Thai in-laws, agree.
Boat noodles are also fantastic if you ever can try them. Like it a lot more than ramen / pho.
Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter captaincaed
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Boat noodles are also fantastic if you ever can try them. Like it a lot more than ramen / pho.
You have strange tastes sir, but I’m always up to learn new culinary secrets from the forums
Here’s one. Makers who provide poor service should be outed and not defended or given a pass.
It is to their benefit as well as the communities that they make improvements in service to their customers.
I really don’t even care about the knife I’ve purchased from you or the fact that you took my money, promised me a delivery and then haven't delivered, but have ghosted me and others. But it’s not OK for you to disappear and not inform your customers and not respond to email or phone calls. I don’t care what your reasons are
It’s also not ok for the community to be quiet and continue to put you on a pedestal. Why would you want to improve, you don’t need to….
Yes I’ve been stewing on this on for several months.
It is to their benefit as well as the communities that they make improvements in service to their customers.
I really don’t even care about the knife I’ve purchased from you or the fact that you took my money, promised me a delivery and then haven't delivered, but have ghosted me and others. But it’s not OK for you to disappear and not inform your customers and not respond to email or phone calls. I don’t care what your reasons are
It’s also not ok for the community to be quiet and continue to put you on a pedestal. Why would you want to improve, you don’t need to….
Yes I’ve been stewing on this on for several months.
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This is a great point, I have received poor knives, either fit and finish or heat treat etc. from makers. I would never publicly call them out for that, I give them the opportunity to fix it or make it right. However, poor service should be shared, as long as they are truly from poor service and not just a maker slow to respond.
There is one maker in particular that I have seen numerous reports on this forum of terrible (to no) communication and even completing "bulk" work for vendors while commissioned stuff sat. He even had a vendor come to his rescue here once. I don't care how nice someone's work is, there is just no excuse in my mind for that stuff and even though I'm not directly impacted I've certainly called it out.
There are too many awesome folks out there making really nice knives with great service to mess with that crap. Hell, you could spend a lot of money and arm (and ARM) yourself with some really great knives and never leave the KKF circle of makers.
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Let’s hear some names folks.
Mine is Marko Tsourkan. Really really bad at communication. Everything recieved was as it should be though. But agreeing to custom work. starting the work, then bailing on PMs for many months then resurfacing suddenly with the finished knife and with a strange attitude was not cool.
Mine is Marko Tsourkan. Really really bad at communication. Everything recieved was as it should be though. But agreeing to custom work. starting the work, then bailing on PMs for many months then resurfacing suddenly with the finished knife and with a strange attitude was not cool.
I had weird communication from Bloodroot. Very very good responsiveness, incredibly friendly and professional. I'd want to get a beer with all of them. That wasn't the issue. But I asked for one construction detail that wasn't done. If they wouldn't or couldn't do that feature, it's totally fine. I don't want to ask them to make something they don't want to make, or isn't in their wheelhouse. No problem. But the project went forward with the product explicitly at odds with the order, like written out that way in the emails.
I ended up just paying, and like the knife overall. But it still irks me that it could be different, and it cuts worse than I know it could have.
If anyone is up for turning a full flat grind into any type of convex grind (literally no preference), hit me up in the DMs, I'll pay shipping both ways and labor. 200mm petty, not huge, 52100 monosteel.
I ended up just paying, and like the knife overall. But it still irks me that it could be different, and it cuts worse than I know it could have.
If anyone is up for turning a full flat grind into any type of convex grind (literally no preference), hit me up in the DMs, I'll pay shipping both ways and labor. 200mm petty, not huge, 52100 monosteel.
Relax man, Pierre Rodrigue will be back soon, and will honor all the commissions he took money for. I swear!
Sure if we want to name names. My experience with Spare has been utterly miserable. I got on his books I would guess around 2 years ago now. Then there was over a year or radio silence with no word on either updates, your position in the list or anything to give you a hint you’re still on his books. Then the issue that came out on the forums with him prioritizing newer orders from knife shops. After he emailed everyone I said I no longer needed to be on his list. Then fast forward another 6-8 months and I get an email my slot (?!?) had come up. I decided screw it, I’m already here may as well do it. quoted a completion mid December, shipment first or second week of Jan. It wasn’t done until end of Jan, I paid immediately on getting the invoice. 10 days later I have no shipping info. I email him. 5 more days. Nothing. I message him on instagram, he says he’ll look into it. A few days later shipping appears, showing that it had only been taken for shipment AFTER I nagged him about it.
He was very amenable to changing the knife on order. His prices are incredibly reasonable. But his way of running a business is the worst I’ve seen in the knife business and I can’t recommend him to anyone. I still want a bread sword eventually, I suppose I went and ruined my opportunity at that.
