How often do you screw up?

J

Jared Dinwoodie

Joined
Jan 1, 2014
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67
Alright..... time to be totally honest. How often do you guys screw up bad enough to throw a blade into the scrap pile. I must say I’m getting better on each knife I make but I have to admit I had to chuck 3 or 4 out of eight blades I started on recently:rolleyes::poop: My biggest problem being that I have limited time to work on them between family and running my plumbing business that I tend to rush things. My shop looks like a tornado ripped through it every time I work in it. I think I’m going to have a stencil made and spray paint all over my shop and tools saying SLOW THE F*** DOWN!!!
 
Don't throw them out. Keep them and fix them once you progress more. Knife making is making a bunch of tiny mistakes, and knowing how to fix them.

I have a couple quotes on a whiteboard in my shop. "SLOW DOWN!" and "FLAT, FLAT, FLAT"... and a few other more personal ones. But you get the point :D.

And I don't throw away to many. But I also don't work to someones spec. So if I make a mistake grinding in a swedge, for example, I can usually figure out a way to make it look right and not have to restart. Make everything look intentional...
 
For 2 bladed folders, only about half the springs end up being used. I have gotten better about blades, but about 2 out of 3 make it through. Liners are about 9 out of 10. I still crack bone every once in awhile, no matter how careful i am, and i rage quit knife making for a week or so to cool down.
 
I only throw out the ones I break. Sometimes I have to set one side for a while but just about anything can be fixed with a good plan.
 
I could definitely go back and change them up a bit I just think sometime OCD gets the best of me and I can’t see past the mistake...if that makes sense.
 
Well ive been at thus pretty steady for about a year. And only 2 have ever left my shop lol i screw up ALOT. But im way more picky than i should be.
 
You learn to roll with it.

You will be surprised what slowing down the grinder will do to help correct grinding problems.

Also having a plan really helps. I have seen people grind all the way to the pins in a handle because they were trying to shape the tang at the same time as the scales.

A maker said "All knife makers have done that" I thought to myself, nope never done that, simply because I never try to change the profile once the scales are on.

That plan has always kept me from making that specific mistake.

Making the knife in your head before actually making the knife has helped me avoid many such mistakes.
 
Whats the saying? " There are no mistakes just smaller knives" :D
This one started out as a full size Katana. :rolleyes::D
15536261799_585606f6c4_b.jpg
 
I once ground in to a lightening hole in a tang after attaching scales trying to add contour to the handle. I was mortified because the knife was completely finished otherwise.
 
Jared Dinwoodie said:
Alright..... time to be totally honest. How often do you guys screw up bad enough to throw a blade into the scrap pile. I must say I’m getting better on each knife I make but I have to admit I had to chuck 3 or 4 out of eight blades I started on recently:rolleyes::poop: My biggest problem being that I have limited time to work on them between family and running my plumbing business that I tend to rush things. My shop looks like a tornado ripped through it every time I work in it. I think I’m going to have a stencil made and spray paint all over my shop and tools saying SLOW THE F*** DOWN!!!
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Shame on you :D How you can even think that we can screw up :) This two on bottom on picture I did last month for my neighbor who works with carpets ..........He is very happy when he sees me coming :) The worst is that he want handles on them :mad:

hPGjlTL.jpg
 
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my personal favorites: shaping a handle on a belt grinder and accidentally touching the completely finished and mirror polished blade on the belt, right through the protective tape on the blade. sharpening a 100% complete knife on a belt and accidentally grazing the handle on the belt. getting the dreaded blue spot when finish grinding because i did not dip often enough. every 25 knives or so i do some type of screw up !
 
I've only had a few that got completely scrapped(forge/quench cracks) but I make mistakes all the time... lol. The cool part is that most of the mistakes I make now, would probably not have shown up on the radar 10 years ago. My error tolerance is much tighter but at the same time, the ability to recover from those mistakes has improved, as well.
 
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I'm still a noob but something that I for some reason just can't stop doing is on almost every knife there's always a spot where I touched it to the grinder at a weird angle by accident and it creates a little dig in the blade that I can never sand out.

I don't really have a good picture but if you look at the lower knife, near the spine just in front of the plunge you'll see it.

N7tCoiC.jpg
 
I make mistakes all the time, but never to the extent that I have had to bin a blade. As mentioned before, it's part of the knifemaking process to learn to correct your mistakes. I also get better as spotting mistakes as my craftsmanship improves and my quality standards gets higher.

My most common mistakes are stupid things like dinging the taped blade when shaping the handle, or attract strange scratches and have to redo some handsanding. I try to evolve by documenting my common mistakes and think about how I should avoid them in the future. I often go back and review them.
 
I'm still a beginner so I make mistakes on about every knife, although they are starting to get less noticeable to others.

One of my more irritating screw ups was doing my first hidden tang knife. got close to finishing it, and kept shaping the handle, and ground into the glue cavity on the underside of the handle. Still have it as a reminder of what not to do ;-)
 
Then again you could specialize in knives that look like they were buried for years and recovered during a zombie apocalypse.

The more dings, scratches, gouges the better :D
 
Jared Dinwoodie said:
Alright..... time to be totally honest. How often do you guys screw up bad enough to throw a blade into the scrap pile. I must say I’m getting better on each knife I make but I have to admit I had to chuck 3 or 4 out of eight blades I started on recently:rolleyes::poop: My biggest problem being that I have limited time to work on them between family and running my plumbing business that I tend to rush things. My shop looks like a tornado ripped through it every time I work in it. I think I’m going to have a stencil made and spray paint all over my shop and tools saying SLOW THE F*** DOWN!!!
Click to expand...
Over the last40 years I have decided that I don't make mistakes, I make design modifications!! Many of which have become some of my best sellers!!
 
AVigil said:
Then again you could specialize in knives that look like they were buried for years and recovered during a zombie apocalypse.

The more dings, scratches, gouges the better :D
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See, but in that scenario, you start off with a highly finished knife and add the dings, scratches and gouges. So it is actually more work. What you want to make is an expedient, "good'nuff" knife from scrap steel. Shoelace handle wrap and folded cardboard and duct tape sheath is prefered. But even then, you have to worry about doing too good of a job and ruining the look. You can't win, really
 
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