An interesting video of a female knifemaker

Is the fact that HT isn't shown in the 3 minute trailer for this documentary, the reason it is assumed she doesn't? Her father is a blacksmith, she had some training from Nick Anger who is a knife maker, we can safely assume she knows about heat treating. Maybe she uses a modern oven and it doesn't fit what the person making the video had in mind. The video and her website are advertisements, people put a lot of thought of what to show or not to show to best represent themselves to their target markets.
 
Nathan the Machinist said:
Here you go, "Jo the Machinist" We're doubling our prices...
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Now there is a marketing plan I can get behind, due diligence, proper skill set, and bikini grinding....whats not to like ;0)

Now offer 4 free drinks with this plan and you will be back logged 2 years over night
 
NC Biker said:
See if she would grind in a bikini and you could triple them! :D
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That's a terrible idea, dumbass. :thumbdn:

I assume you're "kidding"... but cheese and rice... Would you even consider asking to see a handsome young male grinding in a speedo as a "marketing tool" for a knifemaker? I sure hope not.

Think it through before posting, dude. Everyone on yahoo and google and wherever can see this stuff.

I can hear it now,,, "Oh, I was just kidding"... :rolleyes:

It's flat-fricking DUMB to disregard/dismiss/diss women in our craft. If you don't respect females, or think they're best "displayed" in bikinis, you might want to consider another line of work. 'Cause you're not gonna last long in the knife biz... or any legitimate business. Times are changing, and that kinda nonsense is on the way out.

I have a daughter, sonny boy. I have a wife. I have a mom-in-law and aunts and cousins and nieces, all of whom I love and respect very much. You just insulted all of them.

My clients have wives and daughters and so forth too... and many of them are *gasp* women!".

Neither me nor any of my clients are one bit amused by some gross nitwit trolling for bikini pics in a thread about knifemakers.

"Oh, I was just kidding".

Would you like me to come to your house and "kid" about that?

Would you like to come visit my shop and talk that kinda smack? Nudge-nudge wink-wink about leering at my wife or daughter in a bikini, you creep?

It's not 19-sexist any more, it's 2015. You just lost a huge chunk of friendship, help, and clientele by posting such a blatantly sexist and stoopid comment.
 
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^ take a deep breath. I'm not offended, Jo's not offended, she just forwarded a picture to me of her in a bikini. She's machinist and she's hot and that's cool.

It was just a non-PC statement. Some people aren't politically correct and that's okay in my book.
 
I'm pretty sure guys in speedos and girls in bikinis has been used to sell anything and everything. Haven't you ever seen a stihl calendar? Almost every shop or garage you go into has pictures of girls on the wall. Don't firefighters put out calendars too? Those people are representing more than just a knifemaker and its no big deal.
 
james terrio said:
That's a terrible idea, dumbass. :thumbdn:
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James I find most of your drive by's very funny, but I think you are over reacting in a big way, The feminist movement has expended a great deal of energy trying to climb down from the pedestal that men have put them on, and here you are, not only putting your women folk back up on that pedestal by pretending they aren't sexual beings, you're also including jo

society in its current condition seems to me to be about breaking down the barriers that the last 5000 years has placed on women and leaving it for open discussion, not to shove it back in the closet, never to be talked about

I can say what I say because I am the father of 5, 3 of them girls, and I can assure you we have no such hangups
 
james terrio said:
That's a terrible idea, dumbass. :thumbdn:

I assume you're "kidding"... but cheese and rice...
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No need to assume I was kidding as I think most reasonable people would realize I was not serious and would see the obvious attempt at humor by the big green grinning smiley face at the end of my statement. Besides the girl in the video was wearing a revealing wife beater t-shirt while grinding. Can't you see how the comment was appropriate to the conversation? :rolleyes: <<<----- sarcasm in case you don't know what that emoticon means.
 
I can't believe how much discussion has arisen from that video. I watched it and thought " eh, that's kinda cool another bladesmithin' gal. Not bad lookin' either. *Yawn*. What else is goin' on?". And that was the end of it for me.

I think a lot of people are thinking too hard about this. It's not a ripple that will cause a Tsunami on the other side of the world. It's just another gender irrelevant person beating out a living. Life goes on.

I do believe we should think about the things we say, either in person or on the internet, before we say them. But let's get a grip. there's nothing wrong with a little good natured teasing. I think political correctness has gotten grossly out of control in this country. I don't subscribe to it myself. Let's just keep the discussion on point.
 
I admit I don't get what the fuss is about. I am taking business training right now to develop private practice as a therapist, and what I am realizing is that as knife makers, we are terrible at marketing for the most part. We sell our image/reputation as much as our products, and we miss that point. This girl did a great job marketing her product to her intended customer. The video was really well done. She is attractive, speaks well, and has a "cool" story. She simply kicked most of our asses on something we generally do poorly.

Attractive people sell better than unattractive people. They are seen as smarter, more honest, and more skilled than unattractive people. Like it or not, that's reality. She wasn't trashy at all. I personally think she did a great job of marketing to her audience/clientele.
 
