Buying the knife because of the maker

golok

golok

Joined
Oct 20, 2000
Messages
4,453
I have always been fascinated with the backgrounds of knifemakers.

I have read books and magazines giving detailed accounts of knifemakers who have very interesting backgrounds: how they started, what they went through and how they are coping with their chosen profession.

Because these factors are important to me, sometimes I developed a particular liking for a certain maker's knives even without assessing accurately the quality of his steel creations.

The criterion, to me personally, anyway, is that if the maker is such an interesting person, I reckon his knives are worth collecting.

The story behind the knives holds a high place in my personal assessment of a knife or knives.

I believe for some of us this aspect is always worth considering when choosing a knife. The men behind the blades are sometimes so much more interesting than the blades themselves.
 
To me, the men/women behind the knives are one of the most important parts of why I purchase their knives. It is more how I interact with them than anything about them personally that makes me want have something that they created. If I somehow get to feel that the maker is in some way a friend then I am much more comfortable dealing with that person.
 
I've said it many times, "I came for the knives and stayed for the people". If I look at my knives each one of them has a story and a person behind it. The ones where that person is the maker of that knife, makes that knife all the more special. I've been lucky, I've been able to meet almost all of the makers of my handmade knives, some I consider as very good friends. I think it has more to do with the kind of people they are rather than who or what I am. I could easily buy knives for the rest of my life just from the makers I know. If you're not making an effort to get to know the makers you admire, it's your fault not theirs, and you're cheating yourself of the true joy of collecting knives.
 
That's half the reason I want a Fowler! Of course he makes excellent knives, but the man behind the knives is fascinating to me. I've found most makers are great guys, and if they have great blades it's all the more reason to own one (Or more!)
 
Pretty much what Phil said. I have to enjoy the relationship with the maker to own the knife. Even when keeping that in mind I can not come close to affording the work of every maker who has my respect as a person. And then there are the friendships :).
 
Exactly what Phil said! When I do get my Ed Fowler knife, it's gonna be great because of the kind of person Ed is, and let's not forget Angie!
This is also the reason all these Carson model 4's keep finding their way to my house, besides being great knives, he's a great guy. Gotta figure out how he got that model 4 to flash in my avatar though. Like some kind of subliminal message:D
All my knives that are keepers are made by people I like and respect. I dont own knives by people I dont like.
 
I absolutely agree with the above comments. Getting to know the makers of the fine knives we like to collect takes the hobby to it's highest level. I've only been involved with serious knife collecting for the past 4 years or so, but I've had the opportunity to meet makers of the caliber of Darrel Ralph, Pat Crawford, Chris Reeve. Talking with these gentlemen makes collecting and using their knives all the more significant.

Also, meeting some of the members here at the shows has been a real pleasure. It's probably been said before, but knife-people are some of the "knifest";) people around.
 
Yes, all of this makes sense. I most enjoyed my few times at custom knife shows as I got to meet the makers from whom I purchased knives. Alas, we all go our way after the show and I have not tried to keep up any relationships especially as most of those I bought from have little or no online presence.

My most recent custom was purchased from a knife maker who happens to be a close neighbor. Him I can see every weekend. Another I bought because the maker happend to be a very attractive woman! It is also true that the workmanship of this particular knife - the detailed handle and filing work - are by far the most artistic of the customs I own, and for no more than the cost of the others...

So yes, I'd like to get to know the knife makers more, and some I'd like to get to know even more than others.... ;)
 
I buy a knife AFTER I get to know the maker by E-mail or through the phone. I do not ask a maker to make me a knife because of his reputation. If the maker and I cannot make that "connection" and develop an open, honest and cordial relationship throughout the process, I do not want the knife.
Right now, with my limited experience, I am hunting for knives made by people I have come to know through this forum. As I get further along in my collecting, I can expand who I chose to make my knives or who's maker I chose to buy his knives. But if I have no sense of the maker, I do not develop that "feeling" that I think is vital to having a finished product that both the buyer and maker are proud of.
When I asked Bill Buxton to make me my "wolfmann knife", we talked often via E-mail and developed a very friendly relationship. I then knew he was the kind of guy who puts 200% into every knife he makes and his goal was to make me a knife I would be proud to own. He did that and did it to perfection. It is these types of makers that my collection will consist of..........Ira
 
 "Blood swett and tears"

yup the D&A is all over them.
I've had buyers say they'd know my knives anywhere.
  Well that's the self in them. and it feels good to thing one can see me in it.

To know my work is to know me..
   That's been said before.
 

 Most you buyers are art collectors at heart, this art just
happen to be useable tools with a kind of a sole to them.

I've said it before I feel a part of me
goes with each one I make they're hard to part with.

It may sound strange but many times I've
sat to watch the TV
and hold the one I've been working on feel it and get to know it.
  Many many times set it on the stand beside the bed to be one of the things
I grab first thing in the morning.
  told you It may sound strange.. just the way I feel about it..
 
I don't care if a knifemaker makes the best looking/best functioning/most advanced materials/excellent fit and finish, etc knife - but if he is an a$$hole or is even abrasive like the grinder belts he uses, I refuse to buy any of his knives. To me, the maker himself as a person is just as important to me in the decision to buy a custom knife.

