Intro with questions??

J

JamesPEmmons

Joined
Sep 3, 2008
Messages
269
Hello Everyone!!

I have been reading this forum for sometime now. There is some great people here from what I have seen.

I have been a hobby knife maker. All my knives have been made with minimal equipment, mostly hand tools. My knives are not sellable quality, but the friends and family that I have given them to, seem to like them.

I am currently in the process of moving to Canada. When I arrive there, I plan on gearing up to make some knives to sell.

My plan is to have couple of style basic knives. Also I will offer complete custom knives. This will only be part time work and I really don't what to take on more then 1 custom and 5 basic knives per month.

One question I have is one of the basic knives, I would like to offer is very simular to a factory knife that has a different shape. Easy to say it is a copy. But I plan on offering it with better material. Not really into copying others peoples work, but this knife shape works really well.

I would love to hear what you guys think and any advice would be helpfull.

James
 
do you have any pictures of your work that you can post? i almost forgot, welcome to bladeforums :D
 
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Here are some that went to some three close friends.
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IMG_1305.jpg

IMG_1306.jpg

IMG_1310.jpg


None of these are the style I am questioning.
 
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Hi James!

Welcome to the forums!
My personal opinion is that when starting out, almost everybody "copies" something that someone else has done. This is generally because at the beginning, an individual doesn't have the knowledge and experience YET, to know what works, or what doesn't. As time goes by and you gain more experience, you will start developing your own style and tastes. Thats just how we evolve as makers.

If its a patent issue that your concerned with, I suspect that the knives you produce will not get into that realm. With knives, changing anything by as little as 1/64" negates any patent infringement. If you were using someone else's design as an exact pattern, and turning them out via CNC where everything is exactly the same....my opinion is that yes, it would infringe on patents, and I think it would be unethical.
I think there is a huge difference between learning by copying, and plagiarizing for profit. The first I have no issues with, the second I despise.
However, its likely that the knives your making by hand are only "general" in appearance to the model, and not exact duplicates.
Really the only thing that separates most makers knives is "personal styles and tastes" as far as design goes. Style, quality, fit, and finish are what makes a given knife distinctly that particular makers.
 
Welcome to the board I think Ed about summed it up. Also i think that your knives are nice and you should sell them. By the way welcome to Canada!

Bob
 
If you're thinking about getting a KMG, do so before you go, Rob doesn't ship to Canada!
 
Thank you everyone for the advice and welcome!!

This forum is great never thought I would get a reply from someone like Ed. Thank you very much Sir. I respect your answer and agree 100%. Also soon I will be ordering a set of your platen plans, as I plan to build a KMG type grinder.

Today I made some changes to the knife shape to make it a little more mine. I think the changes will makes this knife better. I do not want to be secretive. The blade shape I am speaking of is made by Puma and is the companion model.

Thank you again everyone and I look forward to hearing from more of you.

James
 
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