A place for input on jgcustom knifes......

JG,

I think a good test of what your knives are actually worth to people is to humbly put them up on an auction site with an opening bid of 99 cents or less. Yes, people are there looking for a bargain but you will quickly know what buyers really are willing to pay for your works....

Expect to lose a lot of money on your first knives as you develop skills and determine what buyers actually want. What you like to do and what people want to buy are not always the same. I lost a lot of money at first but got an incredible "gift" in the feedback I received and my skills, even after 200 knives... continue to grow.

Don't give up and try to learn to eat a bit of "humble" pie..... When I get negative feedback it really hurts as I am a perfectionist at heart but I learned to fix what others did not like by channeling the hurt into finding solutions to the concerns.......

Take time to get over the hurt feelings, improve the works you do, and pop back in with pictures of what and where your experiences take your art....

JG Custom knives -

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Steinerj said:
Hey when I am making knives I am at IG's. And he doesn't throw compliments around and he mostly takes me down a notch or 2 every time. And I love it:) Helps me learn from my mistakes. BTW IG is this saturday good for some "critisism"?
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Shop is open.;) I still can't find my crossing file.:confused::confused: Toecutter hasn't got it either.:eek:
 
A good example of someone who did good by listening to feedback is actually Sal Glessner from Spyderco.

Most of the wonderful Spyderco's out there were designed by feedback given on the current models at the time. It's still going on now. You can always learn something new.

Even though Sal is on cloud 9 with all of his knives and endless supply of money, he is a very nice and humble person.

Just some more .02 from me.
 
batosai117 said:
A good example of someone who did good by listening to feedback is actually Sal Glessner from Spyderco.

Most of the wonderful Spyderco's out there were designed by feedback given on the current models at the time. It's still going on now. You can always learn something new.

Even though Sal is on cloud 9 with all of his knives and endless supply of money, he is a very nice and humble person.

Just some more .02 from me.
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I'll second that, some of the best makers on these boards are the most humble. Sal is a great example of someone with all the right in the world to be arrogant and is still as humble as he ever was.
 
I had the honor of holding what ABS Mastersmith Jerry Fisk said was the first knife he had ever forged. He jokingly called it “Elf Shoe,” referring to how the top of the blade curled up and backward very sharply. He explained that as a newbie bladesmith “All us new guys made elf shoes until we leaned about counter-bending the tip at the start.”

I can tell you that as I held that little knife, with it’s worn and dented wooden handles – I felt it was absolutely beautiful! Not beautiful in that is was perfect, but in the sense that the hands that made it would learn the art, and would someday be attached to someone referred to as “Mastersmith” and “National Living Treasure.” While I was also fortunate enough to hold examples of current treasures, I kept going back to the little “Elf Shoe.” It really made one feel like- Well maybe I CAN learn how!

So keep at it JG. Don’t put so much effort into defending your work. Put your effort and passion into the grinding wheel. Your work will speak for you- in time. You never know what your knifemaking future has in store for you unless you keep at it.

And to think a world famous artist started with making an elf shoe!
 
On my first post here I asked for feedback. It was a humbling experience in more ways than I had expected.
Not having a fragile ego is helpful. But that is true at any phase of your knife making career. The things you will endure at shows will teach you this.
My only comment is; don't be your own worst enemy. People pick up on this in a hurry and will give you a wide berth.

To all of you who have commented on my work, pro or con, I thank you, it has been helpful to me.

Fred
 
Fellers...hes gone and he probably aint coming back...

In order to be a good newbie knife maker you need to have a teachable spirit. I do not think any one here dissed his work. He asked for constructive critisism. He recieved it. He got butthurt because people critiqued his spelling, his design, and his overall craft. Then he angry and stomped off...too bad..not every one is set out to be a great knife maker..

save your advice on someone who deserves it and wants it..
 
The best critique I ever received was when I had just started to sell knives and I sold one to a guy over the net. When he got it, he inspected it and wanted his money back as he saw flaws in it I was blind to. What a kick in the gut. I refunded him, took the knife back and sat down and studied it. He was right. That was the best, most constructive criticism I ever received. I've never had a second one come back but that first wake up call was a tough one. I wish I could thank that guy again. He did me the biggest favor I've ever received in this business. If it don't kill you, it will probably make you better...
 
08-27-2008, 09:17 PM
jgcustoms
KnifeMaker Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: gainesville,ny
Posts: 48

I have with drawn my sales at blade forums. Thank you. pm me if you want further info and so forth.



.
this is his last entry
i think he is upset.
 
He took his toys and went home. :(

He even deleted all his pictures. :p
 
Well, even if all your feedback fell on jgcustoms deaf ears, I got to learn from it.

I can only hope that when I post a pic of my first knife, and hopefully later knives, everyone will be brutally honest about what they think.

A forum like this is a most necessary thing these days where the practice of apprenticeship in the ancient crafts has fallen to almost non existence.

There is something I know well; you can only truly learn from mistakes, failures and criticism.
 
tmickley said:
The best critique I ever received was when I had just started to sell knives and I sold one to a guy over the net. When he got it, he inspected it and wanted his money back as he saw flaws in it I was blind to. What a kick in the gut. I refunded him, took the knife back and sat down and studied it. He was right. That was the best, most constructive criticism I ever received. I've never had a second one come back but that first wake up call was a tough one. I wish I could thank that guy again. He did me the biggest favor I've ever received in this business. If it don't kill you, it will probably make you better...
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I had a similar experience. One of my first knives went out and I got a call that the edge was chipping. I thought at first he must have whittled a nail. I got the knife and sure enough, the edge was chipped all over. I stayed away from 1095 for nearly a year until I got the heat treat down. I bought pyrometers, oven thermometers, and killed quite a few blades (including that one... HUGE grain growth). I have not had a similar problem since. I also took a batch of some of my first blades to my knifemaking mentor. He gave me honest criticism, not much of it was flattering. It completely changed the way I made knives. My second batch got much better accolades, but there were still things that needed to change. I have never disregarded any criticism, it always makes my future knives much better than any praise. (not to say I dont enjoy praise...:))
 
My post at the top of page two (post #41) has three of his blades showing as I copied the one picture as he was busy deleting all of them....
 
in what context was/were those pictured presented as--was it the original critigue my knives thread he started? i think he should come back and swallow his pride. i think some of us are purely gifted but most of us need to work hard to achieve a level of competency. Maybe he wasnt looking at this as a knife project--maybe it was more of an abstract art endeaver were presiceness was not a considered thought. come back man!!!!!!!!!! thanks mark
 
I believe if I remember he wanted honest input of why his knives weren't selling and what he needed to do for improvement. It was a correct assessment by the forumites that he was asking waaaaay too much for them at his skill level. I've been making for almost 2 years and don't come anywhere close to $250 for that size / type of blade.
 
was he trying the to sell the above blades or were there some other pictures that have since been deleted. i think i remmember seeing a sort of fantasy cricket looking knife and i wonder if that was one of his---mark
 
The 3 in this post were not completed yet but he had 3 or 4 in the For Sale section prior to this. Like I said in one of my previous posts, while the critiques may have been more harsh than I would have given, they were honest opinions. Don't ask if you don't want to know. I think he had a future niche, but was trying to get to H or I without going through A, B, C, D.....etc.
 
someone had said he good be the next Jay Fisher--who is Jay fisher? i looked on his web and some of his knives look awesome. But why would they campare him with Jay fisher?--thanks mark
 
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