Yes Sam, I am glad to see the number of affirmative posts that you are getting so that I can know it is not just me. There are days I feel I am even less productive in my shop because there is no stimulation from social interaction. I have two dogs that give momentary breaks from the monotony, but let’s face it an occasional wet nose wanting to be petted is not social interaction. For years I have listened to talk radio in order to hear human voices, and keep up on current affairs in the outside world, but lately I have even turned that off as I have become so jaded with our political system that listening to either sides platitudes only makes me depressed by the incredible levels of ignorance the general population is capable of.
I have always been quite isolated in the middle of rural MI (when I tested for my stamps the closest mastersmith was Jim Porter in southernmost Indiana), so there is not much opportunity for knife talk. And after doing this for this many years I find myself hesitating or just answering “metalworker” when I am asked what I do for a living, in order to avoid having to educate or entirely re-educate the person before the conversation can proceed, and in that time you could have been talking about things that both of you would have found stimulating. I know I would rather talk about the weather with a person if at any point in this introduction they mention something they saw, read or heard about Japanese swords smiths
, it is a sure sign that this is the type of person who gets their news from John Stewart or Oprah and I can expect the conversation to be about as deep as a mud puddle. I also hesitate when asked what I do, because for many “knifemaker” means you grind old files like uncle Clemm does, and they will immediately follow with “yes but what do you do for a living”. And it is even worse if you say you make swords. Then it is either images of skulls, chains and leather, or 40 year old kids dressing up to still play dungeons and dragons in the park, or a combination of both, unless, of course, you say you studied in Japan.
Rejoice Sam it can get worse! Imagine feeling lonely at a gathering of knifemakers! When you are a heretic with radical and “non-traditional” ideas life can be easier if you just keep your mouth shut and not try to correct that bit of atrocious fantasy that was just passed along as a valuable tip. As you have seen, when somebody makes definitive statements out of their opinions and you have the nerve to ask for some facts to back it up, you simply add a few more names to the enemy list. And say you are dying to explore the concept of shear type formation of austenite that you just read about, well who do you turn to? With exception of just a couple (like mete), metallurgists will simply switch to the “yes, yes you quaint little man!” approach when they find out you are a knifemaker, until you bounce something off them that they have a hard time keeping up with, and then the conversation is
really over.
Due to the effect that the day in and day out isolation has had on my personality (people who have known me for years can see it) I have considered taking on an apprentice but a system where a competent person who has their entire day free to work with you for nothing more than the gaining of knowledge and skills does not work in the 21st century economy. Besides, perhaps the reason I am lonely is because I am not that easy to be around. This forum is good but more actual gathering jsut for the fun is better.
Your experience is not unique Sam, in fact I would be curious as to how many knifemakers may suffer slight depression due to the isolation an nature of the work.
