hellize hellize in Romania, whom you should consider for any fixed-blade needs you may have.
 
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