question about resale knife blanks

D

dmackey

Active Member
My question is if I purchase a knife blank and finish out making a knife out of it. Am I allowed to sell it as a knife I made with only mention of where the blade was purchased from. Or what are the legal ramifications on it?
Thanks David
 
Its not so much a "legal" thing...... but moreso its about your honor. There are a number of folks out there who I've seen buy finished blades and parts, then assemble then, etch their name on the blade(s), and then sell them as if they are a knifemaker, without any disclosure at all. Thats essentially a a slap in the face to those who are actually knifemakers.

That being said, individuals are going to do what they are going to do. My personal opinion is that if the blade was purchased, and not MADE by you, then full disclosure is in order. Taking it one step further, I personally think its just plain dishonest when someone puts their name on a knife with a pre-made/purchased blade......doing so gives people the impression that the individual created the entire knife.
 
I agree 100% Ed. I had a real life example of this where I work. Some guy bought a bunch of premade kit knives and put wood scales on them. He put his logo on them and told everyone he was making knives. He sold a bunch of them for around $50. So, now, when someone asks me about my knife prices, they always look surprised. "Well, John Doe was making knives and his were only $50....."

If you're using premade blanks, do not say you "made" the knife. Don't tell people you are a "knife maker". Be honest and tell your customers that you didn't make the blade, but you finished it out with your own spin.
 
Where do the stock removal folks fit in?? They didn't make the steel and chances are they didn't do the heat treat or tempering.
 
I agree with Anthony and Ed. I started off buying blanks and putting handles on. Told people I was a Knife Assembler not a Maker and always explained exactly where the blade was coming from. Now I do all stock removal including heat treat and tempering. I would say that makes me a Knife Maker now.

-Aaron
 
Bailey Boat said:
Where do the stock removal folks fit in?? They didn't make the steel and chances are they didn't do the heat treat or tempering.
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I'm not sure how you would categorize them/us. I definitely don't forge the stainless steel I work with, however I do everything from start to finished on my knives. I start with a piece of stainless steel bar and scribe my knife design on it. Cut it out with a band saw(stared early on using a hacksaw) drill, shape, hand file, heat treat everything, hand sand, do the same for the wood, put the primary edge on it. Etch my mark etc.

Forgot to mention on my folders I design cut out and sand flat my bolster and liner material, solder it together, epoxy and peen the wood I cut to fit between the bolsters, and later on I further shape and peen everything together etc.

I am in the process of joining the ABS group because I want to learn to forge blades. However currently I would still consider myself a knife maker(although a very beginning and still learning one) and not a person that purchased an almost completed kit to pass of as my own.

I'll stop rambling now, lol.

John

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
 
It doesn't matter how much or how little work you do as long as you are open and honest about what you DID do and don't mislead people about what you DIDN'T do. There are people who do fairly well at just re-handling factory knives. Then there are people who smelt their own steel and the whole 9 yards to make sole authorship knives. There are also many in between those two extremes in varying degrees.
Be totally honest and give as much information to your customers as possible and you'll never have a problem. If you do or neglect to do, anything to mislead customers, sooner or later it will come back to bite you in the Boo-Boo.
 
JPSWorks said:
I'm not sure how you would categorize them/us. I definitely don't forge the stainless steel I work with, however I do everything from start to finished on my knives. I start with a piece of stainless steel bar and scribe my knife design on it. Cut it out with a band saw(stared early on using a hacksaw) drill, shape, hand file, heat treat everything, hand sand, do the same for the wood, put the primary edge on it. Etch my mark etc.

Forgot to mention on my folders I design cut out and sand flat my bolster and liner material, solder it together, epoxy and peen the wood I cut to fit between the bolsters, and later on I further shape and peen everything together etc.

I am in the process of joining the ABS group because I want to learn to forge blades. However currently I would still consider myself a knife maker(although a very beginning and still learning one) and not a person that purchased an almost completed kit to pass of as my own.

I'll stop rambling now, lol.

John

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
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You and that slacker, Bob Loveless. Calling himself a knife maker, LOL. Unless you mined the ore, dug the coal to fire the forge, made the hammer you beat it with.... Rank amateurs! Personally, I plant the trees in my bog that will eventually rot and become peat so that I can press them under rocks for thousands of years to become coal. Store bought coal, you say! Psssshhh...

Now to raise this calf. I need a sheath next year.
 
I wasn't saying there is anything wrong with using kit blades. I think it's probably a great gateway drug into the hobby. I guess the way I'm thinking of it would be like if I go to Home Depot and buy an unfinished cabinet. Take it home, varnish it and put knobs on it. That doesn't make me a cabinet maker. If I went to Home Depot and bought the lumber, plywood, and hardware and then came up with an original design, cut out all the parts, etc. I would be a cabinet maker.

