Ever Been Afraid to Finish a Knife?

Peter Atwood

Peter Atwood

Joined
Oct 26, 2000
Messages
2,468
You know how it is.....everything is going perfect and the knife is close to done. But now I'm almost afraid to start working on it again because I KNOW it would not take much to screw it up. I'll start back on it again this weekend but I just can't bear to work on it this week. I can't be the only one to get stuck! :)
 
Howdy There....!
Know exactly what you mean, finally learned after years of screwing things up that when it ain't right walk away. Have been working on knives and things going great come back the next day and couldn't get anything to work. It must be some artist thing....!Just say NO..!

Later "Possum" :cool:
 
Know the feeling Peter. I had a Matulis that was perfect several months ago. Fooled around with it for a year because I just had a bad feeling about going any further. Broke it in two in the quench!:mad:
 
Lmao, this is a good one! I'm just the opposite Peter. I don't think I've ever made a knife that I thought was going to come out right. When I'm putting the bolsters or guard and handles on I always think it's a waste of time finishing the knife.Just gotta keep at it!
 
I have this happen quite often Peter,in fact sometimes I get this way and am afraid to even start one as I don't want to mess it up from the begining.
Bruce
 
I worked on a large Bowie, it was to be my best effort, I was to challenge myself to the limit. Was ordered as such by my client. I would have never made the knife without the challenge. When I finished engraving the guard my pulse was 156, sweat dripping down my face and felt like I had just fought the bear.

Know the feeling well. Good Thread!
 
LOL ! I go through this every time I make a knife. Sometimes I'll just leave a knife imperfect because I don't trust myself to go further and make it any better or "perfect". One time I made a Kris bladed Kerambit and it looked so beautiful, I was soooo proud. Then I noticed a tiny imperfection here and there (nothing to worry about). So I started working on it some more (even though it was finished enough). What happens ? A fly hits me in the face as I am finishing on the grinder. My body turns just so the blade pierces the belt and catches and throws the blade into the wall behind and below (luckily not my leg !) and my fingernail dipps into the belt and gets partially ground off with blood dripping everywhere. I laugh now but boy did I feel stupid for taking it to the grinder again. Man I was mad. Sometimes you gotta go with your gut ! Alot of the time I'll almost be finished with one knife and start hitting that wall where I feel unsure about going any further with the knife. I'll just move onto another blade with a different design to get a fresh perspective and renewed enthusiasm. See ya.....RDT
 
like others have said, just put it down and do something else like profiling or other stuff. when i do that sometime's it's a day or a month and then the feeling just comes and i know what and how to do it just right.
 
I wouldn't say that I was afraid to finish a knife. I've been very stressed out working with expensive materials as I'm sure everyone has been! Over the past years my brain has developed a built in barometer that tells me when things are not right to work on knives. I'm sure everyone with wives and kids know the feeling :D

Neil
 
Yes
I am right in the middle of this one:p
I have a Bowie blade on my dresser with the gaurd fitted (Really well) and just set it aside for the past 3wks.
I find that with each step I need to be in the right mood/state of mind to do my best work.

Weird it is hard to explain. I think athletes call it "Being in the Zone"

Where your consentration is really focused, your relaxed and the wife and kid are GONE for the day:D Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
 
Yeah.... I've had a knife going so well I was afraid I would screw it up.

Knife I am working on for my girlfriend, a partially serrated, integral guard, tanto point, to-be cord-wrapped affair... early on I spent a whole day working on it... then didnt touch it.. couldnt bring myself to... for about a week.

Since then just been taking it slow... I dont want to screw it up... nooo... that would be bad...:o

Dont worry babe... its almost finished... another two or three years and it should be ready ;) LOL
 
Boy can I understand the "ZONE"
Sometimes I get in the zone and there is nothing in the world but me and the knife or knives I am working on,heck the shop could burn down around me and I wouldnt even realize it.But boy when the zone leaves everything will go to the crapper.Nothing worse than having to try and work on something when the Zone is gone,I love the Zone it is the best time I have when making knives...
It is great to here others talk about this and lets a person know that they are not crazy (except that we make knives:p ) or alone in this feeling.
Bruce
 
in psy, terms they call this state of mind, FLOW. its when your feeling of time diminishes and you are in total focus in the present.and on what you are doing. outside distractions seem to go away as well. then you look up and realize that you have been at it for quite a while. i am into flow :cool:
 
Great thread, glad to hear it's not just me. I had one sit for nearly 8 years once, and when I finished it it just wasn't what I wanted it to be. I figured I'd just bit off more than I could chew! :D But I'm always doing that, otherwise I'd get bored. I have one right now that I'm procrastinating on, because it's my first over-the-tang guard and I'm paranoid about getting the slot fitted right. But I'm going back to it this weekend anyway! ;) Bruce E, you've seen this one.

Man, I know exactly what you mean with the FLOW ZONE... There's nothing else in the world but this grind or file stroke or whatever, or sometimes you just can't stop until you get to a certain point or you'd lose your rhythm. My wife does not appreciate this at all! She just does not understand why I'm unable to drop my filing or sanding instantly to go pick up the dog mess in the back yard...now I can tell her to wait until I'm out of the ZONE! I'm sure she'll appreciate how important this is! LOL

Dave
 
Wow, glad to see that I touched on a good one here. I figured that this is something everyone has to go through. I prefer to think of it as an energy thing. Right now I have no feeling at all that I am tuned in to the energy flow as far as this knife goes. Last weekend I was totally into it and that suspended time thing was happening where I just kept working with little awareness of my surroundings. I knew I should stop and get lunch but I kept on for another couple of hours. Finally dragged myself home for a half hour then I was right back at it. But then the feeling was gone and I had to go back to work for the week. Right now I'm sitting here waiting for the knife energy ski lift to arrive and take me back to that mountaintop for another session. :)
 
I've had days that I set aside for blades, and when the circled day came around on the calendar, I just couldn't do it. I could cut out stock or wire together a billet or something, but actually shaping a blade in any way just made me nervous. I've also had days when everything turned to poopoo. Things that I know are well within my capabilities just weren't happening, and that's when I know I have to set it aside and go play HALO for awhile or something.
The good news is, it goes both ways. I stole an hour a week or so ago because I just HAD to get out to the shop. I made a stock removal knife that hour, ready for heat treat. For a beginner with as little shop time as I get, that's a big deal. I just try to remember that even the most technical of us are really still artists, and we have to follow our muse, finicky as she may be.
 
I guess I'm the strange one here, because the more I work on one the more I want it finished, I think mine all look like crap until I get right down to the final sanding and buffing stage and then if it turns out looking good, it surprises the hell out of me and I want to hurry and start another. My biggest problem is after I get one finished, I'll see some thing that needs to be rounded a little more or a scratch that doesn't amount to anything, and thats when I make a big mess of things, then I'll cuss myself and stomp around like a little kid,saying, I wished I had left it alone. I don't know why knifemakers think everything has to be so damn perfect, its a never ending battle, and perfection is so elusive. ;)

Bill
 
Right on Mr. Buxton, so true. I stomp around like a lil' kid all the time. I always think what I do is crap too and usually see some imperfection and try to fix it then I end up screwing it up. To quote you "perfection is elusive" I like to think of all the "fubbs" as charcter marks... (; RDT
 
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