If you could make your own knife, would you still buy others?

Splat

Splat

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Nov 19, 2006
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I've been wanting to make my own knife, or maybe knives, for quite some time now. It's interesting how most, if not all, of us have own more than one or two knives. If you could create and make your own knife do you still think you'd buy knives from other makers, and why?
 
If I could make my own knives, I'd still buy other peoples' blades. Even if I could make my own knives, I'm sure I couldn't even come close to touching the ingenuity and craftsmanship that all the other knifemakers of the world bring to the table.
 
Honestly, for most of us it is just about getting something new or something arriving at our door. It just happens to be knives. For others its guns or flashlights etc.
 
I make my own fixed blade knives, hawks and axes. I still buy folders, but I dont buy what I make..If I make it and sell it, I feel its imporortant for me to use it..Makers aint really known for buying. Ill have to add this, I dont collect knives. They are tools to me so that probably makes a difference..
 
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Hell yeah, I would still buy other knives.

Spending hours and hours hacksawing, filing, sanding, heat treating, and polishing for an ugly crude embarrassment of a knife, or a new Benchmade or Spyderco? Hmmm....
 
I have finished one fixed blade and have several more in the works. I also make my own leather sheaths.

The answer is yes, I will still buy other knives. I know a lot of custom makers that still buy other knives. One example is Busse kives. They are a proprietary steel, and I know a handfull of custom makers that still buy their knives.
 
I can't afford the knives I make so I have to buy cheaper production knives for use.
 
outdoorknifepix002.jpg
I I can't say I "make" knives, I buy finished blades, handle materials, and fasterners, and assemble them. I've also made some mods to knives from factories and other full-time makers. It is very frustrating at times, always dusty and dirty, smelly when using micarta, but it is so cool when one is finished. But there are still knives from others that I buy, usually because a similar kit or blank isn't available.
http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss147/spook89_89/outdoorknifepix002.jpg
 
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If I made my own knives, which I hope to do someday, naturally I'll make myself the "perfect" knives that I can't find already (or can't afford - like Tony Bose's). But undoubtedly I'll still carry production knives. I might be able to someday make myself my perfect fixed blade, but there's no way I'd be able to make something as complex as a Leatherman, or as simple as a FRN handled Spyderco without spending several hundred grand or more on molds and whatnot.
 
I have been making knives for fun for many years now. I make them when I have the time or desire to do so. I wouldnt call myself a maker at all but a hobbyist who enjoys it for fun. I buy knives but not at the quantity I used too and mostly folders.
 
Probably not. I'm not a collector so what few knives I have I use. If I made my own it would be to arrive at the perfect user and then I'd probably stop making knives as well.
 
umberto00 said:
I can cook my own food, but still love going to restaurants.
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This about sums it up. Even if I was as talented as some of the knife-makers out there and had the tooling to create knives that could also be works of art I would still buy knives from other people, I might not carry them as much as mine if at all but sometimes admiring someone elses craftmanship can inspire me to do better
 
My knives should be becoming cool (i`m still busy) but there are certain kinds of technology (like certain locks, coatings and handle materials/styles) i could not make myself, or get made by someone else, that i really like.
A collection isn't complete without knives made by someone else, at least that`s how I think of it.
_
Jurre
 
umberto00 said:
I can cook my own food, but still love going to restaurants.
Click to expand...

Not QUITE the same. Food, you have to eat; it's not like food is a tool that you use. And it's not quite the same to say, "I'm too lazy to cook tonight, so I'm going to go out and get a meal," and "I'm too lazy today to make a knife, so I'm just going to buy a knife instead." The knife is going to be around for a long time. The meal won't, and neither will the laziness.

That being said, I also can cook, and ever since I learned to cook better than the chefs at most restaurants around here, my eating out really tapered down. If I could make the knives that I wanted as well or better than anyone else, I probably wouldn't buy others. But I can't, and even if I got started making knives, I'd still not have the skill that many of the well-known artisans do. I mean, anyone can slap paint on a canvas, and "make their own painting." But somehow people still buy Picasso's and Monet's, etc. Knifemaking is an art. Even if I am an artist myself, I may still want to appreciate another person's art.
 
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