Complete, utter, bitter failure

t1mpani

t1mpani

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Jun 6, 2002
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Well, recently I've tried my first saber flat grind, and I think have determined once and for all that I do not have the judgement or steady enough hands to actually pursue knifemaking. Had a beautifully even, wonderful bevel shoulder going and tried to chase down one little friggin wavy part in the belly and screwed it up, and then screwed it up farther when I tried to fix my fix.

I know: practice, practice but I'm one of those people whose learning curve really is non-existent. I'm either immediately good at something or I'm not.

Guess I'll just stick to tinkering/sprucing and sharpening others' work. It's a shame--I was kinda having fun.
 
DO NOT GIVE UP! If you are having fun, who cares if the outcome is not perfect. Usually the journey is just as important as the destination. I myself am just getting into knife making and certainly don't make truly beautiful pieces, but I like it. I hope you keep trying.

Brian
 
The problem is you chased the wavy....You must resist the urge to chase funky grinds...if you keep things straight, they'll always straighten out...except when they don't :)

-d
 
Failure is where we learn. Not in the classroom, not from reading books or watching videos, but from failure(Edison, Lightbulb, et al.) Do you know how you messed up? If you do, then try again adding that knowledge to your work. If you don't know, then think about it some more. The only complete, utter, bitter failure would be to not try again.

Let's see, any more cliches. . . .If at first you don't fricassee, fry, fry a hen.
 
move your body and not your hands when you grind you'll get a more fluid movement and wont have the pauses that make the dips or 2" disease.
And try to keep presure even on the platen by keeping presure close to the platen and not on the ends of the blade(tang and tip) a push stick can help with this.
 
You gotta hold your mouth just right. That is what you need to practice.

You can grind and grind and grind, but if you ain't holdin' your mouth just right, it ain't gonna happen.

Robert (who lives with a permanently twisted mouth)
 
Let me get this straight... you tried your first saber flat grind and you messed it up? Ha! Welcome to the club. You know how many times I quit knifemaking? I couldn't count them on my hands and toes. Since I first started in 1987 I've made probably 200 knives and probably threw that many away.

Recently, after about a 6 year layoff I have been in my shop trying to grind again. I was grinding last night and guess what? I blew it. Yes, I said to myself, I quit! I pictured myself putting my equipment up for sale and then that stubborn side came out. I grabbed another cutout knife and started grinding again. I ground far enough to be satisfied. Figured I'd leave the messing up part for tonight :).

All that to say, don't quit. There is a learning curve. It's not something that's natural and it takes a lot of practice. Remember to use sharp belts and keep things slow with light pressure. That's what I'm going to do tonight and hopefully I won't blow it.
 
My first 70 or so attempts either ended up in the local landfill or in the case of 4 or 5 of them, in the "ugly shop knife" drawer.:rolleyes:
 
I almost threw this blade away because of a flaw in the steel right above the ricasso. As I ground the flaw away a raised clip hunter appeared right in front of my face. Amazing! I have thrown a bunch of blades away but never quit. Listen to the group, HANG IN THERE, and keep at it.



4884947011_2e3b28ca7f_b.jpg
[/url] DSC_0049 by Mike Quesenberry, on Flickr[/IMG]
 
I'm actually feeling marginally better about it now---just lamenting the nearly perfect result I had last night and then the horror that followed. Coming in off three hours of fussing with it in a 100+ degree garage was also probably affecting the mood this evening.

And well yes, let me qualify something. It was/is my first saber flat but not the first time I've ground a knife. I just picked up symmetrical convex grinds and full flats so quickly that I guess I was disturbed by the pooch-screw that I experienced with this.

This particular knife, if I can talk a friend of mine into helping me with it, is going to be cleaned up by somebody who knows what the hell they're doing. You know, somebody who actually is a knife maker and doesn't just play one on TV.

If it was mine, I'd just toss it or do a full flat, but it's a friend's, and when he asked me if I could turn his blank into a blade for his dad (who'd bought it years ago) I said, "Sure!" And then he said, "it has teeth on the back, so could the thin part (he meant the bevel) not come all the way up?" And I said "...............uh, maybe."

I mean, it's not that he'd be all that upset but dammit, I don't like figuring out that I'm in over my head after I've already started drowning. :o

I appreciate the "Stop feeling sorry for yourself" comments, all. :)
 
When you stop making mistakes (learning) it gets boring. Thank the stars I haven't even come close.

I'm just starting and each knife, I make a whole new batch of discoveries (mistakes) and I'm so discouraged and excited at the same time I'm a basket case.

I'm like you, usually good at something right away.

It's a real test to pursue something you're not good at right away, the rewards and personal growth are greatly rewarded for your perseverance.

Push yourself.
 
Robert had it right ! You have to hold your mouth a certain way. When I tell her I'm having troublr grinding she tells me ,yes, I'm not holding my mouth the right way . Yes there others beside you that do that Robert. Frank
 
There is enough positive cheer up posts already done by people so I'm going to go the drill instructor method and just say: Man up and get back in the saddle!! ;)

Seriously there is a lot of heartache in making knives, I'm still early in my development and recently haven't had mas much time as I'd like but even in the little time I've been doing it there have been PLENTY of screw-ups. Take a breather or whatever you need but don't just flat out hang it up.
 
Some of the best advice that I got early on was "go slower";)
 
jdm61 said:
Some of the best advice that I got early on was "go slower";)
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LOL, so true!! I finished up the bevel on my first knife earlier tonight and had a blank already profiled on a knife I was even more excited about than the first, so I fired up the grinder and got down to business. I was really happy because I could already see a marked improvement in my grind after learning from some mistakes on the first one. I was thrilled!! Then I sped things up just a tad and made a boo boo!:o It's totally fixable, but it made me remember how many people have said "GO SLOW". I have to reel myself in sometimes because I get excited and gung ho and just want to get in there and do it........but slow and steady wins the race:thumbup:
 
I thought I made a mistake once... turns out I was wrong. ;)

Seriously, I once ground out a BEAUTIFUL hollow-ground recurve bowie... awesome. I ran it through HT then started my post-HT clean-up of the grinds. Much like you, I found a slight assymetry in the grind (minor variance between one side and the other) and I started to chase it down with my 8" wheel. In an incredibly frustrating sequence of events I manage to progressively make things worse and worse. It seemed like such an easy thing to fix, but I mangled it. That blank still sits on the top of my bench. I hope to one day have the stones to try the design again... though I plan to have a couple of extra tools in my arsenal by that time. :)
 
I know: practice, practice but I'm one of those people whose learning curve really is non-existent. I'm either immediately good at something or I'm not.
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you are full of shit my friend. don't bother arguing, i'm not even going to read any reply anyway, but if you don't ditch that attitude, you're going to be a sorry, sorry person.

if i can offer advice though, it would be this: when you are trying something new, never stop arming yourself with information drawn from the experience of others. that way you get to let those who went before you share the burden of the lesson cycle.
 
There are no mistakes... there are only opportunities to make smaller knives.

Rick
 
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