The problem I see is the average Joe or customer who doesn't know much about knives. He doesn't know that Pakistani steel probably isn't so good and probably doesn't know much about custom knives. It leaves the wrong impression about our hobby if you're not honest about the process. I wasn't trying to offend anyone or sound pompous. I take raw steel and do every process from start to finish, nothing is sent out, and end up with a knife. They may not be awesome yet, but I am a knife maker.
 
I sort of suspected that the age old thing of "how much do I have to do to be called a knifemaker"? would come up :) Its not a matter of how much you do, its just a matter of being honest and upfront about it.

I certainly don't smelt my own steel, nor do I have the desire to (at least not at the current point in time) :) For me the irritation comes when a situation such as what Anthony spoke about occurs..... when the dishonesty of another casts a shadow over someone who conducts themselves in an honorable fashion.

I've been at this long enough that I've seen pretty much the entire gambit..... from situations such as the one Anthony spoke of, to even seeing individuals get kicked out of a knife show because they were selling "kit knives", but representing them as their own handmade pieces. Theres always gona be those who want to straddle the line, but along with that, there should always those who conduct themselves in an honorable manner, and seek to be ambassadors to the craft.
 
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I agree. If I end up using a pre-made blade I'm planning on stating where it came from and that the knife was built by my self
 
First post here since joining this forum. I've been making or working on knives since 1989 and this was the top question back then! I think it will still be a top question in 2089 if time is still ongoing.
 
First of all I want to thank each and everyone of you for your input. Just starting out at this hobby I want to make sure that I do it correctly. If I don't grind the blade my self then I plan on marking it as assembled by. If I actually do the grinding and so forth then it will be made by.
I feel a little odd getting into this at my age of 53. I've always been interested in how knives were made and the looks of them. I am looking forward to my first knife. I'm currently building my grinder.
Thanks again to all for the great answers.

David
 
I think your plan is the correct one. The one that is honest. There's no shame in marketing a blade that you bought made and finished it into a knife. It's actually more traditional than making a knife from a bar of steel to a finished product. People who do that even have a job title, their called cutlers.

It's not a bit unusual for someone to be in their 50's before getting into this game. Some don't try it until they retire. Few can rely on it as their sole source of income and need that retirement check.

Doug
 
dmackey said:
First of all I want to thank each and everyone of you for your input. Just starting out at this hobby I want to make sure that I do it correctly. If I don't grind the blade my self then I plan on marking it as assembled by. If I actually do the grinding and so forth then it will be made by.
I feel a little odd getting into this at my age of 53. I've always been interested in how knives were made and the looks of them. I am looking forward to my first knife. I'm currently building my grinder.
Thanks again to all for the great answers.

David
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i started working with knives at age 58. I have bought and sold numerous knives made with store-bought blades, BossDog sells them on his site. I always stated, the blade was made by ?????.inc. i still buy store-bought blades when a friend or client wants something I can't make from scratch. Finishing a blade someone else made dates back to medieval times. a "Cutler" was someone who bought blades then mounted handles and created a finished product. here is an interesting article about back then https://myarmoury.com/feature_groundpound.html. this forum is a good place to get help and have questions answered.
 
I'll throw in a different perspective from what I see.

There are FAR more people buying blade blanks and finishing them than there are guys making them from scratch (stock removal or forging).

I think you can call yourself a knife maker but it might be more accurate to say you are a cutler. A cutler finishes knife blanks or is responsible for part of the knife making process.

I see and talk to people all the time that started out finishing blade blanks and stepping into "Knife making" (stock removal or forging) after getting a few blade blanks under their belt. It's a natural progression and makes getting into what can be a technically overwhelming hobby much easier and more satisfying for the new maker.

If you finish a blade blank into a knife, tell your customer you buy the blanks and finish them. They will be fine with that as most people can not even conceive that someone can actually make a knife from scratch. It's unethical and dishonest to say you made the blade when you didn't. It's fine to say "I made this knife" as long as you follow it up with "I started with a blade blank and then I...."
 
Thanks Ed
I feel that I can always get the straight and honest answer from you guys here at Knifedogs
 
A question that also comes up from time to time, is the knife handmade or machine made? What constitutes hand made: the use of only hand tools, ie. files, sandpaper, hand saws ect. or can machines like surface grinders, complex power grinders, power hammers, even CNC machines be used and still call the knife handmade? The term "Handmade" may need clearer definition.
 
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