Custom Handmade Knives?

Wow. A spirited debate.
For what it's worth, I prefer to do everything myself. This includes heat treating in a vacuum-nitrogen inert gas furnace that I built myself.
Why?
Several reasons.
One is never sure of work done off-site. Do you KNOW for instance, that your heat treater does a stress-relief soak to prevent stress risers in highly sculpted blades? How do you know he double-tempers for certain?
And are laser cut blades overheated on the edges of the profile, leading to advanced decarburization?
By sole authorship, I guarantee everything I do for my lifetime. How's that? No excuses. Being a responsible artist is answering to my patrons. (and believe me they are particular. Try making a museum piece...

The other main consideration is artistic interpretation. When one hand makes, another hand engraves, one scrims, and another one sheaths or stands, each individual component may be fine, but they often do not follow a precise artistic thread that sole authorship demonstrates.
And Hell, making is about doing it ALL, isn't it???

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Read, Study, Learn, Grow
-DO-
Jay
www.gilanet.com/JayFisher/index.htm
 
I trust my heat treater!!! If he wants to dip the blades in a bucket of sh*t and dance the jig, thats fine with me. He knows more about heat treating than I ever will. As far as having some blades cut out via laser cutting, I am doing this so I can increase production and offer my customers a lower priced drop point hunter that hopefully, anyone who wants can afford. When I make presentation bowies or other high end knives, I do them comepletely by myself. And I still send them to the same man for heat treating!

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<A HREF="http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
"Always" TARGET=_blank>http://www.nebsnow.com/L6steel
"Always</A> think of your fellow knife makers as partners in the search for the perfect blade, not as people trying to compete with you and your work!"

[This message has been edited by L6STEEL (edited 02-11-2000).]
 
I agree, Mike. I trust my heat-treater. They are the professionals. I'm in the knife business, and offering the customer a quality piece at an affordable price is my way of doing business. No one is harder on my blades than myself, and I have had no failures with anything I've treated at my source. I trust my life to my knives every day, as do other pro knife users I have as customers, and I have no reason to dout the work performed by my heat treater.
I don't claim "sole authorship", but I do guarantee my work for a lifetime also. "No excuses!!" How is that not responsible.
Jan,
I went to your site. very nice, by the way. Do you make the 440C you use in your blades? Let some air out of your shirt.

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Chris Hatin

www.hatintec.com

"Are you ready for the defendant, Judge?"
"Yup. Bring the guilty bastard in."
 
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