An interesting video of a female knifemaker

[John Katt]

I'll disregard your "childish statement" statement.

I just don't understand why you or anyone would hammer so hard on another maker. Is it just entertainment? I just find it odd?

Don did you just use the I am rubber and you are glue statement on me? ;0)

Any time someone is putting out a crappy knife and charging $250 to $450, I'm going to get a little warm under the collar, for 4 years I have been working very hard to learn all I can, so that maybe someday I'll feel comfortable selling a knife to someone

I feel like everyone that is cool with her junk, Is easily influenced by a pretty face

Time after time I have seen new guys/gals come here and talk about selling their first or second knife and get ripped on

 

[Don Hanson III]

Don did you just use the I am rubber and you are glue statement on me? ;0)

Any time someone is putting out a crappy knife and charging $250 to $450, I'm going to get a little warm under the collar, for 4 years I have been working very hard to learn all I can, so that maybe someday I'll feel comfortable selling a knife to someone

I feel like everyone that is cool with her junk, Is easily influenced by a pretty face

Time after time I have seen new guys/gals come here and talk about selling their first or second knife and get ripped on

John, what she is doin has absolutely nothing to do with you, or me, or any other maker, or the type of knives we make. She is doing her own thing and selling her knives. Why make nasty comments? Her customers will make the judgments and decide to praise the knives or trash them. She is new and if like most of us will continue to learn and get better.

 

[John Katt]

like i said in my first post on this thread when the op asked what we THOUGHT about the video, because she's a female. but that makes me shallow??? you guys tore the man up in that thread, but he was obviously lying. i wonder if i posted pics of my unfinished 3rd attempt at a knife if i would get accused of being a fraud.

did you try and pull the wool over someones eyes and try to charge them $450?

 

[javand]

Don did you just use the I am rubber and you are glue statement on me? ;0)

Any time someone is putting out a crappy knife and charging $250 to $450, I'm going to get a little warm under the collar, for 4 years I have been working very hard to learn all I can, so that maybe someday I'll feel comfortable selling a knife to someone

I feel like everyone that is cool with her junk, Is easily influenced by a pretty face

Time after time I have seen new guys/gals come here and talk about selling their first or second knife and get ripped on

The difference here, is that instead of jumping in the pool with the rest of us, and competing for the same customers, this girl is likely bringing entirely new customers to *our* market.

The reality is, all the like minded, knife enthusiast, hunting buddies are already willing to buy knives in one price range or another. Most people in her market, aren't. The knives don't look impressive to me either, but any time a person that never considered buying an expensive knife buys one, it creates a new customer for the rest of us.


Most of you guys aren't willing to go out there and court customers that follow on the opposite extreme of the political spectrum as you, but those are the people we need to bring into the market. I'd argue vehemently that this girl is doing more good for our market than just about any of the rest of us. Even if I personally wouldn't consider buying any of the work I've seen from her.


Course the idealists here won't agree, but hell, idealists never agree with anything but their own ideals anyway. I prefer pragmatism.

 

[Don Hanson III]

The difference here, is that instead of jumping in the pool with the rest of us, and competing for the same customers, this girl is likely bringing entirely new customers to *our* market.

The reality is, all the like minded, knife enthusiast, hunting buddies are already willing to buy knives in one price range or another. Most people in her market, aren't. The knives don't look impressive to me either, but any time a person that never considered buying an expensive knife buys one, it creates a new customer for the rest of us.


Most of you guys aren't willing to go out there and court customers that follow on the opposite extreme of the political spectrum as you, but those are the people we need to bring into the market. I'd argue vehemently that this girl is doing more good for our market than just about any of the rest of us. Even if I personally wouldn't consider buying any of the work I've seen from her.


Course the idealists here won't agree, but hell, idealists never agree with anything but their own ideals anyway. I prefer pragmatism.

I agree, javand...

