I think the reason people are jumping on the band wagon so to speak, it. Is because within many of the knife forums out there, many of them have LARRY CHEW threads in them as other members have mentioned , heck they is an old one on this forum. and no they arent all started buy me.
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larry chew
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I think the reason people are jumping on the band wagon so to speak, it. Is because within many of the knife forums out there, many of them have LARRY CHEW threads in them as other members have mentioned , heck they is an old one on this forum. and no they arent all started buy me.
toby: US$650 is a lot of money to many in 2010 let alone 1999, and I am one of them, so lets keep that in mind and just because people have not responded does not mean that there are more folks in this forum who are not in your position.
I have got to learn that many forum members like to appear neutral and rather NOT to take a side in public, but be assured that your comments have been noted.
Of course Larry Chew has the option to reply to your post and the fact that he has not done so is significant.
However, two wrongs don't make a right, and 'taking what's yours' off a table is theft, and you don't want a criminal record, whereas I am 100% sure that he has lost more than 10 times US$650 just from your post, which will hurt him in the pocket which is painful in many ways. Furthermore, reputation is like virginity, once its lost, there is no getting it back.
Keep it up and he might submit or go under. Good luck.
I have got to learn that many forum members like to appear neutral and rather NOT to take a side in public, but be assured that your comments have been noted.
Of course Larry Chew has the option to reply to your post and the fact that he has not done so is significant.
However, two wrongs don't make a right, and 'taking what's yours' off a table is theft, and you don't want a criminal record, whereas I am 100% sure that he has lost more than 10 times US$650 just from your post, which will hurt him in the pocket which is painful in many ways. Furthermore, reputation is like virginity, once its lost, there is no getting it back.
Keep it up and he might submit or go under. Good luck.
Thank you for your words of encouragement Falcor, You are 100% correct two wrongs dont make a right, and I dought very much that I'd lift a knife off his table,although I would like too, it's not worth getting arrested for. but at the same time it's probably the only way i'll ever see a knife from him at this point. If only i had something in writting from him i'd just take him to court . That is what i'd really like to do.
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I know, also, there are two sides to every story, and don't doubt there is bad blood with some past customers. Sometimes things escalate, both people get highly irritated, and a resolution is hard to come by after things escalate. I don't know what to suggest in such cases, if the bad blood is painted all over.
My experience with Larry Chew happened to be an excellent collaborative, and I'll relate it here.
I ordered two of Larry's folders through Les Robertson. I've bought knives through Les for many years... he's a solid, trustworthy dealer who's been in business for a long time... for good reason.
Once we had the basic order stuff in place, and because I'd worked with Les in the past, I transitioned to working the details with Larry directly.
I chose to supply the ironwood and the damascus for the bolsters (for the folders pictured below), not because of business ethics, just because I prefer to work it this way, especially with wood so that I know what I'm getting. (For a maker, this takes much of the working capital out of the equation for a custom knife, and my "deposit" is a fraction of the knife's end price.)
Larry is a great guy to talk with, and a great guy to work with, very interesting in working the boundaries of the envelope for one of his regular designs. He will also make "one off" knife designs if you are prepared to pay up for the extra time and work that entails vs. a standard model (which is understandable, and per our discussions, seemed reasonable if you just have to have a customized handle shape.
Frame locks are all the rage these days, and they have their place, but for a dressed up knife like these, it makes for a very lopsided, asymmetrical design. Larry was quick to offer making them as liner locks, the Cujo with a beefy (0.100" if I remember) liner, which really was the right answer for ironwood and damascus... "cool" stuff on both sides. Slam dunk for me.
While he was making these folders, he had some difficulties with the lease property where his shop was located, difficulties that were not in his control, difficulties related to some "undesireable" activities going on in an adjacent portion of the lease hold by other tennants (and no, it wasn't because he wasn't paying the rent), and as a result of the hassles, Larry has now built a shop on his own property to make knives. During the weird and I'm certain very frustrating events with the lease, Larry stayed in contact with me routinely, as he did during the design phase, with in-progress photos when my materials were received, and with photos at several points along the way as he laid out the scales on the wood, at the half-way point on construction, etc. In the long run, he's better off with a shop in his back yard... it was just an unexpected work load to get the new shop built. Larry indicated that these two folders were the last to be finished in his old shop.
