Gil. hehe. That guy isn't even speaking to me any more. He admits he completely screwed up the bird-trout design, but offers no remedy.
I ordered the bird-trout with the entire handle covered in abalone, and just short little metal bolsters at the ends. I paid for enough "Paua select" abalone to do the job.
By the time he'd gathered all the materials and begun the knife, he'd forgotten the details.
He cut the blade the wrong shape.
He messed up the ring area, it's supposed to look different.
Worst of all, he doubled or tripled the size of the metal bolsters and only used about half the abalone I paid for. And he didn't return the excess like he said he would.
Overall:
I love the fillet, mostly
and I can live with the BT,
because it's a beautiful thing
despite that other stuff.
As far as my recommendation regarding Mr. Guillaume Côte, knifemaker, of Lake Elliot Northern Ontario, Canada:
Well, if you see a knife you like on his website, go for it. But if you want someone to make a knife for you, keep looking, because in my experience, that guy's unreliable.
If you simply must have him make you a knife, don't stray far from his usual models. That's why the fillet makes me happy. I just had him make the same knife he normally makes, but with damasteel. Before this, he'd only used this kind of blade steel on his hunting knives. I got him to find some thin stock and make it flexible. The only thing he got wrong on the fillet is, he was supposed to use his other logo, just "G. Cote". Instead, he used his "Handcrafted" logo.
Which is frikken retarded because no one who pays for a handmade knife needs a logo to explain it. But, though he screwed up even that little thing, I still love the fillet. So you're probably fine if you order a fillet. Or one of his bullnose skinners. Seriously he does make a bunch of awesome knives. But he shouldn't accept orders for any job that's much different from the same stuff he does all the time. He's just not up to it.
