Great video series from Andersen forge

AVigil

AVigil

Adam Vigil working the grind
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I've been following Karl's video series since the first one... I'm really enjoying them. I don't agree with "everything" he says but that is to be expected, as we all have our own way. Karl is a very sincere person with a lot of integrity. Thanks for posting this.

Although, he never got into explaining the much of the "marketing" or "ego trips".... maybe in video 7. Marketing is a good thing if done honestly. If knifemaking is to be more than a hobby, letting your work speak for itself might not be the best approach. I think YOU need to speak for yourself, your work and let your quality be the backbone on which those words stand.

ETA
As for the statement that it takes 25yrs to be a "knifemaker"... I don't follow that line of thinking at all. You will always have new things to learn. That shouldn't take away from what you've accomplished thus far. I don't need to make stick tangs, mirror finishes, quillion daggers or hamons to make a good knife. How many years does a man have to slap paint on a canvas before he can call himself an artist? These kinds of questions have no answer. You are a knifemaker if you make knives. The goal is to be the best knifemaker you are capable of. I don't like it when folks assert judgement on something so individual within an art that's so expansive. A wise man once said "Knife making business is one of the biggest Ego Trips going".;)
 
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I'm subscribed and have watched them too.

It's always interesting to hear different points of view.

He was much more revealing with the marketing comments in this one.

A couple of thinly veiled digs actually

Part 7
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AsDbJ3b3kI&
[video=youtube;0AsDbJ3b3kI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AsDbJ3b3kI&[/video]


The imbedding seems broken..


In terms of marketing, I don't know if these videos will help, or hurt him.
That kind of negativity can be honest criticism, but it can also be bad ju ju for him.


One comment i have is that he should open his own account called
"Karl B Andersen - Bladesmith" and post them there.
Someone is filming, editing and posting them for him.

-have his website address in every video post prelude and on the youtube site.

Not all video have the introductions, not all have his website address.

It would help if the videos were structured with youtube in mind, instead of cutting up his long speech into bits, design the speech that way.

I tried to find him with "Anderson Forge" and that wasn't him at all.
 
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Rick Marchand said:
As for the statement that it takes 25yrs to be a "knifemaker"...
Click to expand...


The ironic thing is that statement is a marketing technique for people who have been making knives longer then 25 years :)
 
12345678910 said:
In terms of marketing, I don't know if these videos will help, or hurt him.
That kind of negativity can be honest criticism, but it can also be bad ju ju for him.

What negativity?




I tried to find him with "Anderson Forge" and that wasn't him at all.

That's because you misspelled "Anders'E'n"
Click to expand...


1.) What negativity?
2.) You misspelled Anders'E'n.

And there were no "thinly veiled digs" - anywhere! I am being completely honest and as transparent as I can be.

That said, I do appreciate your input, thought I don't know who you are, since your "about me" is not filled out in your profile and your name is "12345678910".
Is that "veiled"?
 
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AVigil said:
The ironic thing is that statement is a marketing technique for people who have been making knives longer then 25 years :)
Click to expand...

Remember, that wasn't my statement - I was quoting someone else.
I only said that after 16 years making knives, I thought he knew what he was talking about.
And make note that I said the first time I heard it, I said "I thought he was whacked out".
And now, here, a few people have the exact same reaction I did upon hearing it for the first time.
It makes me more LIKE you - not different.

And that wasn't a "marketing technique". He was only talking to me, not writing that in a magazine article.

It's easy to take one little line or comment out of context in any oration and make it mean whatever you want.
Those videos are un-scripted, raw and off-the-cuff recordings at the end of the day when my buddy and I have a few minutes.
We're just having fun and I did it more for my customers, who live all around the world, and I'm simply inviting them into my shop to have a virtual "chat" with their knife maker that they've never met face to face and have an opportunity to get to know Andersen Forge a little better.
That's all they are.

Don't make them something they're not.
 
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Keep making them Karl.... like I said... I really enjoy hearing your thoughts.
 
Hi Karl,
Thank you for taking the time to make the videos.
I like your custom tools that help make your blades consistent from one to another.
Sincerely,
Dave
 
I didn't see any negativity. I really enjoyed Karl's description of how when you're removing a scratch... you're really not, you're removing everything around it. Kind of a light-bulb moment for me... I've sort of stumbled on the process of going back to the grinder to make all the scratches the same depth before trying to hand-sand a few "bad" ones out, but his drawing clarified it in my brain. :thumbup:
 
I understand what karl was saying but to me if someone is willing to put all that effort into a knife you can be assured he is putting that effort for the whole thing. Now wether it is truly needed or not could be another matter but I appreciate hard work especially in anything custom made.
 
