Re-handle opinions…

K

Kev

Well-Known Member
A relative of mine recently requested a knife for them to gift to a friend. I sent him a knife and didn’t think much about it.
The other day he contacted me with a picture of the knife, but with a completely different handle. When I asked him about it he said he decided to swap out the handle for something “he liked better”. The choice of materials aside, the workmanship is a world apart from what would come from my shop. Quite frankly it was terrible, like my first knife bad.
The issue I have is that my name is on that knife. Has anyone else had an experience like that? It’s too late for me to really do anything about it this time, it’s already been gifted to his friend. I defined won’t make him any more knives. Just curious if anyone else has experienced this?
 
I've never heard of something like that happening but I;m sure it has somewhere, now it happened to you.
Here's what I would have done...after I saw the picture and cooled off...
it's kind of underhanded but it's my name so I would have a dog in this fight, I would come up with some story about how good it looks but if I could have it back for a day or two I could improve it even more,
Once I got it I would promptly destroy it, call my relative and tell him it was stolen, give him his money back, come up with some reason you can't make another for him, and call it a day.
 
Hmm... On one hand, it's their knife now. On the other hand, it has your name on it.

I'm with Dennis. Offer to rehandle it in whatever style they decided they wanted.

OR go fishing with them, borrow the knife for a second, and drop it in deep water. :D
 
I would reach out to the purchaser and recipient and let them know that that is no longer my knife due to the modifications - no warranty, etc. etc. You could also offer to do what Dennis suggested and that would maintain the warranty but certainly not for free!

I keep pictures of every knife that I send out that way I can show what it looked like when it left the shop versus current condition.
 
chrisstaniar said:
I would reach out to the purchaser and recipient and let them know that that is no longer my knife due to the modifications - no warranty, etc. etc. You could also offer to do what Dennis suggested and that would maintain the warranty but certainly not for free!

I keep pictures of every knife that I send out that way I can show what it looked like when it left the shop versus current condition.
Click to expand...
I keep photos of all my knives too.
 
Your reputation is a precious thing - hard to gain and easy to lose. I wouldn't let this go. It was clearly disrespectful of your relative to alter your work, particularly without your knowledge. I would write to the person who received your modified knife and explain that you did not know it was being modified nor did you do the modification, and it is certainly not up to your standards. Ask to have the knife sent back to you and then either 1) remove your makers mark, or 2) make him another knife of his choosing and send it directly to him at no charge.
Send a copy of your letter to your relative.
 
I'd try MT Bobs first suggestion. Then I'd find what social media sites the relative frequents and post some comments about the handle he modified. I'd bet he's posted pictures of his rehandle job.
Lastly if you have an on line site I'd post the picture, with the big disclaimer of...That is not the handle I put on that knife... its a shame you told him you wouldn't make him anymore knives. Itd be fun to gave him order another.
 
I read this wrong. I thought the final recipient modified the handle but it was your relative. So yeah, do what MTBob suggested. Very un-cool of the relative. Send the relative the re-handling bill!
 
Nobody that I know of has ever been dumb enough to modify one of mine, but if they did, I would consider it a forgery. Once they mod it, it’s no longer one of mine, and has no value beyond scrap steel to me anyway. I’d try to get it back and take my name off it. If they tried to pass it off as something YOU made, then it IS FORGERY, and I would demand it back with some rather grave consequences if it was not returned, relative or not! I’d still be steaming either way if I was in your shoes.
 
I would ask for the knife back to be sharpened and just happen to grind your name off of it as well. Or send the customer the before and after pic and see which one they like better!
 
chrisstaniar said:
I read this wrong. I thought the final recipient modified the handle but it was your relative. So yeah, do what MTBob suggested. Very un-cool of the relative. Send the relative the re-handling bill!
Click to expand...
Me too! I thought the final owner of the knife did the handle job.

Modifying your work to pass off to someone else is another matter.
 
You know, I’ve been thinking about this, and like everything, once it is sold, it is the owners property and they can modify it or do whatever they want with it. People do it with cars all the time. There is the issue that sometime down the road someone may sell it to someone who assumes it’s your work, and not for the better. If you can contact the new owner, and explain what happened, they might actually want you to re-handle the knife in your own fashion. This would be especially true if your work has any collector value or potential value. It would be like someone painting eyebrows on the “Mona Lisa” because they thought it would be better. Even if it was, it still wouldn’t be as valuable as the original. That could be a better Avenue to take. If your relative tried to pass off the modification as something you did, I would still demand it back, since that is forgery.
 
I agree with above....once the knife is theirs they can do whatever they want with it.....how many times have you seen a knife come back for repairs or sharpening that has been neglected or abused.....I don,t think there is any cure for dumb or lazy
 
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