How often do you screw up?

I have quite a few knives that I've messed up, it happens more often as when I make one without messing up. If you mess up often, then when you finally get one that turned out right it feels so much better than if you didn't mess up at all. I keep ones that didn't "make the cut" or could not be salvaged in a drawer with my EDC and collection knives. This way when I get up in the morning to pick out what I'm carrying I get to also review what I should work on that day.

At first I would get really upset and put down when I made a big mistake or feel the knife just isn't good enough to sell because of a flaw. After a while I got used to making mistakes often, as long as I learn from it then I'm not bothered too much. And hey, if I mess up a knife I get to keep it for myself.

Just take your time and think before you do.

What happens, happens.
Kevin
 
Rick Marchand said:
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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Oh there are plenty out there that never reach the state of "highly finished knife". Many customers love the rough looking blade and it is good there are makers who meet that demand.
 
I’ve completely scrapped five or six knives in total. Four were forge welds with inclusions, one was a brine quench, and one was a plunge so messed up I couldn’t force myself to put a handle on it and put it in my toolbox.
 
knoxknives said:
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 ;-)
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I’m in the same boat buddy I have only really been doing this since December and have such high expectations for myself....I’m my own worst critic.
 
Early on, almost everyone has the "started out making a Musso bowie and ended up with a caper" experience, typically more than once. :p What I eventually decided was that I was going to throw away any knife that require such "fixing" and start over. That forced me to SLOW DOWN. These knives were made in the early fall of 2008 and first shown in public on my first trip to the Belgian show in November, about 3 years years after I had started playing with knives and 2 years after getting semi-serious. But more importantly, the improvement from say the time of Gator Cutlery Club show in February of that year or even more so, the knife that I took to show to some folks in the UK and at SICAC in Paris in September of 2007 was DRASTIC. You wouldn't even think the same guy made them. Admittedly, these two took WAY too long to make, but they were some next level knives for me in a number of ways starting with a significant change in guard/fittings design and fit and finish. Of course, the Paul Long leather didn't hurt. ;)Mandt_NY08_01-ww.jpg
 
I call them a Design Modification! :D I was going for a 8” Chef and then this 5” Utility was reveled to me!;)——————-If you have scrapped any knives? You haven’t made very many knives!:p
 
Warren, I estimate that I tried to make as many as 40 knives before I put one out in public. This knife was one of the first four that actually left my hands. This was a newbie KITH knife. Another went to a friend of my brother in Texas and two went to my brothers. All but the Texas knife were "freebies." By this time, I had about 8 "shop knives" and had mad a substantial contribution to the local landfill. :DMyknifefromthekith004.jpg
 
I never screw up. Never. Ever.
Or, at least that's what my customers think.
 
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