D. Martell UPDATE - Please read if waiting for work from me!

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Dave Martell

Dave Martell

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Hi folks,
As most of you know I've been working myself out of a VERY deep hole for a VERY long time. Many of you know this because you too have been in this hole with me, you've been waiting on either Martell knives or rehandles for a VERY long time yourselves. In fact there are some of you who have been waiting for nearly 3 yrs for a Martell knife/knives! I'm blown away by the patience (most of) you've shown me, allowing me to play catch up by selling knives and doing rehandle work all while you've been waiting on the side lines, this is simply incredible to me. I want you to understand this - I've NEVER forgot about you or pushed you aside easily, I made crappy decisions when I had to and they've always worn hard on me and this is all going to come to an end for you shortly as I will be catching up here in the foreseeable future.

Currently, I still have a lot of rehandles in the shop to do, most are multiples for individuals. I believe that I've got all of the singles finished. Most of you folks who have multiples have recently received an email or PM from me so you know that your time is coming soon. For the rest of you who have not heard from me recently please hang on a bit longer while I push forward.

For Martell knife customers, I'm going to finish up a few knives that I have in the works at the moment and then I'm going back to the beginning of my list and making all of the knives owed (those paid for, be it partial or full payment) BEFORE I make any others. These knives will be made as close to possible in the order to which the original dates of payment were made.

While all this is going on I will continue to accept sharpening/repair work but I will not take on any new rehandle work, major projects, or make Martell knives for sale. It is of paramount importance to me to clear my books and make good to all who are owed before doing anything else.

I'm VERY sorry to everyone who has put up with my mess for so long. I hope that I can gain some trust back from you through fulfilling those orders that are way overdue.

I promise to be talking to you all soon. Please stick with me for just a bit longer.

Dave
 
To those waiting, it will be worth it!! The 240 gyuto I picked up a few months ago is outstanding,one of my top 3 knives, and the three are so close it could be considered a draw.
 
Just when I was about to drop you a PM about my unused rehandle ticket (WA one - from 2 or 3 years back). But I understand and I appreciate your openness. Hope you will get things leveled soon and can continue with taking new orders.

Power to Dave! :)
 
Going back though my paperwork, it's even worse than I thought, some folks have waited way longer than 3 yrs.....this is simply inexcusable.

I've just sent out emails & PM's to a whole bunch of you early guys, let's get this fixed.

Dave
 
Update>

So far since posting this thread, I'm at 3 Martell knives done and another 1.5 (almost complete) from the front of the list (old orders).

I've also managed to do a crap load of western rehandles, repair & sharpening work, and a couple of Stefan handle installs too.

From here I've still got a lot to do though to get things correct. Many of you have already heard from me and know that I'm moving towards your turn but for those who still have knives here in the shop waiting please continue to know that I haven't forgot you and promise to get to your stuff ASAP.

I truly appreciate the patience that you've all given me.

Dave
 
Still plugging away folks. This past week and a half I've been working on petties, petties, and more petties plus some rehandle and refinishing work too. The Martell knife list of pre-paids and a significant number of rehandles that were waiting here have been done but so much more still to go.

The next round I plan on doing will be some Martell gyutos that were newer orders that I started on months ago that I need to get done plus "The Week of Tanner" (tons of rehandles....might be 2 Weeks of Tanner) is fast approaching too.

I'll keep you all updated as we go.

Dave
 
I'm in the middle of two Martell knives and 7 rehandles currently, 6 of those are for one customer, and that's nothing compared to the Fortnight of Tanner coming!
 
Update> 8 rehandles in the works at various stages of completion. 4 of these are Hiro AS full spa jobs. The list is shrinking! :)
 
This week is mostly Martell knives being made. These are a nice change of pace, metal bolsters on a few, which is fun to do. :)
 
Dave,

I was wondering about this as I did not think metal bolsters would be "fun". All that crap about "that which does not kill us makes us stronger" sucks when in the middle of it all but I am sure they will turn out beautifully and I look forward to the pictures.
 
I went through a huge learning curve with figuring out how to solder on bolsters but eventually gained success on the O1/nickel silver combo but doing all the same things (and many many others) I can't get decent results on CPM154. What I get is the solder not sticking to the stainless no matter what methods or materials are used. Doing some research I find that most knifemakers who have done this say it's a problem with stainless and lots won't mess with it anymore. I'm at the point where I can't produce an acceptable result in a reasonable time so I'm going to have to discontinue offering it on (at least) stainless for now.

I think in the future I'd prefer to move away from soldering and go for a tighter fit up using a mill to cut the slot and just gluing it up. The fit has to be absolutely perfect for this though, it shows everything.

Anyway, that's where I'm at currently.
 
BTW, I have a total of 5 days lost to building just this one knife (since it took two different attempts). Anyone else work for FREE for a whole week? How about paying nearly $200 (in materials) for the privilege? That's knifemaking for you! :D
 
Dave Martell said:
I went through a huge learning curve with figuring out how to solder on bolsters but eventually gained success on the O1/nickel silver combo but doing all the same things (and many many others) I can't get decent results on CPM154. What I get is the solder not sticking to the stainless no matter what methods or materials are used. Doing some research I find that most knifemakers who have done this say it's a problem with stainless and lots won't mess with it anymore. I'm at the point where I can't produce an acceptable result in a reasonable time so I'm going to have to discontinue offering it on (at least) stainless for now.

I think in the future I'd prefer to move away from soldering and go for a tighter fit up using a mill to cut the slot and just gluing it up. The fit has to be absolutely perfect for this though, it shows everything.

Anyway, that's where I'm at currently.
Click to expand...
Dave, in the sheet metal world, it largely comes down to the flux used. If you have not already done so, I would look at that.

Dave Martell said:
BTW, I have a total of 5 days lost to building just this one knife (since it took two different attempts). Anyone else work for FREE for a whole week? How about paying nearly $200 (in materials) for the privilege? That's knifemaking for you! :D
Click to expand...
Happens in any profession where one must give a fixed fee for a project/ task. We have had projects that overshot by hundreds of manhours. And of course we have been stiffed more then once on projects where we not only put in professional effort, but paid contractors to help us with field work. In the end though, hopefully your product pricing is such that you make enough on knives that take less effort then budgeted to make up for the ones that go over. Otherwise, if you got paid for the extra time expended on this one, it would only be fair if you gave partial refunds on ones you knocked out quicker then expected.
 
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