Montana Knife Company Stubhorn

[peterk123]

I have a few of their knives. Couple for the kitchen and one for hunting. I just looked at mine. I do not have those finish issues. Guess my knives are lacking fingerprints. Their answer was a poor excuse. You deserve a better response.

 

[PathFinder]

Look at some of their manufacturing processes and hardness testing on YT. MKC is not doing a great job at anything but social media marketing.
That said, neither are most companies, especially when it comes to maximizing the performance of steels as knife blades. Most companies are running their blades rather soft, either to minimize warranty work or because they don't do any testing to optimize performance.

 

[Nicaburns]

I guess I take for granted the luxury of walking out to the shop to make a new knife when I want one… and the only person I can blame is myself if it doesn’t turn out right! LOL

 

[Dixie]

I guess I take for granted the luxury of walking out to the shop to make a new knife when I want one… and the only person I can blame is myself if it doesn’t turn out right! LOL

I can do the same... but likely could buy quite a few customs for what I have invested in knife making tools.
But it is nice if you see sometime you want to try out.

 

[Speaks]

My speed goat struck me as rough. I love my sharptailed, it does have those spine marks but outside of that finish looks great to me.

Totally get why you would not be happy though.

 

[TheWoat]

Wow. That spine looks similar to my $10 Mora.
For half the price you can get a custom Buck 113 with decent steel and a nice finish.

 

[Fire_9]

It wasn’t a MKC knife but I had the same results on the first higher end knife bought. This was before a lof of the builders started showcasing their stuff here. After seeing what they produce, I will never buy a factory knife again unless it’s something real cheap

 

[TheTone]

Doesn’t surprise me; they’re basically just an assembly shop putting together stuff other people make and a social media company

 

[doc holiday13]

Response for MKC,
We hope you've been enjoying your MKC blade. In regards to the spine markings on your magnacut blade, those are due to the way they are cut out during production. We think of them as the knife's fingerprint as no two will be the same. As they do not effect the cutting ability we do not consider those marks a defect.

Thats the lazy mans way of saying "we don't think its worth our time to grind it out" . taking their side in the argument, it probably takes 10ish minutes per blade to clean all of that up. They're churning out several hundred at a shot probably 500 at a shot. so 10x500=5,000 minutes, which is a touch over 2 weeks worth of labor. If it was a true custom blade, I'd say you have an argument but this is production and beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. Josh Smith might like the look

 

[coiloil37]

I can’t understand how the market for these boutique knife manufacturers was created. I blame social media and forums like this but it fundamentally comes down to people opening their wallets and propping them up. MKC is an example but there are a few that advertise or are pimped on this site.

For less money you could take your pic from SO MANY custom makers. Some with decades of experience and reputations that are well deserved who will single handedly build you an absolutely perfect knife with optimal geometry, heat treat, steel and fit/finish and meld the lines between form and function. I’ve had heirloom quality knives build exactly to my specifications with mammoth ivory, sambar stag and Himalayan sheep horn scales for far less $$$ then these boutique guys are selling their wares for.
All of the knives I’m seeing in this market segment should be in the $150-200 range and even at that price they’re never going to cut or hold an edge like a quality custom. They’re “ok” so far as knives go but more hype then performance. Or put another way, they’re ahead of a gerber but miles behind a good custom in everything but price.

 

[Honyock]

For what they charge, you would think they could spend 10ish minutes to clean it up. If they are cutting corners there, I wonder where else they're cutting corners. Seems like the difference between a $150 knife and a $350 knife is marketing.

 

[displacedtexan]

The tooling marks are common. Be careful critiquing them. The fan boys will rip you a new rear end spouting off that "it's a tool" or "it gives it character" or "it looks cool"

Personally it annoys me given the price point of the knives. They could easily sand it off but to save money they don't, they then pass it off as a unique touch. Lol....

It is pretty unique.

The norm is for high end knife makers to sand everything smooth.

 

[Nicaburns]

The norm is for high end knife makers to sand everything smooth.

That is pretty much the norm even for low end china junk… a custom maker of any level wouldn’t let that mess out of his shop. Customer is always right though … even if they decide that poor finish is OK as long as the hype factor is high

 

[intunegp]

Look at some of their manufacturing processes and hardness testing on YT. MKC is not doing a great job at anything but social media marketing.
That said, neither are most companies, especially when it comes to maximizing the performance of steels as knife blades. Most companies are running their blades rather soft, either to minimize warranty work or because they don't do any testing to optimize performance.

Can you link some stuff? I can't find any hardness testing with a quick search.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Can you link some stuff? I can't find any hardness testing with a quick search.

wow, I just searched them on YouTube as well. People weren’t lying when they talk about their social media presence!