Willie71 said:
I admit I don't get what the fuss is about. I am taking business training right now to develop private practice as a therapist, and what I am realizing is that as knife makers, we are terrible at marketing for the most part. We sell our image/reputation as much as our products, and we miss that point. This girl did a great job marketing her product to her intended customer. The video was really well done. She is attractive, speaks well, and has a "cool" story. She simply kicked most of our asses on something we generally do poorly.

Attractive people sell better than unattractive people. They are seen as smarter, more honest, and more skilled than unattractive people. Like it or not, that's reality. She wasn't trashy at all. I personally think she did a great job of marketing to her audience/clientele.
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Well spoken.

I do get competitive myself, even if what the other person isn't even affecting me. That doesn't take away that she's doing something better than me though, and I can learn from that.
 
james terrio said:
That's a terrible idea, dumbass. :thumbdn:

I assume you're "kidding"... but cheese and rice... Would you even consider asking to see a handsome young male grinding in a speedo as a "marketing tool" for a knifemaker? I sure hope not.

Think it through before posting, dude. Everyone on yahoo and google and wherever can see this stuff.

I can hear it now,,, "Oh, I was just kidding"... :rolleyes:

It's flat-fricking DUMB to disregard/dismiss/diss women in our craft. If you don't respect females, or think they're best "displayed" in bikinis, you might want to consider another line of work. 'Cause you're not gonna last long in the knife biz... or any legitimate business. Times are changing, and that kinda nonsense is on the way out.

I have a daughter, sonny boy. I have a wife. I have a mom-in-law and aunts and cousins and nieces, all of whom I love and respect very much. You just insulted all of them.

My clients have wives and daughters and so forth too... and many of them are *gasp* women!".

Neither me nor any of my clients are one bit amused by some gross nitwit trolling for bikini pics in a thread about knifemakers.

"Oh, I was just kidding".

Would you like me to come to your house and "kid" about that?

Would you like to come visit my shop and talk that kinda smack? Nudge-nudge wink-wink about leering at my wife or daughter in a bikini, you creep?

It's not 19-sexist any more, it's 2015. You just lost a huge chunk of friendship, help, and clientele by posting such a blatantly sexist and stoopid comment.
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Haha, too dry brother, obviously, nobody got it, except me. Fun stuff. Cheers! ;)
 
OK, EVERYBODY take a deep breath. It is OK.

Personally, I don't see this gals appeal or skills, but I have been baffled many times by what sells when hype and/or salesmanship are well applied. Does it bother me - Yes....does it affect me - NO.
All I will say about her wares are they seem poor quality and are the last thing I would use in the kitchen.

As for being in several articles and TV shows...well, take a look at Duck Dynasty and you will see that it has nothing to do with skill or talent. It is all about knowing the right people. In the end, it is all about money.

Final word:
We have to look no farther than Dennis Greenbaum to see how a self promoter can succeed. He had his name in all sorts of things and co-edited a knife book.....all with the experience of making a terrible looking kit knife and a second knife he had someone made for him.
 
Wow, James that was the biggest over reaction I have seen in a long while, the whole time I was waiting for a punchline or something
 
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I still say good for her if she can get the kind of money for her knives that probably none of us here think they deserve. If, as was mentioned, people want the knife for the story and as a conversation piece then all is well in my book. My caveat is this, any knife costing more than $30 should come with some expectation of performance if that is what the consumer is looking for. I can't help but think of my father who seems to fall prey to every "get rich quick" scam on the Internet. I don't know why but he can't help but believe the hype and packaging of snake oil salesman. So, I would feel horrible if a well intentioned purchaser of these knives bought them for a loved one believing that the high price equals an outstanding performer. Maybe they do perform well, I can't say for sure that they don't but the stated use as a "grater" leaves me with some doubt. Seems like grating food with a knife is potentially dangerous too. As long as the purchaser is fully aware of what they are getting then it's fine.
 
Marketing is complex in today's world, whatever it takes to make fish bite or in this case lure in customers is an art in itself and often has no relevance to the product. Be it pictures of making knives in a sexy bathing suit, or whatever. One has to be creative to attract a customer base and at times it goes a bit extreme like the advertising for last night's super bowl. Sometimes there is collateral damage that will butt hurt the feelings for some people, but so be it. Its called free enterprise in a free society.
 
Would be nice if she subscribed here, we could help her with the knifemaking part that's for sure. ;)
Then again, she is probably not interested in that cause if she was, her knives would look a lot better than that by now.

Ok, now can we please go back to knifemaking? :thumbup:
 
Agreed, the quality of her work is nowhere near the standards for many including myself, but the fact that she is making knives and selling them works for her. She claims to have been making them for only a few years. If she sticks to it and given her passion for making knives it could be that she will improve with time and become an artist of steel. For many of us including myself the knives made early in the game were not all that great.
 
Bufford said:
Agreed, the quality of her work is nowhere near the standards for many including myself, but the fact that she is making knives and selling them works for her. She claims to have been making them for only a few years. If she sticks to it and given her passion for making knives it could be that she will improve with time and become an artist of steel. For many of us including myself the knives made early in the game were not all that great.
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While I salute her marketing and Niche' market she has found. As soon as all of these carbon steel blades and cheese spreaders start getting little rust spots on them because the folks that purchased them put em in the dishwasher, left food on them, left them wet in the sink and many other no's no's, especially for carbon steel, she may have a few of them coming back to the shop for fix its etc.
 
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