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Most of the stabilized blanks, still trying to sort through them. Since they are all still covered with resin, some are hard to recognize. Gotta sand some thos weekend. More pics to follow.

Stefan
 
Hi Stefan,

When can we expect to see some progress on these handles?

Thanks,
Aaron
 
I had to wait for a tool part, and I just finished my summer courses last week. For the next few weeks I will dive into this, just organizing some last bits and pieces in the shop. I will follow up with everyone during this week to make sure I have all the info I need. Should have more to show tomorrow.

Stefan
 
Hi again, today I have sent out emails to everyone who had sent me payment for this. In a couple of cases I have problems assigning payment names to the KKF names, so can Paul Ong, Mark Kagawa, and Pioneer please contact me again? - Sorry about that... I am pretty sure there are others I communicated with but do not yet see any payments. Please feel free to also contact me so that I can get my order list complete. Sorry for asking again but that seems easier at this point that skimming through hundreds of emails... My next step is to also contact everyone on the (very) old order list who still had open orders, there were a few left that I did not get to, and I am not sure who is still interested.

I know some of you had very specific ideas what you wanted, others were still contemplating designs. My plan is to start putting the handle materials together in the next few days and get started on all those where you are sure about the designs you want. Since my website and associated emails are still down, please email me directly to kellers at hawaii dot edu.

Thanks,

Stefan
 
jessf said:
yeah I can say I've worked with CF in other capacities and without a clear coat water can find its way between the weave and make a home inside. The fibers themselves do no absorb water, but the whole assembly will.

Perhaps it's not an issue if the CF is oiled or perhaps stabilized. or perhaps the creep is no more than wood of similar density. maybe the resin inherent to the layup is enough to keep it stable. I also don't want to speculate, which is why I asked the question.
Click to expand...

I don't know how I never noticed this: my bike is made of carbon fiber, as are lots of them. So are my bike wheels and other bikes have even more carbon. Many of them have raw carbon, or with a clearcoat, and they don't absorb water at all (ridden in the rain regularly) so CF can absolutely be more waterproof than other materials used in kitchen knife handles.

Edit: And while I'm here, what's the current wait-list like?
 
I got a response to an email late on Friday. I don't want to speak on his behalf, but with the first full academic term at the university things are pretty busy. He did mention things are starting to settle after putting in some long hours for the past while. He thought he should be present in the next couple of weeks or so.
 
Hi everyone, I apologize, I should just have left a note here. As Tanner mentioned, I had felt well prepared but then learned I had underestimated the actual workload with teaching 4 courses with a total of about 250 students, two of the courses completely new to me and very writing-intensive, i.e. I have to read all these things... I just tried to keep distractions to a minimum until I felt I am in control of things, and have not even looked in here in weeks. Finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. I have been working on a few things on the side, but not not a much as I had planned, because the past few weeks I did not make it out of my office until a while after dark. I will follow up with people individually this weekend.

Other than that, since it came up, my health is certainly better than a year ago. I had a few weeks in the summer where I was struggling a bit, after the whole crawling out of a big black hole, starting a new job, and moving 5000 miles in 3 weeks stress etc caught up with me. A year ago, it was often depression that kept me from getting things done in the shop - or even getting started - right now it was just falling asleep after work. I have been seriously considering a folding bed for my office... Again, I will follow up by email with everyone. There are actually a few people who still have not contacted me back about details of what they want me to make for them, but I hope to pick things up again now.

Thanks everyone,

Stefan
 
Glad to hear you are okay, your health is improving, and that things are working out. I've always heard from friends that are teachers that creating a syllabus for a new class and tweaking it as you go can be difficult and time consuming. Sleeping from exhaustion rather than depression sounds like a improvement:doublethumbsup: No hurries on my end.
 
Should probably note a couple of us are worried that your going to go xxxxxx on us... Which would suck. saying that I am really looking forward to this when it gets off the ground. So many cool handles.
 
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Well, I don't think he has gone full xxxxxx. But I think he's overwhelmed by his teaching, and just doesn't have time to work on handles.
The last I heard from him was about a week and a half ago. He told me he was hoping to get some work done on the weekend of Oct 22-23rd. He had a bit of a relief in his teaching duties because of a mid-term break. Unfortunately, I haven't heard from him since. Given that two weekends have passed, my assumption is that no significant progress has been made.
At this point, I'm guessing he's not going to make any significant progress until his semester break.
While I've got lots of knives, I'm tremendously disappointed that buyers paid in full up front, and we're now two months past the promised completion date. I believe there were around 20 spots on the original list, and I don't think anyone's handle has been completed yet.
I'd love to have a Stefan handle on my knife that he has, but I'm really unsure of when the work will be done.
 
