Andrew Jordan, a bladesmith at work.

B

Beftus

Joined
May 1, 2000
Messages
25
October 7, 2003 Dutch RVU television showed the documentary "Messen" (Knives) about Andrew Jordan, a British bladesmith making a living in the Netherlands. The whole documentary (23 min.) is available in RealMedia format.

In the documentary you can see this knife being made:
front05.jpg


The documentary (broadband): http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/tv/rvu/werkenaanwerk/bb.20031007.rm
for slower connections: http://cgi.omroep.nl/cgi-bin/streams?/tv/rvu/werkenaanwerk/sb.20031007.rm

Andrew Jordans site: http://www.jordanknives.com/
 
What a wonderfully informative post. Thank you very much. I enjoyed that documentary very much.

It's great to see that he is busy. From the looks of the knives on his site he deserves to be.
 
I have seen the documentary on Dutch television and found it very interresting. I taped it to de able to see it again. Andrew makes some very nice knives. I have met him at European knife shows and found him (and his wife) easy to talk to.

JD
 
I have had the pleasure of handling Andrew Jordans knives at the Munich knife show-and still regret not buying one (hope to change that next year). His fit and finish is excellent on all knives, so it was no surprise that he won best of show two years running.
Its nice to see that he is getting some coverage here on the forums.

Jens.
 
Well I finally got a chance to view the documentary and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very informative and visually appealing. My favorite part was seeing the forged blade dipped in etching solution and watching the bold mosaic pattern magically appear. Very cool.

On a realted point I've sometimes wondered why more bladesmiths don't try using video as a promotional tool. One wouldn't need the high production values of this documentary, but a 10 - 15 min. video showing the forging process, a few examples of finished knives, and more importantly introducing yourself to potential customers, could have a tremendous impact. After watching this documentary I feel I got to know the maker - I got an idea of work ethic, attention to detail and passion for the forged blade. This kind of stuff can't be communicated as effectively in in the written word or in still photos. Did you see the look of pride as a smile slowly spread across his face while presenting the finished bowie? That's powerful stuff from a promotional standpoint.

The whole personalization thing is also important given that not everyone can routinely make the journey to knife shows where they might meet and greet the makers.

I know Fisk has done a video (I have a copy). I think others should too.

Cheers,

Roger
 
Roger, you're right, an excellent way to market yourself and your product. Some videos are available and even a DVD (charlie ochs )but this makes it easier. You could download from a website. The only thing would be to get it done professionally. Many bladesmiths still have to learn to photograph their products properly.
 
WOW!! :) That was a fantastic video!!! Roger and Mete are on the money, what a great way to promote oneself, especially if one could have a streaming video from a website where potential customers could watch it...hmm, the gears are turning! :)

I'd love to have a copy of that video archived for future reference, in case it ever disappears from the web...does anyone know how to save streaming .rm files to disk, I've got a high bandwidth connection, but for the life of me can't figure out how to save this video! Thanks for any help! :)

-Darren
 
Darren,

A CD-Rom version is available from the maker and a VHS version available from the production company that did the documentary. The info is on Jordan's site under the "News" section. The link is above in the first post. I think I'm going to get a copy myself - it's a great way to explain to non-knife people what a forged blade is about.

Cheers,

Roger
 
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