Collectors, what are you doing to improve your collecting skills?

ptgdvc

ptgdvc

Joined
Feb 27, 2003
Messages
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There is a great advertising slogan for SYMS: An educated consumer is our best customer.

What are you doing to educate yourself as a collector, and by extention improve your collection?

Any pearls of wisdom, that you would care to share?
 
The best thing a collector can do is to try to make a few knives by hand. Forge a blade, anneal it, use files and sandpaper to grind it, heat-treat it, polish and mount it, and you'll acquire tremendously useful knowledge.
 
Peter,

Is this a collection of knives bought with money you expect to "throw away" and not care if your knife will sell for anything...should you decide to sell it.

Or is this a collection of knives you bought with the idea of maybe the knives holding their value?

True an educated collector will be the best collector.

Interesting that you are using the slogan of a brand name "Discount" (factory seconds) retail store with regards to custom knives.

But I get your meaning. :D

G
 
WoodWorkGhost said:
Peter,

Is this a collection of knives bought with money you expect to "throw away" and not care if your knife will sell for anything...should you decide to sell it.

Or is this a collection of knives you bought with the idea of maybe the knives holding their value?

G
Click to expand...

WWG,

You want to get me in trouble right from the start. LOL!

The first thing you mentioned, is an accumulation of cutlery, being held in limbo for a future YARD SALE. You don't need any knowledge or wisdom to slap that one together. In fact, it requires so little thought and effort, it is almost a NO BRAINER.

The second one is more in line with what I was thinking.

P
 
Taking in ALL I can form you experts / long term collectors and makers here on the Blade Forums. Especially you Anthony. ;)

Seriously, I have probably learned more here in the last 11 months than in my previously several years of collecting. :thumbup:
 
Reading this Forum is probably the most beneficial in increasing my knowledge of knives, although I have not broken the $1000 + price point as many of you avid collectors, I still consider it a wealth of information.

Thanks,
Peter
 
ptgdvc said:
There is a great advertising slogan for SYMS: An educated consumer is our best customer.

What are you doing to educate yourself as a collector, and by extention improve your collection?

Any pearls of wisdom, that you would care to share?
Click to expand...

I go to a fair amount of shows, and hang out with makers and fellow collectors.

I hang out with the GOOD ones, too, considered peer, and betters.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I do as much reading and checking out knives as I possibly can. This forum has been the best resource for me. The information passed along by other collectors, makers, and knife entrepreneurs has been invaluable.
 
Joss said:
The best thing a collector can do is to try to make a few knives by hand. Forge a blade, anneal it, use files and sandpaper to grind it, heat-treat it, polish and mount it, and you'll acquire tremendously useful knowledge.
Click to expand...

This is very true, I have made a few of my own, and still do. I have learned alot and learned to appreciate alot by doing this.
 
I joined Blade Forums to learn from the best of the best. I read the posts, watch for knives for sale and trade, look at the fit and finish, I read a lot of threads over in BRL's forum, even had him do some work for me. His responses have taught me a LOT! Have not been to the bay in a while, just because I can barely afford the ones I have bought here. :D:D:D:D
 
Visiting maker's shops and watching them forge and make knives is just fascinating and very educational.

Visiting the ABS school and seeing Steve Dunn and Dickey Robinson teach a Damascus class was informative and useful since my collection is so focused on Damascus knives.
 
Aside from reading what folks post on forums and browsing dealer sites regularly to see what's what, I find the best thing for me is talking with makers at shows and asking questions. Hearing their thoughts on materials, design, techniques, and anything else to do with knives and the knife market helps to both expand and refine my own thinking. Several times I have gained appreciation for a particular knife or style after a maker has told me "I did it this way because...."
 
ptgdvc said:
What are you doing to educate yourself as a collector, and by extention improve your collection?

Any pearls of wisdom, that you would care to share?
Click to expand...

I have made many kit knives, and that is a level of experience that shows how much care is involved in good workmanship.

I have attended three hammer-ins and gave photo seminars at two. I have preached the gospel of Good Photography ad nauseum.....

I read this forum and others every day to stay on top of ideas and trends.

I subscribe to three publications and read them cover to cover.

I take crystal clear photos of my OWN acquisitions and tell all about my likes and experiences with the maker involved and the piece I purchased. The ripple effect is well-reknowned.

I pay attention to the For Sale forums. It is very apparent that many folks overvalue their knives (no sales), or undersell them by poor marketing skills (read #2).

I have learned to simply wait and say no when sorely tempted. Wait a couple of days and see how I feel about something then.

Coop
 
In 2 1/2 years, I have gone from being almost totally unaware of the custom knife market, to the following by:

Started buying a few E-Bay custom items (including some pretty bad stuff :grumpy:), started reading all I could, subscribed to Blade Magazine, became better acquainted with a local maker (had something to do with a sunfish?), bought a few of his older knives from the estate of a collector about the time I placed my first order, went to my first show in Chicago in '05, joined these forums, went to St. Louis, Little Rock, Blade and Plaza Cutlery shows in '06, getting to know many more makers in the process.

The forums and window shopping on the computer has been very valuable to me of late, but I enjoy the chance of seeing knife making first hand the best. Earlier this year I took a two-day knifemaking course and made my first knife. As Joss says, VERY valuable! Every collector needs to do this at least once.

There are so many good custom knifemaker websites, each having so many good links, it is hard to get bored if one wants to learn with a mouse.

Attended Little Rock and Blade shows this year and feel I know more after each show. That is one of the better perks about collecting, there are so many oppurtunities to approach the makers at the various shows.

I think the next step I would like to take is to attend a hammer-in and maybe some day hammer a little myself. :eek:

I hope to keep up the pace.


- Joe
 
Oh, another thing which is useful is to understand the basics of metallurgy and HT. For this, I know no better sites than those of Kevin Cashen and of Don Fogg (plus some nice nuggets at Howard Clark's).
 
Joss' point about the educational value of making a knife is an excellent one.

Attending as many shows and hammer-ins as I can is another huge boost in the learning curve. Nothing like being able to see and handle a vast number of knives by different makers all at the same time. If you don't learn from that, you can't learn period.

I have learned a TON from my fellow forum members and expect to learn more.

Roger
 
After reading some of the recent posts and pondering a bit, I realized I have done a lot more than I had considered. I am a member of NCCA (Northeast Cutlery Collectors Assoc) subscribe to Blade and starting several years ago, had also purchased a number of knives from Internet stores and EBAY. (yup...made a few purchases...quite a few actually, that I would NOT make now).

I have gone to local shows and enjoyed talking knives with dealers and some makers as well. Starting in around 2003 I have purchased the Knives Annual, Bernard Levine's Guide to knives and a couple other guides.

Recently, I bought a couple of David Daroms books and for anyone not familiar with them, I would highly recommend taking a look.

Peter
 
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