Annoying comments

Ed Caffrey said:
I've hear just about every one of the comments listed in this thread. The one that always stops people in their tracks is the "Will you make me a sword?" question. My response to that one is.."Sure! For $1,000 down, with the remainder due upon completion." Another that I did not see mentioned..."Who chrome plates your blades?"

All fun aside, one our biggest jobs as knifemakers is to also be educators. If someone asks why they should pay XXX for your knife, when they can get one at XXX for XX, tell them and show them why!
I can't count the number of larger knives I've sold because I took the time to chop through a 2x4 for someone, and then shave hair from my arm with the same knife.
Even though a person may scoff at, or be ignorant of custom knives, I've found that those you take the time to educate now, often become clients later.
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Well said!

I did have a mother, after hearing about my knife making activity respond sarcastically and with a nervous chuckling, "Well, that's good with kids in the house!" I guess the huge block set on my kitchen counter (and probably hers) was nothing compared to what I might be doing in the shop!

Most people I talk to are interested and open to learning. I know a lot of people that want a custom knife after seeing one, and I'm Los Angeles. Not too many folks carrying a fixed EDC here...
 
A person encounters the same thing when it comes to dogs. If you have a good dog, know how to train and are competitive there is no end to the people who think they understand conformation, training and dog behavior. Anytime the subject was brought up I'd speak a little and listen to see if they understood or were taking it in. If it wasn't and they went on I'd politely listen and look for a natural opportunity to exit. You can't do anything with people like that.
 
Lots of groans and chuckles in this thread. To be fair though, I think in general folks are better educated or at least more willing to learn now, than they were a few years ago, at least to some degree. But of course, "Some men, you just can't reach."
 
I've tried to explain what I do with knives to people. Because I work with things like antler, I tend to get questions about how the animal died. I explain that the antler is from sheds, but they have no idea what I mean. One woman asked me if my house was full of trophies... as if using antler means I'm a hunter.

My wife, who tries to understand my fascination with the hobby, has on occasion commented that she doesn't understand why my fascination has to be centered around something that kills people. She acknowledges that's not the only use for knives, but that doesn't blunt her opinion much.

In the end, she (and others) seem to appreciate that this hobby is helping to keep me happy and active, so she doesn't give me much grief. She even says, on other occasions, that she's amazed what I'm able to turn out.

And I think that's really how most people will react. They may really like your products, but they sure won't understand them. Heck, I don't understand much of what goes into the work you folks do, since I'm just playing at it. But at some level it isn't important that they understand or agree... at least it isn't important to me. I'm doing this for myself, not for them.

Likewise, those of you that encounter rubes that think they know it all... bear in mind, those people were never going to be your customers anyway. After all, you aren't good enough to sell your stuff at Walmart (or flea markets, apparently).

- Greg
 
A young man said to me,
"You can temper a knife by stickin' it in hot cornbread right out of the oven, and then dippin' it in some cold butter milk."

I was speechless.
 
My biggest pet peeve is when someone I show a knife to starts air fighting and saying something to the effect of "you could really tear someone up with this thing!"..

Another favorite is "what would someone use that for?"

I got a new one the other day "Have you ever found out one of your knives killed someone?"

These comments aren't usually from people at shows, just people I work with (business environment), people I meet and ask to see something, etc.. and I usually only show smaller, less intimidating knives in these environments.

People at shows, while sometimes misguided & uninformed, generally know not all knives are for killing and what they may need a knife for in everyday life.
 
I've ran into the sword question before. So I can relate.

The one conversation I ran into in the last month went like this.

How much do you get for one of your knives? I stated $200. He says man that's high.
His next question is how long does it take you to make one? I said around 40 hrs. Depending on the knife. So I make like $5/hr. He then shakes his head and says again. Man, your knives are high priced.

I agree though it is part of our responsibility to educate as much as we can about the industry.

Dave from Diller
 
Actually Dave, you make $5/hr. for your shop time. The rest of your time answering stupid questions is uncompensated. Never mind materials, marketing or bookkeeping...

Yep, I'd find that one annoying.
 
I hate it when a non knife type person comes into the shop or engages conversation about my knifemaking by asking; "Why do you make weapons out of steel instead of something else that isn't a weapon?" My standard answer is that they are tools not weapons, and then further ellaborate on the subject until they understand better.
 
I have a copy of Jim Weyer's book Knives: Points of Interest in the shop for just such questions. I'll let the person look through the book and decided if they think the knives are weapons or works of art. Most walk away with a new outlook.

