Speaking of, I noticed you don't have any knives up at PrepHQ. You planning on selling home-made knives?
It would be cool if you sold blanks or something, like
Atlanta Cutlery does for Wogs to make their own knives, or at least customize their own kit-knives. Just a thought...
I personally would speak well of MAXAM knives. I have two, like I said, which I have had for years. The big hunter seen above was a gift that I thought was kinda cheesy. (It does look kinda cheap I'll admit.) I started using this knife whenever I didn't want to damage my good knife or if I was going where I thought I might loose it. Before I knew it, I was using this knife
exclusively. Five years of abusing it like the cheap, ugly knife it is, and it is still in pretty good shape. None of that slightly bent point nonsense you expect from cheaper knives.
That being said, the multi-tool isn't the best. While it is very useful, the blades seem weak and don't keep an edge worth a damn. The thing cost me all of $5 at a traveling knife booth though, so I guess it doesn't matter really. Still gets plenty of action as my daily carry knife.
I haven't had time to add in the knives yet, there are just so damned many. I won't be listing handmade knives (Well I am hoping to become a dealer for Emerson, Strider & Chris Reeve, and those are handmade). To date I have made 1 knife completely. That was enough. I have done all of the steps for various others (IE Forging, Grinding, Heat Treating, Handling, Etc. etc.) But from start to finish I made 1 knife. First I forged a billet of damascus, then I forged it into a Squirrel Tail Skinner, then I ground it and heat treated it, etched it so you could see the pattern. Then I donated it to the Blacksmith Guild I was in for their Annual Christmas auction, then I bought it back, LOL.
As far as blanks go, I doubt I would get into that. There are a lot of good reputible companies out there that sell kits and blanks, etc. I'd be happy to recommend some if anyone is interested.
As far as Maxam goes, I just haven't heard of them and there ain't much in modern cutlery that I haven't heard of (at least company wise). So it leads me to believe it's either a Chi-com or a India/Pakistani company. From their website it also appears that they are just ripping off other companies designs.
But to each their own. I will say that you don't have to spend hundreds of dollars for a good knife. There are many on the market for less than $100 that will work and hold up to the test of time. But I'd bet money those are not one of them. No offense.