Jay Fisher - Fine Custom Knives

Demand is high, so delivery periods are longer.

It happens. A guy needs a good custom knife, and he doesn't see the exact one he wants on my Current Knives for Sale or Tactical Knives for Sale pages. He finds my site and identifies a particular pattern, style, and details of his dream knife. He emails, I give him a general starting quote and a delivery period.

He might be surprised to find out the delivery time is greater than he thought. I feel for him. He wants a good custom knife, and he's honored me with his request, and is ready to back up his interest with his hard-earned dollars. I'm very grateful that he's chosen me as his knife maker.

Before I can start on his knife, I've got at least a hundred more to complete. Yes, more than a hundred knives are continually in the studio, all in various stages of completion. They are all for clients who have reached me and contracted my work before him, and their projects may range from the simple to the very elaborate. In the list of completion, their knives may take a matter of days to finish or a matter of years. They may be singular works, or more often, nested in a batch of a dozen other orders which all move forward in one giant step, which is efficient from the perspective of tool changes, heat treating, and setups. I'm very happy and they're excited about their knife being built, and the only answer is time. Time is the one thing I wish I had more of, and delivery times are given as an estimate only.

Some people ask, "Is it possible to get a knife sooner?"
Sure it is. You can purchase a knife from my completed knives I create for my inventory and offer for sale on this site on the  Knives for Sale page and the Tactical Knives for Sale page. You can also see a list of partially completed knives on the list at my Where's my knife, Jay? page. It never hurts to ask if I might have a particular knife coming up available soon.

I'm very thankful that decades of my hard work that have allowed me to grow my business, art, and craft. Thank you to all of you who believe in and are patiently waiting for your completed works. Thank you to all of you who own a fine Jay Fisher custom knife. Without you, my life and edged works are simply not possible. Thank you most of all for your great patience while I create knives, swords, and edged works one at a time by hand!

Page Topics

Tactical Knife Orders and Delivery

I've made a lot of tactical, combat, and rescue knives. A LOT. You can see hundreds of them on my Tactical, Military, and Combat Knives page, and all the pages linked through my Tactical Knives Portal page. These knives are in continual high demand, and typically, the person who wants one needs it immediately, or as soon as possible. This is very different from a client and patron who wants a custom and finely embellished gemstone-handled knife and is willing to patiently wait in the queue for the completion and delivery. Usually, a tactical knife is needed right away, but in the tactical knife types, a custom knife will not be available quickly.

As my work load grew, by necessity, so did my delivery times. This is expected in all successful handmade fields, and I am no different. Only a limited number of knives can be made by a maker in his lifetime, and all of them take a lot of labor, attention, and time. As work becomes more elaborate and involved and the knifemaker grows as an artist and craftsperson, the creations require even more time. There simply is no way around this, no way to hurry it along, no way to make it happen faster. If there were, while still maintaining the high quality of the knife build, I would be doing it.

Creative Knives

Add to this my determination to make one knife for public sale for each custom order, and the work load is high. I'm committed to do this, as an artist and craftsman, and because it's an opportunity for new clients and patrons to purchase some of my work. If I did only custom orders, I'd never have anything to offer on the Current Knives for Sale page and the Tactical Knives for Sale page, and would not have any immediately available knives. This would mean that there would be no desire for new clients to come to the website, and see what's new, and no possibility of picking up new clients. More importantly, as an artist, I am driven to create, grow, and develop new ideas, designs, materials, styles, and embellishment as well as new sheaths, stands, cases, and accessories. This is my commitment to making the best knives possible. A large part of the value of my work is the development of the pieces, and simply repeating knives (same pattern, different handle) would not be doing the very best I can do.

For example, I was lucky enough to come across a piece of Shattuckite (with Malachite and Quartz) gemstone. This stunning material would not make it to a custom knife; clients only order gemstones they are familiar with. I made the Thuban with this material and the piece was a significant work for me, with an exciting visual and tactile result.

Another example is the bronze stands and components that I sculpt and cast here in the studio. No one ever asked for them; it was part of my development as a metals artist and sculptor to come up with them, and now many of my best art pieces are displayed as independent knife sculpture with this technical method. Examples are Aegir, Morta, Tharsis Intense, and Pallene.

This creativity exists in tactical, combat, and rescue knives as well. I've developed many of the patterns on my own, most of the accessories, and all of the sheath operations, designs and adjuncts. The creative tactical knife also is exhibited in mixed-function pieces that double as working knives, tactical knives, and collector's pieces in hybridized style and materials, finish, accessories, and treatment. Take a look at the development of my modular knife sheath mounting system on the Ananke. Simply put, creative development is born by my own inventive spirit and enhanced by my client's commissioned orders. If I could not create, I would not be making knives, one of the most labor-intensive professions that exist.

Considering all this, my work load is high and the queue is long. I understand that most tactical knife users want immediate delivery, or as soon as possible, and it does them no good to put them on a long waiting list. For those that do need immediate delivery, the best I can do is offer what is available on the Tactical Knives for Sale page, or to let them know what may be coming up soon on the site. If they are acceptable to waiting, I can give them a firm quote and delivery estimate.

Page Topics