Is this a new trend? customer supplied materials

Burl Source

Forum Owner & Moderator
I am wondering if this is a new trend, or maybe I just haven't noticed before this year.
Knife collectors providing their own handle materials for knives they are having made.

I am curious if this is a fairly new trend or if this is something normal.
I would also be curious to hear your thoughts from a collectors point of view as well as the knife maker.

I sell stabilized wood handle materials and here is what I have been seeing with my customers.

When I do a knife show, the majority of what is purchased is by knife makers at the show.
Only about 25% will be purchased by the collector who will be having a knife made. They are usually looking for a piece for a specific knife they are having made by one of the knife makers at the show.

Other than at the shows my material sales are from my website.
In the past years the proportions had been about the same. 75% to the knife maker and 25% to the collector.

This year things are a lot different.
Year to date it has been about 40% to the knife makers and 60% to the collector.
In the kitchen knives niche it is more like 25% to the maker and 75% to the end customer.

Hopefully some of the collectors and the makers will voice their opinions.
Not just with wood, but stag, ivory and other natural handle materials.

Thank you in advance for your input.
Mods, if this post is in the wrong place please feel free to move this and accept my apologies.
This was the only place I could think of where it would be seen by both the makers and the collectors.
 
I have an ongoing deal with a buyer who sends me blocks of stabilized wood. Don't have a problem with it because he buys good quality material and it is easy to work with.
 
I've had several customers supply their own handle material. Most of them send/give me a piece of antler or bone from a game animal they killed. The latest customer to send me handle material sent me some Prickly Pear Cactus from Ankrom Exotics. Just remembered that I made one from Alligator bone supplied by a customer once. Never had anybody send me any wood though.
 
Buyers,Collectors and folk's in general are more educated than ever.

So I am not surprised at the increase. I usually have much better stuff than most of my customers. Most I buy & Cut the wood and have stabilized myself.
some I get from you and a couple of other source's.
I also have a slight increase in customers that supply their own stabilized woods. Not to the level of your increase, also I think people buy and store sets of scales for some future project that may never happen?

I don't mind if the customer knows enough to get truly Professionally stabilized woods.
I always ask if the know who did the work on it?
Cheers!
Laurence

www.rhinoknives.com/
 
I see it fairly often and probably increasing a bit.

If someone is going to commission a knife, it's nice to participate in the selection of the handle material. I think it's good for the industry. Most makers don't mind a client selecting the handle material for a commission as long as it is suitable (ie stag that is too small, wood that is too checked, etc)

I see makers sending customers to go look around for handle material and buying it for their project. This way the customer gets exactly what they picked out so there is less chance for an issue later.
 
I see it fairly often and probably increasing a bit.

If someone is going to commission a knife, it's nice to participate in the selection of the handle material. I think it's good for the industry. Most makers don't mind a client selecting the handle material for a commission as long as it is suitable (ie stag that is too small, wood that is too checked, etc)

I see makers sending customers to go look around for handle material and buying it for their project. This way the customer gets exactly what they picked out so there is less chance for an issue later.

Spot on! In this day and age with the tech we have available, it's easy to get them to pick it out which means that I know they're happy with the choice.
 
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