Your opinion on "Cutlery Corner"

OzarkKnife

OzarkKnife

Member
I have been an avid watcher of "Cutlery Corner", but have never ordered from them (at least, not yet). Like with just about everything, some people love it and some says their quality is cheap, bad customer service, dont order from them, etc., etc. I know sometimes I drool over some of their sets (5 pocket knife sets, dealer sets)

What is your opinion on them? This would greatly help me in considering where to order from in the future.
 
I've heard of Cutlery Corner, but never watched it. So I can't give an honest opinion about it.

But as has been mentioned in another thread of yours, this forum is comprised primarily of makers.

In my view, the things that are valued most in the knife making community are ethical business practices, honest representation of your work, use of known, quantifiable materials and practices, and originality of work.

Does Cutlery Corner and the knives sold there live up to that? I honestly don't know. Never watched it. I suppose that's up to the consumer to decide.
 
Used to love watching them in the early morning hours back when Tom O'Dell was hosting. Never bought anything from them though.
Most of their knives are on the very lower end of the import brands, and often times can be found cheaper else where. They always inflated the "retail value" of their knives to some ridiculous number, which always made me laugh. Where has anybody ever seen a Frost Cutlerly bowie knife for $300. :D

I know they occasionally do some moderate quality brands like Case or Hen and Rooster, but again, you'll almost always be able to find them cheaper elsewhere in my experience. As for their customer service, or lack thereof, I don't know anything about it.
 
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I'm in agreement. Just about any TV or online entity that sells factory knives, will greatly overly inflate "retail price" to make you think you're getting a bargain....when in reality, their "sale price" is usually higher then elsewhere.

As has been stated, most here are Bladesmith/Knifemakers, and we tend to look upon outfits like the one you're talking about with disdain, because we know that those who choose to buy from them are more often than not, being taken.

What you have to understand is production type cutlery is a totally different world then custom/handmade cutlery. Factory knives and Knife factories are driven solely by profit. The least expensive materials and methods, to meet a minimum standard, that can be sold for the highest profit margin.
Custom/handmade Bladesmiths/Knifemakers are generally sole proprietors, and they tend to be more about quality throughout their products. We also know that our name is going on every knife we let out of the shop, meaning that if we allow a knife out of your shop, that isn't to the highest standards, it could cook our goose. The most difficult thing in the custom knife world to achieve is a good reputation. It can literally take DECADES to establish, and it only takes on substandard knife getting out of the shop to destroy it. Any Bladesmith/Knifemaker that is worth his/her salt....places quality and craftsmanship above everything else in their knives.

Of course the other aspect is the different levels of the amounts of money involved. You will pay what those who are uninitiated to customs feel would be extravagant amounts for most custom/handmade knives. The problem the custom knife world faces today is the huge popularity of knifemaking, and the associated amount of "KSOs" (knife shaped objects) being produced and sold by people who have watched a couple episodes of Forged in Fire, and think they are experts. Unless a person knows they are dealing with an established Custom Knifemaker, my advice is buyer beware.

Whether you're dealing with factory or customs, it's always a good idea to educate yourself, which is often the most rewarding part of collecting anything.....the education. ;)
 
Years ago I traveled for a living. I spent about 300 nights a year in hotel rooms, channel surfing into the wee hours. And of course that means I was ripe for the picking when it came to infomercials which is just about all that was on TV from 1am onward. Oh, the stuff I bought. LOL Being a knife aficionado (I was years away from making knives. I wasn't even a collector. I just grew up loving knives) I also would watch Cutlery Corner and imagine a samurai sword / Rambo knife collection of my very own.

So two late night infomercial knife purchases come to mind. I bought a deluxe set of Miracle Blades kitchen knives (the famous Chef Tony), and I bought about a metric ton of knives from Cutlery Corner. It was the deal of the century, something like 100 Frost Cutlery pocket knives for $300. Well, I got my $300 worth, because each knife was indeed worth about the $3 that it cost. I gave knives to everybody I knew. "Hey, it ain't great but it's pretty great for $3.00" Who can argue with that? So everybody I ever met in my life ended up with their pick of a Frost Cutlery pocket knife in their glove box, their tackle box, and their tool box. I doubt a single one of those knives ever did more than open a package or cut some fishing string. Truth be told, that was about the limit of their ability. It's been about 20 years and to this day I'll dig through a box in the attic or garage and find another Frost Cutlery "Puma" or "Jaguar" or some-other, still in its little individual box and I'll get a sentimental smile.

On the other hand, those el cheapo Miracle Blades are the best doggone cheap knives I've ever used. I still have them! I still use them! AND I MAKE HANDMADE KITCHEN KNIVES!!! Look here, sometimes $60 is the best $60 you'll ever spend, and you won't know that if you're given to snobbery. And then again, sometimes $300 is $300 down the toilet but you also never know unless you know.

Cutlery Corner is basically hawking flea market knives. That's not an insult. It just is what it is. I'll bet a whole lot of us on this site who sell one knife for hundreds of dollars (or more) had a $5 Rambo Survival Knife as a kid and loved the ***** out of it. Because those are the types of things we could afford and it gave us that small piece of fantasy that makes life worth living. If collecting knives only started at $300 a piece then there'd be nobody out there collecting. It's not all about high end rarity. Sometimes it's just liking what you like. So start there and enjoy the journey.
 
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