Ok guys, here's the situation. A friend of my wife's family wanted to buy her adult son one of my knives as a gift. I've emailed this guy many, many, MANY times trying to figure out what he wants. He's sent me pictures he's found on the web of different knives he's liked and I can't pull the different features of them into one design. I also met with him in person so he could show me a knife he likes (a cheap Chinese piece of junk) and I tried to go off that. He wants a skinning knife and one feature he is DETERMINED to keep is a 1 inch diameter hole in the blade back by the ricasso. I've tried to talk him out of it and he won't have it, he needs that hole to be there. So be it, I've submitted to him two sketches of what I think he wants and he's rejected both of them. I want the guy to be happy with the knife but at this point I'm so frustrated I want to tell him to find someone else to make it for him. So, my question is, how would you handle this guy and this situation?
I'm a new maker (and on a tight budget) and I really want to make a knife this guy will enjoy and use but most of all, I want him to tell his friends about me. My wife keeps telling me I need to make the money from the build but this is turning something I enjoy into something I don't want any part of. Should I ask HIM to give ME a sketch or tell him to forget it and risk burning bridges behind me? What would you do in my shoes?
I'm a new maker (and on a tight budget) and I really want to make a knife this guy will enjoy and use but most of all, I want him to tell his friends about me. My wife keeps telling me I need to make the money from the build but this is turning something I enjoy into something I don't want any part of. Should I ask HIM to give ME a sketch or tell him to forget it and risk burning bridges behind me? What would you do in my shoes?