Also catcheside, I adore his work. A large amount of my collection is his work. But when you’re waiting a year for a knife that’s been on the homestretch and already cost you 3-4k, it can be frustrating. I can partially forgive it given the year he’s had, and I would absolutely do it all over again in the future given the opportunity, but I just wish makers would treat making knives as a job and not a passion project. If you’re interested in the project and take it on, and I’m paying you for your efforts, I’m in fact paying for the finished knife that uses your hard earned skills and in turn my hard earned cash, not for when you feel like making the knife.
Edit: full disclosure for anyone who comes across this later. My spare did arrive, and the craftsmanship is fantastic. Obviously there were huge issues getting it, but as mentioned he’s increasing his prices and that will hopefully reduce the number of sales he needs to make and increase the time he can spend on the non-knife making portion of it. The knife is excellent and worth well beyond what he charged, so I believe they’ll be worth his new higher prices so long as the commutation issue is addressed
He was very amenable to changing the knife on order. His prices are incredibly reasonable. But his way of running a business is the worst I’ve seen in the knife business and I can’t recommend him to anyone. I still want a bread sword eventually, I suppose I went and ruined my opportunity at that.
Also catcheside, I adore his work. A large amount of my collection is his work. But when you’re waiting a year for a knife that’s been on the homestretch and already cost you 3-4k, it can be frustrating. I can partially forgive it given the year he’s had, and I would absolutely do it all over again in the future given the opportunity, but I just wish makers would treat making knives as a job and not a passion project. If you’re interested in the project and take it on, and I’m paying you for your efforts, I’m in fact paying for the finished knife that uses your hard earned skills and in turn my hard earned cash, not for when you feel like making the knife.
Edit: full disclosure for anyone who comes across this later. My spare did arrive, and the craftsmanship is fantastic. Obviously there were huge issues getting it, but as mentioned he’s increasing his prices and that will hopefully reduce the number of sales he needs to make and increase the time he can spend on the non-knife making portion of it. The knife is excellent and worth well beyond what he charged, so I believe they’ll be worth his new higher prices so long as the commutation issue is addressed
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I will say not getting an update as to where I am on a back log doesn't bother me as long as there is communication when I get there. For example, I had completely forgotten I was on Bidinger's list. Once he started my build though I got a ton of updates along the way. Once I have paid you though please ship my knife!!!!
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Not sure if Tilman Leder is still working but I had 2 or 3 customs that went great years back…the last one went sideways where we nailed down specs, materials, profile sketch etc…then I never heard from him. Tried emailing him a couple times no response. Almost 2 years later he sent photos of the finished knife with apologies about having to move the shop and some other stuff…which is fine but I definitely didn’t buy it especially considering it was a 4-6 month quoted wait time. Just communicate and lemme know you have other stuff going on and there’s delays…
I will agree that Spare's not done the best job there with tracking his books/logging his stuff. His communication could've been better at that point in time, but it did come out that he got separated/divorced during that time period (and he has a young daughter). Having been through that (with a daughter that may have been the same edge), I'll give a bit of the benefit of the doubt at that point. It's a stressful time to say the least.
That does make some sense, although my issues are current as of a few weeks ago not limited to last year. Regardless, I think his prices are far too low, for his level of work and that leads to him taking on too many orders to make his living. I think he should increase his prices by 30-40%, which would put him in line with most other western makers and I expect would still see a list to keep him busy while hopefully allowing him to focus more on the business side of things which is where I think literally every issue I’ve heard regarding him stems from. I’ve never heard anyone have a bad thing to say about his knives, just in the frustrations that lie in the ambiguity of acquiring them
Oh, I agree. He said back then that you could take a semi-custom and it come off his list. I did, and then I still got emailed about the knife I had wanted in December. I can see it takes a lot of organizational skills to keep it all straight.
And yeah, his knives are very nice. I prefer his style with the MCX stuff, but everything I've touched is very, very well made.
this is a safe space
tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Just saying... I have still yet to see anyone post up a new CM in the 'Newest Knife Buy' thread. I wonder what the lead time or communication is like for that custom list.
"Hi I would like a 240x56 blade, thin convex ground with strong distal taper"
"Thank you, we have received your order for a rasp with a handle glued to it"
I was speaking about Spare. There was an issue back in 2022 that was "addressed".
https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/fredrik-spåre-impressions.56681/post-931164
Clearly he related some personal issues but I couldn't get past this:
"So doing more work with retailers meant more stability and I could still produce a healthy amount of customs every month. Of course, this meant that the waiting time increased quite alot and I tried communicating it through instagram and actually got an overwhelming amount of positive messages. So that makes me feel a bit sad to see people now ganging up and, politely, taking a stand against the stuff Modern Cooking are offering instead of supporting one of the few businesses that are actually dedicated to taking care of their contracted blacksmiths/makers. It is absolutely not how I would have reacted to the situation, but to each their own."