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I have mixed feelings about this…

First of all, I know that with the mid term break comes marking of mid term exams, so I'm understanding as that probably takes up a lot of time. I also think the timeframes may have been overly optimistic given the need to develop coursework, syllabus, moving, setting up shop, etc. Being able to purchase handles at a discount was nice for me, and allowed me to pay before the CAD/USD went from bad to worse :shocked3:.

I will be honest though, I was hoping to have seen more progress or completion, but know that Stefan probably did as well, so I don't want to add to the stress of the situation. Although busy, Stefan has been keeping in contact with us from time to time, something which is highly appreciated by me. I'm hoping that we can have an update by the upcoming holiday.
 
I've been a customer of Stefan's for years. His word is solid.
His production can be erratic and he seems to be more of a 'batch' worker.
It may take a while, but I wouldn't worry about him absconding with the deposits.
 
Hi everyone,

sorry about the slowness. After my transition to Philly, everything seemed to be changing for the better, and I was optimistic that I could get going again with the woodworking. While things are still going well, overall, I once again underestimated the work load I would be facing. I have prepared and taught 7 different college courses, all new to me, in the past 10 months, and I can tell you that is a bit of work while trying to get settled, get furniture in your new place etc. That I have about 250 students this semester does not help much either.
I have my tools sitting in the basement, everything ready to go, but so far I have only had a chance to do little things here and there. Most days I just come home late and fall into bed. It looks like next semester I will only be teaching courses I have already prepped, so I expect to have a life again at that point. But, of course, I have all intentions to work on things before that.

That said, please let me assure you first that I will not run off with your money. Here are a few thoughts:

- If you would rather reverse your prepaid order because of the wait time, I can understand and will make that happen.

- My handle-related email has been reactivated, so if you have questions, please email me at customorders at japanesehandles dot com.

- I have communicated with some of you who prepaid, but there are also some who have still not gotten back to me reg. specifics. At this time you could help me immensely by entering your wishes into this new order list for prepaid handles. The info I have is spread across forum posts and emails, and if you could just enter them, it would save me hours of searching together the bits and pieces of info. I still have the old order list, so no need to enter those again.

- There are a few 'extra handles' that I have around, and a friend just asked me to help sell some of his. I would like to offer those exclusively to everyone on the prepaid list first, just in case anybody would rather take one of those than wait. Please give me a bit of time to set this up.

That is all I can think of for now, but please contact me at the email above with any questions or concerns.
Thanks,

Stefan
 
Thanks for the update Stefan.

I can relate to having too little time to make progress on certain projects, and I'd rather wait for the handles than have you feel the need to rush to produce under pressure. I appreciate you keeping in contact with us... I'll send an email sometime today.

Take care,
TJ
 
ecchef said:
Stefan, the spreadsheet is locked for editing.
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave, not sure why that should be, the setting is for everybody with the link allowed to edit. Here is the direct link

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wsng7kta_G0U1vrZgkCAsedf09KVfQhc_0Gv2ZXU6w8

Hope this works. Thanks for looking. And just to add: you all know how easy it is to get sucked in and spend a lot of time here on the forums. To focus on work, I have not been hanging around here as much as I used to. While I seem to have a tendency to be totally off when it comes to timelines and times I think it takes to do things, I have been around here for a long time and have no interest in taking advantage of anyone. If you have any concerns, please contact me.
Thanks,

Stefan
 
Just saw this link does not allow editing either. I only have my phone now, will look at it on the PC Sunday morning.
Thanks,

Stefan
 
apicius9 said:
Strange... Here is another try. I copied everything into sheet 2 which should not have any protection and can be edited by anybody with the link.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Wsng7kta_G0U1vrZgkCAsedf09KVfQhc_0Gv2ZXU6w8/edit?usp=sharing

Stefan
Click to expand...

It looks like this one is working, I put some preliminary info in on my laptop and can view it on my fone :doublethumbsup:

I'll update within the next couple of weeks with more details but may not be able to until towards the end of the month.
 
Stefan, perhaps you could provide an estimate when you think this will realistically see progress?

I'm doing my best to be patient but I certainly didn't expect to see zero progress with no commitment to resolve 7+ months after payment.

From your last relevant post, it seems that "next semester should be better" but perhaps you could be a bit more concrete about that expectation?

Thanks,
Aaron
 
Hi, I have actually started working on pieces, but I still need to add details from everybody as I move forward. The current semester will be over in 2 weeks, the new one starts Jan 17 and I am fairly well prepared, already, so I hope to get the bulk of things done over the holidays and the first two weeks of the new year. Again, sorry that this all took so much longer than I had expected myself.

That said, this coming weekend I also hope to be able to show a few 'extras' for people who would rather take a premade one than wait any longer. Won't be many, but it might be a option for some of you.

Btw, in the current sale craze I picked up a small compressor wich was the last tool I really wanted for now.

Thanks,

Stefan
 
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