Is there any hope

JTknives

JTknives

Joined
Jun 11, 2006
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i have been making knives for a long time now and allways had that gole in the back of my head to one day be able to get my JS and then my MS. But i have allmost completley switched over to stock removile. i there any hope for me getting my JS being a stock remover. the war between forge vs stock has been fought its time we had a chance to prove are knives. thanks for hearing
 
JTknives said:
i have been making knives for a long time now and allways had that gole in the back of my head to one day be able to get my JS and then my MS. But i have allmost completley switched over to stock removile. i there any hope for me getting my JS being a stock remover. the war between forge vs stock has been fought its time we had a chance to prove are knives. thanks for hearing
Click to expand...

I hear your argument and somewhat agree. However I do believe it might be hard to get a JS or MS rating when you are in fact not "smithing" your knives. This does not in any way lessen the quality or the amount of work/effort/talent that goes into them (I am stock removal only at this time and not very likely to switch). I have not looked into any other guilds to see if they have rankings that would apply to stock removal makers. It would be nice if they would, or perhaps if ABS would expand their scope to cover stock removal as well.

Charlie
 
Before giving a stamp, and essentially vouching for a maker's skills, I think they should show that they are good enough to do something as destructive as heating in an uncontrolled heat source and beating the snot out of it with a hammer and not entirely trash a perfectly good peice of steel.:D
 
i dont heat and beat but i may take it up alittle just so i can get a JS
my understanding is you can only stamp knives you heat and beat (even if thats jsut banging a clip point on flat stock before grinding the rest out)

just thinking out loud
 
People in the ABS arent against stock removal knives,in all reality allot of them probably started out that way.It is just that the organization was started to save the dying art of Bladesmithing and wanted it to be specifically for those that forged and wanted to pass on that knowledge.You can join the guild being either type of maker but not the ABS...

Maybe someone should start a new organization that will give a ranking to any and all makers,such as Master knifemaker or Journeyman knifemaker or appprentice knifemaker just like the ABS....

Sorry but if the fire isnt hot and the hammer aint ringing the anvil it isnt a Smithed blade.And just smashing in a point on a piece of steel doesnt mean it is a forged blade,more work than that to qualify...
Bruce
 
I think the "smith" in bladesmith society is what the ABS is about. :) It's got nothing to do with the "war" on stock removal, which doesn't exit BTW.

The knifemakers guild doesnt regulate in what fashion a knife is produced does it?
 
Ditto to what Mark and Bruce said.

To answer your question... NO. If you aren't going to forge your blades, then there is no hope for you to be a Js or Ms. :)

If you want to know why people are saying no, just read the mission statement... pulled directly from the ABS's site:

"The American Bladesmith Society, Inc. pledges to diligently, reasonably and responsibly work exclusively for the purposes of promoting and advancing the art and science of the forged blade and other implements. And also to inform and educate the public in respect to bladesmithing, metal forging and heat treating processes, knife and tool design and fabrication, related arts and other areas in which the Society has expertise."

There's NOTHING in there about a war against stock removal. However, it IS all about promoting the forged blade.

If a person doesn't forge, or even more so doesn't WANT to... then really there wouldn't be much reason for them to even want to be a part of the ABS beyond the comradere of all the makers and their supporters.

I LOVE forging, and am very proud to be a part of the ABS. BUT, if I didn't forge, I would go another route... perhaps the Guild.
 
i think you have mis understood me. when i say war i mean is one better than the other fight. i love the ABS and maybe some day i will finish my forge and start back up agen. i just think that there should be somthing us stock removers have to work twards. like a stamp ABS have thats all.
 
If you are not working toward perfection, whether it's stock removal or smithing, what's the point? You can buy labels at the Office Depot, but you can't buy applied talent and skill there.
 
im allways trying to improve my skils because i want to make the best knife i can. the stamp would be a sort of quality control.
 
If you don't want to forge then why would you want to be associated with the ABS? Its all a matter of choices, you have the choice to proceed into knifemaking anyway you choose, so why should the ABS change their rules and regulations to accept knifemakers that have no desire to follow the rules and regulations that the organization was formed on. So many groups of people today want well established organizations to change their rules to accept them for what they do, instead of those people doing what the organiztion asks, Why? I guess someone some day will make a case that the ABS is discriminating against metal removal makers and demand they change the rules, and like everything else the organization for why it was started will be lost and no longer exsist.

I've never seen anything written by the ABS that stated anything negative about metal removal knifemakers, its just they (ABS) want to keep the art and science of forging alive. Some people give the impression that the forged blade is a waste of time, that metal removal knives are as good or better. This I feel is a great disservice to the bladesmith, for bladesmithing is an art as much as a science, which method, if either produces a better blade is a matter of opinion.
I can also attest that anyone that believes metal removal blades have as much time and effort in them as forged ones, hasn't forged. I'm no saying metal removal knives can't add up in time and effort, but like knives produced both ways, the forged one will take longer.

Bill
 
i love blade smithing and have made a hand full of damascus blades and quite injoyed forging. i wasent thinking that thay should change at all. and i have alot of respect bladesmiths. i just think there should be somthing like the abs for the stock removers. maybe an AKS. im not meaning to affend any one knifemaking is a very deap passon for me.
 
JT,

This is exactly how the ABS started. A few guys getting together discussing what they want to do. Get together with a few like minded individuals and get going. I know there are a few out there that do not agree with the Forged Carbon steel only the ABS requires. May be you will be the first president of the AKS.

Chuck
 
well the first question i ask for the AKS is a proper name. should it be
American Knifemaker Society
or
American Knifemakers Society
does it need an S or not
 
I think using the either the plural or gerund forms would be most correct. You could also call it the "American Knifemakers Association" a.k.a. the AKA.
 
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