Distraction from buying new old knives?

[Bob W]

I love to spend money when I have it. But when thing get tight I can cut my spending to a trickle.

My best advice:
If you have the extra money, there's no harm at all in dropping a few bucks each week for an interesting knife.
If you don't have the extra, stop visiting knife sales sites. I don't go to eBay when money's tight, I don't visit my favorite dealers, and I absolutely stay out of the For Sale by Maker section.

Instead, spend time on aspects of the hobby that don't require fresh expenditures of cash. Work on your knife photography, organizing the collection, building some display cases, reading and research... things like that.

 

[bvik]

I have overcome this demon by placing only my gold coins in the jar. All other silver coins are placed in the kids piggybank.(memo to self -check the contents of kids piggybank tomorrow).
Remember -sometimes less is more.

I'm curious, what denomination of coins are gold in The Land Where Everything Wants to Kill You?

 

[Obsessed with Edges]

I keep gathering old knives. It seems no matter what there's another one from the past that raises its head on an auction site or knife shop and I can't help myself. The notion that they're just 10, 20, 25 bucks makes it all the more easy to grab one every few days. But I want to put a hold on new purchases for a while. You guys have any good ideas to help with this? My thought is i should just play with the knives I have, appreciate them more and stop looking for more.

This predicament is exactly what made me shift heavily into practicing sharpening. The adage that 'money talks' is valid, and it talks much louder when you start running out of it. I had to slam on the brakes on my collecting ('accumulating') habit, and needed something to fill the void. Hence my transition into learning everything I could about sharpening; I had a large accumulated foundation with which to work. Inexpensive, old & used knives are a tailor-made solution for this, with minimal worries about altering an otherwise new & 'perfect' knife. I've never regretted going down that road, and have developed some strong attachments to many of the knives I 'made my own', by putting new edges on them.


David

 

[Lemmy Caution]

This predicament is exactly what made me shift heavily into practicing sharpening.

First Off I wanted to say thanks for everyone's responses. I totally agree with pretty much all you've said and find the "making a knife your own" hits home at what's interesting and personal about the hobby. Working on knives as projects shifts it from being a "where out there is the knife I need" to "how can I make something really useful and personal to me." Does anyone else have the simultaneous excitement and disappointment when buying a new knife? Like your excited to get something new but you're also sort of sad that it might make you appreciate the knives you have less. For instance I like the idea of a minimal and practical EDC pairing but now I have too many options. Well the back right pocket is perfect for a doukdouk squirrel, the watch pocket fits my 108Ot stockman perfectly, I have to carry my alox pioneer and Leatherman Micra in Right front pocket with change because they wont get scratched like wood or bone, I love soddies so I'll have one in my left pocket with my phone, my dinner knife Opinel 6 goes in my right shirt pocket... and of course I need a tiny opi for sharpening my pencil. lol. Oh and its cold out so I'll wear a coat! More Pockets! more knives! There's just so much redundancy. Its ridiculous.

I'd like to get down to 3 EDCs and rotate them out. Probably somethign like this 1. Small stockman, peanut, or pen knife (watch pocket), 2. Midsize utility slipjoint (sodbuster, SAK alox, TL-29 etc), and 3. Slim large backpocket knife (doukdouk, mercator, case BP).

I like the idea of less is more and may decide to wait a few months and possibly invest in something nicer like a GEC #15, but my only fear is if I jump into the higher price rung and things get out of control again... the consequences will be greater. lol. I definitely will sell off what I dont use starting with the ones I dont even like. I buy knives for their history, aesthetics and usefulness. If a particular pattern or collection appeals to me I might try to pick up a series of them, but they're not shelf sitters or safe queens. I have a Boker Tree Brand Congress that commemorates the 8 hour work day which I just like to carry to remember the struggles of workers from the past. lol.

So for now (with three unnecessary knives in the post enroute to me) I'll get back to some of those projects I've been meaning to work on and use what I got. and I'll be checking in to let y'all know how things are going. Thanks again guys, y'all are swell.

 

[Lemmy Caution]

My "cure" was a whim decision to carry the same two knives every day, for a long period of time. Knowing that I'd be carrying the same two, and only those two, for months, just caused the urge to add any more to slowly go away. Of those two, I'm now down to just one that I carry every day and other than reading and posting here occasionally I don't really much think about knives much any more.

Which knife are you carrying now?

 

[jc57]

Which knife are you carrying now?

Victorinox silver Alox Cadet.

 

[meako]

They are the One and Two dollar denominations- If i don't buy the newspaper I can save around 12 bux a week plus the added bonus of not reading stuff that is frankly depressing.