- Joined
- Dec 3, 1999
- Messages
- 9,437
Would they be relegated to natural gas forges Craig, or would they have to go with cold forging???

I started making my first knife at 12. Bought both Blade and KI at the age of 14 and was in love with daggers. There were many beautiful daggers in those particular issues, and some of them were by Ms makers.
I did stock removal until I was 23... knowing SOMEDAY I wanted to learn to forge. Not because I thought it would allow me to maker better knives... but because I thought it would make me a better knifemaker. That is more versatile and with a broader understanding of what is possible.
Is that too "boxy" of thinking??? LOL
I joined the ABS after I'd been forging for about a year. I saw the level of work that many of the Ms makers were putting out, and I wanted to be putting out work of that level as well. EDIT to say, I felt that by joining the organization and working through the levels of Js and Ms it would push me to work harder, and learn more in order to get to those levels... plus I'd have even more support by being part of something much larger than myself alone. Being only part way there now, I STILL FEEL THAT WAY.
The thing I really don't get about all this, is how there are some makers that somehow think you are less of a knifemaker if you're an ABS member.
Or the part about all the knives looking alike. I don't care if you're a stock removal guy or a forging guy.... unless you're somebody like Tai, Larry Fuegan, Wolfe Loerchner, or Stefan Albert (this is a small list of folks who have a very distinct and unusual style, FYI) Your work probably resembles somebody's in some fashion. Whether it be the guard styling, the handle shape, the blade profile, whatever.
Even if you do stuff like kitchen knives or straight razors, there's other guys making those and they are gonna have similar characteristics.
But all the talk about "ABS style knives" seems to be painting with an unfairly broad brush of generalization in my opinion.


I started making my first knife at 12. Bought both Blade and KI at the age of 14 and was in love with daggers. There were many beautiful daggers in those particular issues, and some of them were by Ms makers.
I did stock removal until I was 23... knowing SOMEDAY I wanted to learn to forge. Not because I thought it would allow me to maker better knives... but because I thought it would make me a better knifemaker. That is more versatile and with a broader understanding of what is possible.
Is that too "boxy" of thinking??? LOL
I joined the ABS after I'd been forging for about a year. I saw the level of work that many of the Ms makers were putting out, and I wanted to be putting out work of that level as well. EDIT to say, I felt that by joining the organization and working through the levels of Js and Ms it would push me to work harder, and learn more in order to get to those levels... plus I'd have even more support by being part of something much larger than myself alone. Being only part way there now, I STILL FEEL THAT WAY.
The thing I really don't get about all this, is how there are some makers that somehow think you are less of a knifemaker if you're an ABS member.
Or the part about all the knives looking alike. I don't care if you're a stock removal guy or a forging guy.... unless you're somebody like Tai, Larry Fuegan, Wolfe Loerchner, or Stefan Albert (this is a small list of folks who have a very distinct and unusual style, FYI) Your work probably resembles somebody's in some fashion. Whether it be the guard styling, the handle shape, the blade profile, whatever.
Even if you do stuff like kitchen knives or straight razors, there's other guys making those and they are gonna have similar characteristics.
But all the talk about "ABS style knives" seems to be painting with an unfairly broad brush of generalization in my opinion.

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