I took delivery of these about a month ago, and couldn't be happier. There is something about selecting the materials for "your" knife that makes them very unlikely to be sold or traded... they have a "keeper" quality that makes me want to do customized knives much more often. (I've gotten pretty tired of all the black G10 and basic carbon fiber, and am REALLY sick of quick/dirty bead blast finishes)
Fit and finish on the knives Larry delivered are excellent, the flipping action is WAY smooth, among the very top in industry given his innovative use of roller bearings, the housing of which is machined into the bolsters, and overall these are really excellent knives with a couple custom details that really make them shine.
The Cujo XL is in Ironwood, 4.25" S90V, and Chad Nichols "Kalipso" damascus bolsters (sourced from TX Knifemaker's Supply)
The Flipster is in Ironwood, 3.5" S30V, Thomas ladder damascus bolsters.
Both have Larry's cool laser cut clips with his family name in Chinese, and the clip standoff is Ironwood, as are the back spacers.
If Larry didn't use bearings in the pivot, I'm not sure we could've gotten away with using ironwood for the backspacer, as it will shrink and swell a bit with humidity/temperature even though it's very stable compared with other woods, which would foul up a regular flipper that did not use bearings.
I'm very pleased, and intend to order a D/A flipper in similar materials in the new year.
Note the ironwood standoffs for the cool pocket clips, and the ironwood backspacers:
Note the cool laser cutout logo in the clips:
My experience with Larry Chew happened to be an excellent collaborative, and I'll relate it here.
I ordered two of Larry's folders through Les Robertson. I've bought knives through Les for many years... he's a solid, trustworthy dealer who's been in business for a long time... for good reason.
Once we had the basic order stuff in place, and because I'd worked with Les in the past, I transitioned to working the details with Larry directly.
I chose to supply the ironwood and the damascus for the bolsters (for the folders pictured below), not because of business ethics, just because I prefer to work it this way, especially with wood so that I know what I'm getting. (For a maker, this takes much of the working capital out of the equation for a custom knife, and my "deposit" is a fraction of the knife's end price.)
Larry is a great guy to talk with, and a great guy to work with, very interesting in working the boundaries of the envelope for one of his regular designs. He will also make "one off" knife designs if you are prepared to pay up for the extra time and work that entails vs. a standard model (which is understandable, and per our discussions, seemed reasonable if you just have to have a customized handle shape.
Frame locks are all the rage these days, and they have their place, but for a dressed up knife like these, it makes for a very lopsided, asymmetrical design. Larry was quick to offer making them as liner locks, the Cujo with a beefy (0.100" if I remember) liner, which really was the right answer for ironwood and damascus... "cool" stuff on both sides. Slam dunk for me.
While he was making these folders, he had some difficulties with the lease property where his shop was located, difficulties that were not in his control, difficulties related to some "undesireable" activities going on in an adjacent portion of the lease hold by other tennants (and no, it wasn't because he wasn't paying the rent), and as a result of the hassles, Larry has now built a shop on his own property to make knives. During the weird and I'm certain very frustrating events with the lease, Larry stayed in contact with me routinely, as he did during the design phase, with in-progress photos when my materials were received, and with photos at several points along the way as he laid out the scales on the wood, at the half-way point on construction, etc. In the long run, he's better off with a shop in his back yard... it was just an unexpected work load to get the new shop built. Larry indicated that these two folders were the last to be finished in his old shop.
I took delivery of these about a month ago, and couldn't be happier. There is something about selecting the materials for "your" knife that makes them very unlikely to be sold or traded... they have a "keeper" quality that makes me want to do customized knives much more often. (I've gotten pretty tired of all the black G10 and basic carbon fiber, and am REALLY sick of quick/dirty bead blast finishes)
Fit and finish on the knives Larry delivered are excellent, the flipping action is WAY smooth, among the very top in industry given his innovative use of roller bearings, the housing of which is machined into the bolsters, and overall these are really excellent knives with a couple custom details that really make them shine.
The Cujo XL is in Ironwood, 4.25" S90V, and Chad Nichols "Kalipso" damascus bolsters (sourced from TX Knifemaker's Supply)
The Flipster is in Ironwood, 3.5" S30V, Thomas ladder damascus bolsters.
Both have Larry's cool laser cut clips with his family name in Chinese, and the clip standoff is Ironwood, as are the back spacers.
If Larry didn't use bearings in the pivot, I'm not sure we could've gotten away with using ironwood for the backspacer, as it will shrink and swell a bit with humidity/temperature even though it's very stable compared with other woods, which would foul up a regular flipper that did not use bearings.
I'm very pleased, and intend to order a D/A flipper in similar materials in the new year.
Note the ironwood standoffs for the cool pocket clips, and the ironwood backspacers:
Note the cool laser cutout logo in the clips:
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Wow, nice looking knives, Sure wish I had one!