 

[John Katt]

Her customers will make the judgments

And there lies the rub

lets say that she sells 500 knives over the next few years and the general consensus turns out to be the knives are junk, those unsuspecting victims that know very little about the true quality of hand made knives, will tell all there friends that custom knives aren't worth the money, and they will tell their friends and so on

eventually it will/could effect everyone

 

[Don Hanson III]

And there lies the rub

lets say that she sells 500 knives over the next few years and the general consensus turns out to be the knives are junk, those unsuspecting victims that know very little about the true quality of hand made knives, will tell all there friends that custom knives aren't worth the money, and they will tell their friends and so on

eventually it will/could effect everyone

Nope John, I do not agree with that line of thinking. If a person buys a Ford and that particular car is junk, most people would not assume all cars are junk...

Really, I try to avoid this kind of thread and usually don't argue with people. But this one caught my interest and I'm trying to understand why some of the makers here are so fast to chit on another maker and their work. I'm truly curious that's all...

 

[mike-E]

please delete this post from this thread

 

[John Katt]

Nope John, I do not agree with that line of thinking. If a person buys a Ford and that particular car is junk, most people would not assume all cars are junk...

Really, I try to avoid this kind of thread and usually don't argue with people. But this one caught my interest and I'm trying to understand why some of the makers here are so fast to chit on another maker and their work. I'm truly curious that's all...

But if people buy 500 or 1000 pinto's and they all catch fire then they are considered junk...and ford takes a hit in sales

Don don't ever consider an exchange with me an argument it is simply a conversation, I have the ability to maintain a level of civility for the entire conversation, however I will toss out a snarky comment when my integrity is questioned, such as my attitude towards women, the maker of these knives could have been a 60 year old veteran with Alzheimer and I would take the same attitude, and that is... you need to put in the time before you jump to selling knives for $450

 

[Don Hanson III]

But if people buy 500 or 1000 pinto's and they all catch fire then they are considered junk...

Don don't ever consider an exchange with me an argument it is simply a conversation, I have the ability to maintain a level of civility for the entire conversation, however I will toss out a snarky comment when my integrity is questioned, such as my attitude towards women, the maker of these knives could have been a 60 year old veteran with Alzheimer and I would take the same attitude, and that is... you need to put in the time before you jump to selling knives for $450

OK John, we're not arguing...

I guess my main point is, calling her work junk is a bit much. It isn't your place or mine to say what this maker makes, or what she charges.

Believe me, she will not hurt the custom knife market at all. And like said she will likely help it in the long run...

 

[John Katt]

OK John, we're not arguing...

I guess my main point is, calling her work junk is a bit much. It isn't your place or mine to say what this maker makes, or what she charges.

Believe me, she will not hurt the custom knife market at all. And like said she will likely help it in the long run...

30 years of construction has left me a little rough around the edges perhaps sub-standard would be a little less offensive ;0)

lets hope you are right on the impact she has in the Boston area, I'm guessing there are a lot of good makers in that area

 

[Mike157]

[QUOTE... you need to put in the time before you jump to selling knives for $450[/QUOTE]

John, I get that your strong belief in this statement is what has you steamed. In many cases, as in the market for knives here on BladeForums, your statement is for the most part true. I feel like your being "hot under the collar" has pushed you to being a bit mean spirited (calling her work crap). Yes, that is your and probably other's opinion but a little etiquette doesn't hurt. Not trying to be a arrogant jerk here. Just stating the way I see things.

As said before, she is not hiding anything or trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes. She is very up front about how she works. She has a good website, a multi-week backlog of work, supplies knives and utinsels to a restaurant and is probably getting a decent return for her work. She is creative and enjoys her craft and, has found a market that works well for her. Maybe we should take some lessons from her. As has been stated many times here, most don't go into knife making to get rich and judging by the knives I've purchased here, the very talented makers were probably not lining their pockets with gold so to speak. Part of that is probably because our, BladeForums, section of the market is fairly competive with many highly knowledgable potential customers. Many of the makers here should be charging more for their talents but such is free market competition. Ms. Miller might not fair so well here but I'm happy that he has found such a great fit in this hobby/craft/obsession world of knives. I think most of us aspire to being able to do something we really enjoy and get compensated well for it. I certainly which I were that talented, intelligent, and creative. Mike

 

[NC Biker]

I think the young lady in the video is more of an artist that a knife maker. Some of the most success artists I've met are much better at marketing than they are their craft.