Dave from Diller
 
I probably spend 99% of my time at show attempting to educate people. I say attempting because many just do not want to understand the craft. I get the I had a Grandfather who was a blacksmith and he....... Or I know a guy who knows a guy who used to make real cool knives out of ......... Or they want me to appraise one of their knives hacked together out of an old file. Hard as glass and scabbed together with an old broomstick as the handle. Now I know we all started somewhere. My firsts are very crude and made from planer blades scabbed together with elk antler. The big difference is I have spent countless hours researching and learning why the planer blade in its original form is not the best material to use. I have had the I want you to make me a sword all the while flailing 2 blades around I had just finished then banging the blades together to hear the clang. After I gave him the lecture about don't strike two blades together I gave him the $5000 estimate on the sword. He kind of shrank out of the shop but still called me later. I referred him to one of the production sword makers and he was elated. I could go on and on and on. I do agree we need to educate as much as possible. It is when I get the guy who knows it all and tells me how to quench facing north using the urine of a redheaded virgin that gets my goat.

Anyhow Rant over
 
A C Richards said:
I probably spend 99% of my time at show attempting to educate people. I say attempting because many just do not want to understand the craft. I get the I had a Grandfather who was a blacksmith and he....... Or I know a guy who knows a guy who used to make real cool knives out of ......... Or they want me to appraise one of their knives hacked together out of an old file. Hard as glass and scabbed together with an old broomstick as the handle. Now I know we all started somewhere. My firsts are very crude and made from planer blades scabbed together with elk antler. The big difference is I have spent countless hours researching and learning why the planer blade in its original form is not the best material to use. I have had the I want you to make me a sword all the while flailing 2 blades around I had just finished then banging the blades together to hear the clang. After I gave him the lecture about don't strike two blades together I gave him the $5000 estimate on the sword. He kind of shrank out of the shop but still called me later. I referred him to one of the production sword makers and he was elated. I could go on and on and on. I do agree we need to educate as much as possible. It is when I get the guy who knows it all and tells me how to quench facing north using the urine of a redheaded virgin that gets my goat.

Anyhow Rant over
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AC.
I love the last one.
Redheaded virgins are so rare, its really expensive to get. Thats why my knives are so expensive.
Del
 
I was showing someone a piece of A2 yesterday, and explained that I paid $30 for it.

They then suggested that I start buying my steel from Lowes because I can get the "same thing" for $5 there.

I tried to explain why that wouldn't work, but they didn't seem to understand.
 
Sorry to keep this going, but I find that this may help some understand why they get such comments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

Essentially it says that those who don't know as much will lie and act as though your knowledge/skill is not as you say. They do this because they have little knowledge of it themselves.

To make my point, I recently had a guy tell me recently that the knives from china are currently made of the best steel in the world for producing blades. Mind you the store he works in sells bongs and gag gifts along with Budk knives and a couple name brand folders...
 
I think the most frustrating is when you hand someone a very small and functional fixed blade and they say "Now what would you use this for?" and I then find myself in the baffling position of trying to explain the obvious fucntion of one of man's oldest tools.
 
David Schott said:
I think the most frustrating is when you hand someone a very small and functional fixed blade and they say "Now what would you use this for?" and I then find myself in the baffling position of trying to explain the obvious fucntion of one of man's oldest tools.
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This one all the time.

Alternatively when looking at a small fixed blade- Hmm this would be good with a 6 inch blade.

6 inches is the magic perfect length of any knife.
 
I hate serrations. Every person who has ever approached me about making them a knife has wanted it "sear-rated."

I've experienced most of the scenarios in this thread, and they have left me very bitter towards the idea of a customer. It's made me stop using the term "custom" for any non factory made knife. I use the term "handmade" for everything I do. Custom just means "for a customer" and that just doesn't appeal to me at all. Part of why I got into this was because I suck with people. I generally do well making what I like, and not taking any orders. The stories and types of people featured in this thread have changed my business practices dramatically.

Some people have a good heart about this stuff, but just apparently have never heard of the internet...

"hay man.....You could take them over to the bait shop and have the guy display them in his case....or the flea market, or the local gun hut, or the grocery store, or the auction house. Imagine how many people in this town come in those places and will see your knives....yep."
 
oh....the most annoying thing of all is people you kinda know....like aquaintances and co-workers wanting a free knife.

"You make knives?"

"Sure do!"

"dude, make me one!"

"......."

You just know they aren't expecting any sort of payment or anything.
 
One that happened to me recently. A man picks up a kitchen knife I've made, sees the price and says, "I'll give you $50 for it" to which I politely reply "I'm sorry sir, the price on it is the price, I don't haggle"
He kept going at me until I decided to ask him a few questions.
"sir. what do you do for a living?"
"I sell insurance"
"How long have you been doin that"
"About 10 years"
"and if you don't mind me asking, how much do you make an hour"
"I support my family"
"that's ok, I understand. I've been doing this for 15 years, and that knife you're looking at took me 35hrs to make."
at that point he looked at me and said, "sheesh, I had no idea"

He still didn't buy it but maybe next time he'll think about what he says before he tries to lowball someone on a price.
 
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