As I said in an earlier post Larry decided to punish those who started to question why is it taken so long to get what is owed us, when we brought it up in a public forum, he took us off his catch up list or move us to the end of the line forever. Beware Just don't ever say or do anything to upset KING CHEW cause if you do THAT'S IT He's not going to be so helpful or nice anymore.
But those are some nice looking knives, Simular to what Mr Chew was supposed to make me
And Les has always been ROCK SOLID, a great guy to deal with.
As I said in an earlier post Larry decided to punish those who started to question why is it taken so long to get what is owed us, when we brought it up in a public forum, he took us off his catch up list or move us to the end of the line forever. Beware Just don't ever say or do anything to upset KING CHEW cause if you do THAT'S IT He's not going to be so helpful or nice anymore.
But those are some nice looking knives, Simular to what Mr Chew was supposed to make me
And Les has always been ROCK SOLID, a great guy to deal with.
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- Jul 30, 2008
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Yeah, I'm sincerely sorry you and Larry, and others, have such bad blood. That's hard to cure. And not good for anyone, anywhere.
Larry is a very talented and interesting guy to talk and work with. I enjoyed the process thoroughly, and the outcome was super. I hope things are on steadily upward trajectory for Larry. See his web site for pics of the terrible damage he incurred to his hand in the motorcycle wreck. http://www.voodooinside.com/aboutme.html
By the way, Larry's price above and beyond the "base price" for these knives in tactical dress (G10 or CF scales, SS bolsters), to cover:
* the extra work involved with care/handling/satin finishing of the ironwood
* the heat treat/etch/polish of the damascus was, to me, very reasonable...
Flipster $610 (mine) vs. approx $535 base price (S30V)
Cujo XL $650 (mine) vs. approx $575 base price (from Les' site, in difficult to work 110V, which is worse than S90V to work/finish)
Note: the above prices do NOT include the ironwood or damascus cost
At Texas Knifemaker's Supply (here in Houston where I live), I can go cherry pick the ironwood weekly. Their "A" grade scales are 2"x5"x1/4" and go for $40 to $65. Expensive, but not compared to trying to gauge color/quality via web picture and then trying to return what you don't like via mailorder from other providers (which I've done w/ "Arizona Ironwood", taking a haircut on the returns). Of course TX KM Supply has $10 to $30 ironwood, but it's not a bargain to my eye... very ordinary stuff, and often dark to start with, little color, contrast, grain or chatoyance. Very ordinary. I now have some ironwood that is quite a bit better than what I had on hand when I commissioned the Chew folders.
I bought the damascus directly from either Devin Thomas.
See Les' site for examples of Larry's tactical dress (CF) folders:
http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com/chewtac.htm
Larry is a very talented and interesting guy to talk and work with. I enjoyed the process thoroughly, and the outcome was super. I hope things are on steadily upward trajectory for Larry. See his web site for pics of the terrible damage he incurred to his hand in the motorcycle wreck. http://www.voodooinside.com/aboutme.html
By the way, Larry's price above and beyond the "base price" for these knives in tactical dress (G10 or CF scales, SS bolsters), to cover:
* the extra work involved with care/handling/satin finishing of the ironwood
* the heat treat/etch/polish of the damascus was, to me, very reasonable...
Flipster $610 (mine) vs. approx $535 base price (S30V)
Cujo XL $650 (mine) vs. approx $575 base price (from Les' site, in difficult to work 110V, which is worse than S90V to work/finish)
Note: the above prices do NOT include the ironwood or damascus cost
At Texas Knifemaker's Supply (here in Houston where I live), I can go cherry pick the ironwood weekly. Their "A" grade scales are 2"x5"x1/4" and go for $40 to $65. Expensive, but not compared to trying to gauge color/quality via web picture and then trying to return what you don't like via mailorder from other providers (which I've done w/ "Arizona Ironwood", taking a haircut on the returns). Of course TX KM Supply has $10 to $30 ironwood, but it's not a bargain to my eye... very ordinary stuff, and often dark to start with, little color, contrast, grain or chatoyance. Very ordinary. I now have some ironwood that is quite a bit better than what I had on hand when I commissioned the Chew folders.
I bought the damascus directly from either Devin Thomas.
See Les' site for examples of Larry's tactical dress (CF) folders:
http://www.robertsoncustomcutlery.com/chewtac.htm
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Hey Toby, I really hope you get settled. This is why so many people steer away from custom knife makers; too many are egoists and believe that they are doing you a favor by building a knife for you. I have three trusted custom knife makers, they never deliver on time and have a bottomless hole of excuses why, but they do deliver and always to the standard expected.
