I am not a knife snob

I've thought about this some more... I used to make part of my living playing guitar in bands. There did come a time when it was no longer fun. (to paraphrase AC/DC, "Lemme tell ya brother, it's harder than it looks") So I quit doing it. There came a time when two hours a night of adulation from the crowd (and you bet your behind, that's addicting) and the joy of making music just wasn't worth the hours and hours of hassles.

One thing I like about making knives is that I'm a one-man shop. No drunk bandmates to deal with, no singer's girlfriends telling me what I should play (boy, does that get old fast :rolleyes:), no load-in/out every night... the list goes on. I can take my time and try to get things just right. I get the satisfaction of learning from my goofs. I have this fantastic resource here, and I've never asked a question here without getting good answers (even for my dumb questions).

I enjoy the process, I enjoy the results, and I enjoy struggling to become a craftsman. I like finding out how to make something as good as it can be. I don't think I've ever owned a guitar or knife without tweaking, customizing or completely rebuilding it till it suited me. I'm frankly confused as to where "snobbery" fits into all that. :confused:

OK, rant off :)

...so you just grind it with the right tools and polish it and kazzam a knife blade??" - name withheld
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Thanks for reminding me, Mark. That still makes me smile. :)
 
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Not everyone is going to get everything they want from here. I think a lot of people get what they need.
 
yall im sorry if you fellows are getting upset. It seems like your actually enjoying yourself. Everyone is so condensending. everyone is so full of themselves. like the guy who made all those knives with his cad milling machine--wtf is that. its not knife making-its not art.Yall seem to think you are the only ones who know everything about knives and how one should feel about knives. well i am not a follower like all of you.I can get just as much use out of my file knife than anyone of yours. I can go to the local walmart and get a knife for80% less than some of the knives youall offer-and that walmart knife if probably better.you are wannabies. all caught up in the technology and all at a loss of primal art. yes you are snobs just look at your posts-TONY
 
James_Terrio said:
I've thought about this some more... I used to make part of my living playing guitar in bands. There did come a time when it was no longer fun. (to paraphrase AC/DC, "Lemme tell ya brother, it's harder than it looks") So I quit doing it. There came a time when two hours a night of adulation from the crowd (and you bet your behind, that's addicting) and the joy of making music just wasn't worth the hours and hours of hassles.

One thing I like about making knives is that I'm a one-man shop. No drunk bandmates to deal with, no singer's girlfriends telling me what I should play (boy, does that get old fast :rolleyes:), no load-in/out every night... the list goes on. I can take my time and try to get things just right. I get the satisfaction of learning from my goofs. I have this fantastic resource here, and I've never asked a question here without getting good answers (even for my dumb questions).

I enjoy the process, I enjoy the results, and I enjoy struggling to become a craftsman. I like finding out how to make something as good as it can be. I don't think I've ever owned a guitar or knife without tweaking, customizing or completely rebuilding it till it suited me. I'm frankly confused as to where "snobbery" fits into all that. :confused:



You just told the story of my life as well as yours. Ive been in and out of bands all my life.The reason being i WAS NOT going to do it when it wasn,t fun anymore.

And as for making Knives.......I agree with you from the 1st word to the last !

This is a GREAT place to learn !
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I'm not a knifemaker, but thought I'd chime in.

Tony, this forum is here for makers to learn and share what they already know. Most makers do this because they love not only the end result, but the challenge and learning that goes with it. It's not snobbery, it's a desire to learn new things and improve their work to the best of their ability.

There is nothing wrong with making knives from saw blades and files. Anza knives are made from files and many custom makers use files and other discarded steel and make beautiful, functional blades from them.

If you honestly feel the way you're letting on, then you are correct, that this forum is not for you. On the other hand, my advice is to step back, take a breath, and relax. Draw what you want from the forum and ignore anything you don't. These are a friendly bunch of guys and will help you out a lot if you just ask.
 
my experience with this forum has been great, yes there are those who give criticism, but they only do it to point out what you need to do to improve, lots of the things ive learned over my knifemaking journey i didnt even know i needed to learn, without the criticism and advice i wouldent have expanded my skill as much as i have. if you approach it with a genuine desire to learn, youll notice that these experienced makers only want to help.
 
Tony,
I am genuinely thankful that all of these great knifemakers with all of their experience take the time to share their knowledge with us new guys. It allows you to skip many mistakes they made along the way.

Most of the people I have run into on this forum are very polite and helpful. If you never wanted to learn to make better knives I do not understand why you would visit this forum. Wal mart, file, and saw blade knives do cut well. This however, is the bladesmith forum. It's about learning to make the best knives you can usually.

Due to the low number of posts you have I think it is safe to assume you are a troll just trying to cause trouble in an otherwise friendly place. I don't believe you are serious.