 

[viral]

I think its kind of cool. I could see most of these people buying these knives and setting them on their mantle or something. Which heck, that's alright in my book. I ain't gonna dog on her for anything. Her product isn't perfect, but her story is. You guys are missing her point I believe. She isn't selling a knife to be someone's work horse. She's selling a knife that has a story. In reality she is selling a story. Think about it, you take your wife and kids to NY. Get bored and go to a flea market and see some girl pounding on steel. Your kids start asking her questions and she tells you she is the daughter of a blacksmith. What is there not to like about that? It's almost heart warming. You buy the story and the memory, not the knife. The knife is arbitrary at best.

 

[NC Biker]

You buy the story and the memory, not the knife. The knife is arbitrary at best.

I agree, and her customers are not knife collectors. They are more apt to be the type of individuals who hold cocktail parties and have the knife on a cheese platter as a conversation piece.

 

[John Katt]

John, I get that your strong belief in this statement is what has you steamed. In many cases, as in the market for knives here on BladeForums, your statement is for the most part true. I feel like your being "hot under the collar" has pushed you to being a bit mean spirited (calling her work crap). Yes, that is your and probably other's opinion but a little etiquette doesn't hurt. Not trying to be a arrogant jerk here. Just stating the way I see things.

When I first looked at this thread I was OK with what she was doing, as I said in my first post to this thread, but then I got a closer look at her work website/video and I realized she jumped ahead strictly by using smoke and mirror's and Hollywood movie magic, along with some tight fitting clothes and a little cleavage

Then I thought about all the knives in the for sale area and the guys doing their very best to produce a quality product and having troubles getting 100 bucks, I feel like there is something wrong at a very basic level with this situation, at the very least there is a level of degradation here being cast on the knife makers community, If this is the new norm, then when I do decide to sell my first knife I will hire a topless model and plaster that stuff all over the Internet

I know that was over the top, but I seem to be developing a sore spot around my tail pipe area, its all so simple, produce a sub-standard product that you can quickly make in numbers, then advertise the crap out of it add a little sex, and then sell it to an unsuspecting crowd of sheeple

On a side note this is kinda what happened to me and the housing market in the late eighties.... Mc Mansions

 

[coldsteelburns]

I think the young lady in the video is more of an artist that a knife maker. Some of the most success artists I've met are much better at marketing than they are their craft.

I agree, and her customers are not knife collectors. They are more apt to be the type of individuals who hold cocktail parties and have the knife on a cheese platter as a conversation piece.

Great points! That about sums it all up in my mind

~Paul

---

My YT Channel Lsubslimed

 

[John Katt]

She isn't selling a knife to be someone's work horse. She's selling a knife that has a story. In reality she is selling a story.

Are you getting even a tiny feeling that along with a professional film crew, she also hired a publicist that is coaching her to embellish her story with Hyperbole, I feel like when I sit down to watch her documentary when it comes out, I will need a bowl of popcorn and a 6 pack because it will be more entertainment then the actual trials and tribulations of a knife maker

 

[Boogaloo]

Curious what people would make of these somewhat similarly rustic knives made in Portland.

There's only one female in their little About Us vid and they seem to strike a similar heritage arty type vibe.

http://youtu.be/7jB5L1MasoM

 

[Mike157]

With only the photo to go on and knowing nothing about the materials or heat treat, I would say that I'd be interested enough to pick it up (with permission, of course) and learn more about it. Definitely looks like there is skill involved here. I like the overall profile and the rough forged look. The edge appears to be clean. The handle has a nice, apparently well thought out and executed shape and has a fine finish. The pins seem aligned and neatly installed and blend with the handle scale. I like it so far. For me, include a tapered tang, maybe scale liners, well heat treated high carbon steel, or even a high carbon stainless (with a clean bevel leading to a finely finished edge), make sure those scales are stable, and I'd definitely be interested. Mike