With the knife industry being close knit and no doubt these forums help to meet folks easily, I feel blessed to have befriended quite a few makers. Some of which whose knives I own and use. But I also have makers who I count as friends whose knives I do not own (not that they are bad makers...just that their pieces may not strike my fancy). Bottom line is, if these guys weren't makers and were just average knife nuts, I'd still be keeping in touch with them and giving them a hard time :p As they say, "birds of a feather flock together" :)

In a way, I apply this same philosophy to custom purveyors as well.
 
 I would hope if anyone thought me an A$$ hole
someone would tell me why? sometimes one can
get rubbed the wrong way for the wrong
reasons..there are guys that don't care for nothing 
except for themselves, I'd like to hope
there was no one like that.
This business is the least cut throat as I've seen for retail.
 this is one reason I'm getting out of the small engine trade it sucks real bad..
 
Dan, as huge as you are, who in their right mind would call you anything but SIR to your face?:eek: :eek: :eek:

Having said that, and having met and talked with you at length, you as far from an A$$hole as one could be. I found you to be an honest and personable GENTLEMAN, and the fact that you are a dedicated maker is secondary to the type of man you are.

The two reasons I asked you to make me a knife was the effort you put into every knife you make and your absolute honesty.

never change a thing, you are a true gentleman;)

AND...If I ever did call you an A$$hole, I am certain that I best have a smile on my face or be in the process of depressing the trigger on a machine-gun!!!!!!!!.........Ira
 
Thanks Ira (wolfmann) I felt the same way after a couple e-mails and realized you was a person that I really wanted to make a knife for, I have several customers that I really look forward to making for because they appreciate the time, effort and personal dedication that most knifemakers put into each knife they make. But like you buyers, not buying from some makers because of poor communications or just bad vibs. I too won't sell to some buyers for the same reason, no matter what the price.
I agree with what Dan said 100%, about putting a piece of yourself into every knife I make, when you put that many hours into heating, shaping, grinding and finishing a knife you really see what you and this piece of steel have gone thru and become.
Some makers have a harder time with the public then others, I just came back from a hammer in, and I knew not one of the makers when I arrived there. Some were very cold acting towards me when we first met, but it wasn't because they were hateful, they were more just bashful and shy, by the end of the hammer in, I had made several good friends, and some of them were these cold acting people when we first met. Take the time to now knifemakers and don't be judgemental by first appearances,sure a few are real ass holes and totally full of themselves, but 99.5% are the most generous and helpful people you'll ever meet, just like you buyers.

Bill
 
I think that my custom knives are each an individual. And they definitely have a soul, at least all but one. One my just really be the work of the devil. I've never handled it that it hasn't cut me. But then the blade is such a beautiful, deep, sensual piece of Damascus that I just can't stop running my fingers over it. ;)

And I find that quite often the knive reflects the knifemaker. Some are complex, loud boistrous knives. Others appear simple at first but as you get to know them, complexities come to the surface that you never expected. One of my favorites is terribly uncomfortable in a formal, dark, overstuffed room but is perfectly happy lying on an old bench in the barn. Another always feels as though it should be sitting next to a Bombay Martini on a highly polished Mahagony bar.

Yes, I do buy knives because of the makers personality, but I also find out lots about the makers personality from the knives he's made.
 
This "new hobby" of mine has been an eye-opener and there is so much to learn. During the many years of collecting firearms, there was such a different attitude as there were very few true custom Gunsmiths who made their own firearm, every component of it. Going to a gunshow or buying a "customized" firearm was far more like "business" than the world of knives. It seemed like you always dealt with a middle man.

This year was the "transistion" year for me. I moved up to the world of customs and started to have makers make me the knives I have developed a likeing for. The most important thing, especially for a novice, is being able to connect with the maker, being treated no differently than if I were a guy struggling to be able to buy just one knife, or a guy with millions to burn. I have found those makers who are open, cordial, friendly and dedicated to their work to be the knife makers I seek out. I am not that huge of a collector that I care about the "name brand makers" because of their value in the secondary market. It must have been the same for the now household names in the knife world when they made their first few knives for sale that they too were relative unknowns. Not knowing if the knife I buy from maker X, a relative unknown will one day become the Moran of the new millenium, I do my buying by sizing up the maker.

If he treats me with mutual respect, is a warm and friendly person, and really busts his hump on every knife, even when he knows his hourly wage is probably less than $10.00 an hour and still only sells what has met his very high personal standards, that's the maker for me.

Then in twenty years, no matter how high the Maker goes from that knife I bought in 2002, if he is still the open, honest, friendly and dedicated guy he was to begin with, his backlog will be tremendous, but he will still treat everyone as an "equal".

If that maker grows to become a "dick-head" [or already is], then I guess I can say I judged him wrong. But from the names I have compiled on my list of must have made for 2002, 2003, and 2004, I doubt that will ever be a problem because the names I have chosen are all truly decent human beings.........ira
 
Ditto, ditto, and ditto! Being able to "meet my maker", so to speak, is one of the main reasons my "collecting sickness" has switched focus from wristwatches to knives. Whether it is the purchase of a "work of art" or a "tool", being able to interact with the person whose blood, sweat, and tears actually created that product has been one of the greatest pleasures I have received over the past three years. Knife makers and knife collectors have played a huge part in restoring my severely eroded faith in humanity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top