25 years....maybe about right.
Most guys can learn to draw,grind,sand finish etc in a fairly
short time, but putting it all together in a way that's unique
to you as well as a pleasing and functional extensionof ones hand takes
time.

Ego...you bet...the spotlight can be lethal if one dosen't have his course
well charted ,and both feet on the ground.( I suspect Karl does)....
 
Karl,

You videos are great.

But Jerry Rados comment on the "25 years" is just not accurate....No matter who says it. But that is OK, it is his opinion. Now it can take a lifetime to learn to make knives but I know for a fact Bob Loveless was a knifemaker long before the 25 year mark as well as many others. If it takes someone 25 years to become a knife maker that says more about the person then the craft ;)

Keep up the good work. It is appreciated.

Karl B. Andersen said:
Remember, that wasn't my statement - I was quoting someone else.
I only said that after 16 years making knives, I thought he knew what he was talking about.
And make note that I said the first time I heard it, I said "I thought he was whacked out".
And now, here, a few people have the exact same reaction I did upon hearing it for the first time.
It makes me more LIKE you - not different.

And that wasn't a "marketing technique". He was only talking to me, not writing that in a magazine article.

It's easy to take one little line or comment out of context in any oration and make it mean whatever you want.
Those videos are un-scripted, raw and off-the-cuff recordings at the end of the day when my buddy and I have a few minutes.
We're just having fun and I did it more for my customers, who live all around the world, and I'm simply inviting them into my shop to have a virtual "chat" with their knife maker that they've never met face to face and have an opportunity to get to know Andersen Forge a little better.
That's all they are.

Don't make them something they're not.
Click to expand...
 
AVigil said:
Karl,

You videos are great.

But Jerry Rados comment on the "25 years" is just not accurate....No matter who says it. But that is OK, it is his opinion. Now it can take a lifetime to learn to make knives but I know for a fact Bob Loveless was a knifemaker long before the 25 year mark as well as many others. If it takes someone 25 years to become a knife maker that says more about the person then the craft ;)

Keep up the good work. It is appreciated.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the vote of confidence.
Now, there were only two people mentioned during my conversation about Jerry, and that was ME and Jerry.
I said at 16 years in, I could see how it would take ME 25 years to be the knife maker I want to be.
If others can do it in 6 months, and make the knives they consider and envision to be the knives that define them as "knife makers" - to themselves - then I applaud them.
Those videos and comments ARE BEING TAKEN far too literally.
They are about ME, and what defines ME and ANDERSEN FORGE.
Not you, or Bob Lovelass or anyone else.
Just me.
I have said repeatedly in the videos how "I'm not very smart", or "I need a lot of help" or "I'm lucky to find the shop door."
At the same time, I've said that if what other makers do, whether it be their knife making philosophy or their marketing, etc., works for them, then I said I was happy for them and they are smarter than me.
I make no suggestion that anything in those videos was to be used by others to judge their knife making endeavors.
I'm making those videos to offer no instruction or tutorial value.
They are simply to transparently divulge MY rules that guide ME when I walk in my shop door - whenever I can find it.
I can not right now count the amount of phone calls and emails I have received to thank me personally for saying what others have so often thought about themselves and their knife making pursuits. And in addition, how they have so often felt about others and the knife making world.
The only other people I have mentioned directly and by name are those who have helped me along my path.
I am about the least confrontational person I know.
I share what I know and I share it freely.
And you are correct - if someone takes anything I say as a direct offense to them, then, as you said "that says more about the person than the craft".

Maybe my definition of "knife maker" and many others is not the same!
I can easily see it taking me many more years to be making the type of knives I have in mind that will allow me to look in the mirror and say, "You finally made it".
 
And once again, I reiterate - those videos are being done at the end of the day, while I'm actually working at knife making, unscripted, off-the-cuff, simply to make myself more of a REAL person to my customers and friends to illustrate a little of what goes on at Andersen Forge.
They're just for fun.
 
I enjoyed part 6 and 7. Karl seems like a real straight shooter. I have no idea if his philosophies are right or wrong. What I do know is he " stands for something" and I respect that. I would share a fox hole with Karl anyday..

Thanks for the Videos Karl !!
 
Karl B. Andersen said:
I am about the least confrontational person I know.
I share what I know and I share it freely.
Click to expand...

I can vouch for that :thumbup: Looking forward to seeing you at the Badger show again this year, Karl. I'll be sure to stop by and say hello :)
 
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