I shouldn't have even bothered to respond as I'm sure your mind will never be changed. I only wanted to provide encouragement and say THANK YOU to all of the people who have helped me with their "snobby knife talk"

Besides I know better. You should never argue with a fool, onlookers will have a hard time telling the difference.
 
Come on, guys,

There's a lot of fellas here in Va. and elsewhere who are totally unknown who make great knifes from files and oak. He was simply not nice to slam us.

James-you got tired of female hanger on's? Man oh Man! You must be older than I thought. ;)

He seems like a young guy, I suspect if he cares enoungh to bitch without any real reason, he may well continue to grow (but then, few do).

Dave
 
tonycap,

Do yourself a big favor and zip it. You're digging yourself into a hole.
 
well Heck, Saint, I'm not trolling. Thought he was serious, howbeit misguided. I'm always ready to give a guy a break, but he does seem too aggressive, too manipulating. Too bad. So much a serious(and that includes primative), knive-makers can learn here.

Dave
 
David Stifle said:
James-you got tired of female hanger on's? Man oh Man! You must be older than I thought. ;)
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Heh. It's not the years, it's the mileage ;) Yeah, I miss the ladies, free drinks, and all that. I just don't miss the hangovers, sore back from hauling amps at 3AM, ringing ears, drunks requesting songs I never heard of(*), drunks trying to get onstage, hours on the road with 4 sweaty guys in a station wagon, playing in dumps where the circuit breakers click off every other song, blah blah blah :D

* my standard line was "we take requests, we just don't take them seriously" ;)
 
Well I guess the politically correct thing is to say hey Tony stick around you might learn something we all learn from each other. Knives can be made from all kinds of things.


But what I'm gonna say is pack your shit, get out of here, and don't come back. You called your knives crap knives not us, but my guess since you don't want to learn how to make them better they are crap knives. I've learned a heck of alot off these forums, don't come in here calling guys who are teaching EVERYTHING FOR FREE about knifemaking snobs.
 
I'm in agreement with slimshawnee to a great degree. However, I truly believe this young (young I guess, based on his immature response) man has some serious mental issues that causes him to lash out at people he doesn't know and not in response to any personal attack directed toward him.
 
tonycap said:
yI can get just as much use out of my file knife than anyone of yours.
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Probably true and a point not worth debating but the point that you don't seem to understand is that some of the fellas here run a business making knives for a living. Do you think it is a wise business decision to try and scrounge up the odd file from lord knows where and to make a run of 10 knives all forged and ground ready for Heat treat only to have no clue how to heat treat them? At best you may have to waste a bunch of time re heat treating them or at worst end up with broken blades, or would it be a wise business decision to use a known steel with a known HT method and get expectable and repeatable results every time?

Others here may not make a business out of knifemaking but do enjoy doing it as a hobby, such as myself. If somebody asks what my hobby is I'd rather tell them "I make knives" or "I make nice knives" rather than "I make
"CRAP"
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knives"

Just because you're having a tough time with the big knifemaking words and terminology and processes doesn't mean you have to come down on others that are succeeding and making a go of it.

I probably wouldn't make a very good electrician unless I put some time into learning the in's and out's, theory and practices but I don't have to rag on electricians just because I can't do it.
 
James, I went through that stage from 20-40 years old. Once I got the taste it was impossible to let go. Couple that with five years of combat experience, and a job as a air traffic controller ( until fired), and I raised hell from dawn to midnight. Around forty I was ready to settle down..whole different story-suddenly-kids, church, oh hell, guess ya git the idea.


since this seems to be a troll post, guess we can just chat. you know the nice thing about making knives. Other than the pure pleasure of working with your hands? my answer, when all is said and done, and you hold that knive up, good or bad, well...people joke, but that is something of you in it, isn't there/

Dave
 
Tony,

You cant get a knife as good as mine from wally world.
Thats just a fact. I'll prove it any time you want to come to my shop.

Greg
 
tonycap said:
yall im sorry if you fellows are getting upset. It seems like your actually enjoying yourself. Everyone is so condensending. everyone is so full of themselves. like the guy who made all those knives with his cad milling machine--wtf is that. its not knife making-its not art.Yall seem to think you are the only ones who know everything about knives and how one should feel about knives. well i am not a follower like all of you.I can get just as much use out of my file knife than anyone of yours. I can go to the local walmart and get a knife for80% less than some of the knives youall offer-and that walmart knife if probably better.you are wannabies. all caught up in the technology and all at a loss of primal art. yes you are snobs just look at your posts-TONY
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:jerkit::jerkit: every six months their is someone that comes along and know's everything :rolleyes: look if you want to play with us fine but if you are just going to come on here and piss on everything maybe you don't need to be here simple as that, go take up stamp collecting. wannabies huh looks like we are the knifemakers not the wannabie who can't make the cut. oh if you want that wallmart sh** go buy it but leave us alone until your ready to play nice
 
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