Most were happy to forgive and forget but that last line didn't sit well with me and the whole response seemed very victim-oriented. But I've also been called a rectal orifice a few times in my life so maybe it was just me...?
But as the above shows, there have been issues at least alluded to here since all of that.
I know people really like his work though.
Dude, it's so simple. See, it's $1130 for 12mo's for a rasp with a handle glued to it but if you pay just another $400 you can get it in 2 weeks!!!!
@Naftoor Totally understand your frustration and we all have seen that communication isn't his strong suit.
How it all started was he got rather popular and got a lot of requests, at the same time he was in talks with modern cooking. Modern cooking deal guaranteed him a safe and steady income while doing batch work. For the customs he pretty much sent the answers out at the same time and got overwhelmed with pretty much all people responding and going for a custom. Since his price calculation was rather low back then, the prices he quoted people, he didn't make much on the customs so the MC deal was even more important. Same time also personal sutff and problems hit the fan. Since he doesn't make money with communicating and needed to focus on fulfilling all his promises and make money, commnication was put aside and a nuisance if necessary. So he did courses, MC stuff, customs and batches. He powered through and left communication a bit aside. He didn't really get the hang of it and that's a problem and still is. Something he needs to work on.
Right now he's pretty close to have finished all the customs and accepts new ones but this time it's more limited and he upped his prices for Customs quite some since he acknowledges communication takes time and is money. I also think his prices were too low and probably still will be within his batch production. His work is pretty good and while I still had to wait quite some I got updates when I inquired. He's also a good guy but sometimes life can be overbearing and you have to find stuff out for yourself and how to deal with it.
Regarding postage I think he collects stuff and then gets it picked up like once a week or so.
How it all started was he got rather popular and got a lot of requests, at the same time he was in talks with modern cooking. Modern cooking deal guaranteed him a safe and steady income while doing batch work. For the customs he pretty much sent the answers out at the same time and got overwhelmed with pretty much all people responding and going for a custom. Since his price calculation was rather low back then, the prices he quoted people, he didn't make much on the customs so the MC deal was even more important. Same time also personal sutff and problems hit the fan. Since he doesn't make money with communicating and needed to focus on fulfilling all his promises and make money, commnication was put aside and a nuisance if necessary. So he did courses, MC stuff, customs and batches. He powered through and left communication a bit aside. He didn't really get the hang of it and that's a problem and still is. Something he needs to work on.
Right now he's pretty close to have finished all the customs and accepts new ones but this time it's more limited and he upped his prices for Customs quite some since he acknowledges communication takes time and is money. I also think his prices were too low and probably still will be within his batch production. His work is pretty good and while I still had to wait quite some I got updates when I inquired. He's also a good guy but sometimes life can be overbearing and you have to find stuff out for yourself and how to deal with it.
Regarding postage I think he collects stuff and then gets it picked up like once a week or so.
Credit where due:
Eddworks is wonderfully communicative, helpful, and transparent. The best service I've received from a maker by a mile.
It's not apples to apples and I have the wonderful Michael as intermediary, but Okubo is fast! That man and his son will bang out a custom knife in 2 weeks. Another member on the forum I was dming lives relatively close to their shop in Japan and went there to place a custom directly. Said Okubo san was very pleasant and gracious to deal with in person. Even loading him down with fruit from local farms in the area.
I just like to drop these little bits for positive PR as it's deserved
Eddworks is wonderfully communicative, helpful, and transparent. The best service I've received from a maker by a mile.
It's not apples to apples and I have the wonderful Michael as intermediary, but Okubo is fast! That man and his son will bang out a custom knife in 2 weeks. Another member on the forum I was dming lives relatively close to their shop in Japan and went there to place a custom directly. Said Okubo san was very pleasant and gracious to deal with in person. Even loading him down with fruit from local farms in the area.
I just like to drop these little bits for positive PR as it's deserved
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tostadas
Hobbyist / Craftsman
Would be great if this could simply be merged with the original. Otherwise, maybe I'll need to start a 'Somewhat Popular Opinions' thread for anything that doesnt fit in any of the available existing ones.
HolyDiverScallop
Not too smart, but at least I’m ugly.
"Moderately Popular Opinions"
Wouldn't that just be KKF Counts thread?
Admittedly I suck at sticking to appro threads and end up sprinkling stuff all around the forum but
I want the old Unpopular thread back so I can keep learning more of @BillHanna 's weird food takes
Wouldn't that just be KKF Counts thread?
Admittedly I suck at sticking to appro threads and end up sprinkling stuff all around the forum but
I want the old Unpopular thread back so I can keep learning more of @BillHanna 's weird food takes
That is now 1.99/mo!
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