Is there a "grind" in knifemaking as there is a "swing" in golf?

golok

golok

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Oct 20, 2000
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Golfers often talk of perfecting that swing. Tiger Woods talks about it often enough. The swing is supposed to be that special skill that an expert wields when holding his tool of trade.

Thus, the golfer and his club.

What about the knifemaker? Is there a knifemaker or makers out there who, after years of grinding knives, suddenly one day becomes aware that he has got the "grind", so to speak.

In other words, he knows if he holds the blade in a particular way, he gets it to look just great and the balance will more or less be perfect.

Is there such a moment for the knifemakers? It's like you know you have finally perfected IT!
 
there is a feel you develop for just the right pressure to remove the most metal and have a smooth even control at the same time on each pass.
 
I believe it's true of just about every field of human endeavor. I've got lots of experience as golfer, none as a knifemaker, but I think that whatever "it" is, "it" is only there some small percentage of the time. To use the golf analogy, professional golfers routinely post scores 8-10 strokes better or worse on successive days in the same tournament (even Tiger threw up an 81 in the British Open).
I think that's one of the things that makes custom knives so fascinating. That one piece, made on the day when the maker had "it", just screams "IT !!" Should be interesting to see the responses from the artists --- great subject !!
MtMike
 
I am very new to knife making, I have some days where no matter what I do, I can't get my blade grinds right. I have other days where I will come back to the same knife and will get the mistakes out very quickly, and grind as close to perfect as I have ever gotten all day long. My first ever flat grind was awesome, the plunges looked even and nice, the bevels met pefectly at the center of the blade, the point had a nice even taper. I thought wow flat grinding is easy. Then I ground my second flat ground blade, same pattern, and it was a disaster, It took forever to make the blade come out decent, and the plunges are still not even. I have days where I just feel a lot more coordinated and in tune with my machines, and then I have days where nothing goes right at all, right now I would say about 10% of my shop time I am "on" 20% I am way "off" and the other 70% or my time I feel normal.
Kyle Fuglesten
 
I think that knife making is more like surfing than golf.

Sure, the waves may be 6 feet one day and 6 feet the next (using 1095 one day, and 1095 the next), but the way you have to surf those waves could be completely different. I think that steel and angles and all of that can be predictable, if you set your limits to a certain level. But for the custom maker who is looking for 100% performance and such, you really have to listen to your materials and your grinder and how well you are doing that day. At that level, it is more than mere "steel working" but rather a conversation you are having with your materials. There is definitely a flow there that can't be replicated perfectly like the perfect swing. Knife making at the higher levels isn't just "hold steel x at angle y for 4.28 seconds, flip over and repete."
 
The concert of the grind is one place a knifemaker can have it all! There are an infinite number of variations waiting to be heard, each for its own purpose. Look at some old knives, look at lots of old knves, and out of several thousand, one will stand out and you know you have held hands with an absolute master. The nature of the grind is an opportunity for some,a challenge for others and just another job for many. When you get on that horse and ride like never before, the thrill is as good as it gets.
 
Golok,
Well, I grind really weird in my opinion. I think I know why. Variety. Call me goofy but I hate repeatedly doing the same thing. Even if it is for a knife of exactly the same design, I always grind very random. I have a practiced idea of how much material will go with so much pressure, on certain steels, in certain conditions, with certain belts and methods are sort of similar in that way. Like I grind the profile first. Sometimes I start with the tip, sometimes with the tang though. Then the next is always the bevels. So, I'd say you find that "swing", even with a weirdo like me who doesn't work in repetition. Its pretty personalized, and I feel the only method that is poor is the one that isn't working for you like you feel it should. I think knife makers are a lucky breed. You get to be so unique because of the type of craft were in.
I've noticed as I forge better, I can move metal faster and cleaner. Far better than when I first started and I can definitely "feel" why the learned method is so much more efficient than when I was first forging. It feels, quick, powerful and graceful when I do it right. But it takes practice. I'm a slow learner too. Hmm, not sure if that answers your question, but hey, there is no knowledge that is not power.

-Jason
 
Sure, what you speak of is there, it is one of Knifemaking's great rewards, I call it "The Zone" and it applies to all aspects of knifemaking. Wow, that was a mouthful.

When in "The Zone", I don't think about what I'm doing at all, and, it happens of it's own accord, seemingly without effort. Correction, without effort. It is when I do things that I am not really good enough to do. It is awesome. And, it is happening more and more...

Stay Sharp,

RJ Martin,
 
Howdy There...!
For my two cents worth, there is a "Feel" to grinding blades. I am only a partime maker so it has taken me about three years to get to the point that I can grind any shaped blade and have the grinds come out like they are suppose to. I know when I first started it was very difficult for me to inderstand what I was looking for in the "Feel". But, the first time that I did grind a blade correctly it was amazing. It was like a switch had been turned on in my head. It was a great feeling to see all that hard work and scape metal come to life. You just have to keep grinding, that is the only way to learn the "Feel".

Later "Possum":cool:
 
Bob Engnath had that "swing". He above all others (Ifeel) was THE "KING OF THE GRIND" or the "Tiger Woods" of knife grinding.
It's to bad he passed on. Could you imagine what kind of work he would be doing now if he were still here?:(
 
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