I also use PayPal which gives me a good level of protection, provided you raise the issue within a certain period, but I think you maybe out of time if you did use it, but it is worth a try. If you have a good case, PP can freeze his money until he settles.
To release yourself from a PP freeze is a REAL pain, but you have to have done something wrong for that to occur.
Again good luck and stay safe
BTW, looking at the pics of the knives above that I cannot afford, they are beauties and if I had the money, I would have probably considered buying one too.
useing PP or a CC would have been a great IDEA, However this was done in person,at his home/shop. I had given Larry back a Prototype covert that i felt was to large for me as a EDC, and asked him to downsize it for me, so at this point only knives have changed hands no money, but my Prototype i paid dearly for since it was one of the first he made. It was the basis for his entire COVERT line of knifes.
Happy Thanksgiving to all, Including You too mr Chew .
Happy Thanksgiving to all, Including You too mr Chew .
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- Oct 14, 1998
- Messages
- 2,129
How many people do you know who were "steered away" from custom knifemakers?
How many knifemakers do you personally know?
I think the statements in your quote are bullshit.
I work with knifemakers every day. I personally know thousands of knifemakers. I know very few whom I would describe as egoists (less than 10). Your statement paints all custom knifemakers with the same brush. A brush that is not accurate.
Your not doing well for a noob.
I apologize for the derail.
All in All i think knife makers and dealers are a fine group of people, as i said in another post in over twenty yr's of buying/ selling /collecting knives This is the ONLY problem i have EVER had. And i've even had a custom knife made by a guy that didnt speak a lick of english ( dutch er something) today i feel i can call a good number of them friends, Just NOT MR LARRY CHEW.
Matt,
I've been collecting knives for a LONG time, Long before we had the internet,
send me a list of makers that you'd like to consider and between myself and a few dealer friends we can figure out if they are safe to deal with 99.999% of the time you wont have an issue, I would have to say that if a maker asks for a deposit shy away, UNLESS YOU ARE ASKING HIM/HER TO BUILD SOMETHING WAY OUT THERE, KIND OF LIKE ASKING DELLANA or Jergen Steinau to made $500.00 a G-10 serrated blade, lock back, EDC folder, that's not what they are known for. i hope that makes a bit of sense to you, The other option is to go through a dealer Like our own Les Robertson, I can recommend many to you , just email me and i'll be happy to reply
Thank you for reinforcing my statement that you kindly quoted.
I would suggest that you are not doing too well as a businessman - I see every dissatisfied customer as a potential new customer. Clearly I have had negative and positive experiences with custom knife makers; one only has to search in BF to see that some customers have been waiting 2 years for knives which they paid deposits for.
Yes you supply the knife makers but the knife makers make a living by selling to customers, people like me.
Instead you ensured that I will remember your name and your business name.
You should learn from the civil way Toby acted - I have.
Have a great day!
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- 2,129
Falcor,
You wrote a statement that was too broad. I made my argument and provided numbers. In your response you wrote more vague generalities. Back up your statements or apologize to the people you've besmirched.
I will always defend my friends and customers against baseless accusations. I don't hide behind a screen name. I will say the same thing to your face that I write here. If you are at a show come and introduce yourself. I will be happy to debate this subject.
BTW, I've have knives that have been on order for more than ten years. Two years is nothing.
You wrote a statement that was too broad. I made my argument and provided numbers. In your response you wrote more vague generalities. Back up your statements or apologize to the people you've besmirched.
I will always defend my friends and customers against baseless accusations. I don't hide behind a screen name. I will say the same thing to your face that I write here. If you are at a show come and introduce yourself. I will be happy to debate this subject.
BTW, I've have knives that have been on order for more than ten years. Two years is nothing.
Custom knife industry would be in trouble if this story wasn't the exception especially considering there is so much trust involved in this industry like trust that you will even like the knife you are paying for but have never seen. I cant think of another industry similar to it. People don't pay in advance for paintings. People don't pay in advance for sculptures. Shame on the man that destroys that trust. I have no doubt that Larry Chew owes this man $650 plus 10 years interest. It is every businesses responsibility to keep the books straight including files on every dollar in advance taken and that money held in file/trust until the day that order has been completed. To spend that money before you have earned it and then never completing the order is plain old theft. Boo this man.
30 some-odd days ago Larry chew contacted me asking for me to stop the attack, he told me if i'd stop he would build me my knife. Well yesterday i received a chew covert in the mail.
So as it stands Larry chew has lived up to his end of the deal
So as it stands Larry chew has lived up to his end of the deal